President Lincoln was the subject of numerous assassination attempts. In 1864, 9 months before he was fatally shot by John Wilkes Booth, he was riding to the Old Soldier’s Home outside of Washington DC, alone. A gun shot rang out, and his horse spooked. President Lincoln arrived, without his hat, at the old Soldier’s Home. The following day, two soldiers went looking for the hat, and discovered it on the path, with a musketball hole through the side.
President Lincoln, for his part, dismissed the incident as a likely hunting accident. He told the soldiers that rumors of an assassination plot would be more dangerous to the Union’s cause than silence. Later, he shared the story as s Sleepy Hollow-esque anecdote among friends.
“I can’t bring myself to believe that any one has shot at me or will deliberately shoot at me with the deliberate purpose of killing me.” – Abraham Lincoln
The Baltimore Plot
1861 Crowd waiting for Lincoln. Photo via wikipedia.
What later became known as the Baltimore plot and the Pinkerton plot was actually prevented largely as a result of the efforts of railroad magnate Samuel Morse Felton. In the North, President Lincoln was popular, but the South was already nervous before his inauguration. As Lincoln and his wife Mary planned their journey to Washington, D.C. by rail and without a military escort, Felton heard rumors of an assassination plan that would include the capture of railroads leading to Washington, D.C. and the seizure of the Capitol.
Felton called in professional help – the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. Allan Pinkerton was shocked by what Felton told him, but took the plot seriously and set about preventing it.
Pinkerton hired Harry Davies, a young man who had grown up in New Orleans and had the uncanny ability to adapt himself to any situation, pick up new languages quickly, and blend in almost anywhere. The pair began their investigation in Baltimore, at that point, a slaveholding city with a strong secessionist political atmosphere.
Portrait of Private Eye Allan Pinkerton. Photo via wikipedia.
Meanwhile, Lincoln planned an open arrival to D.C., with frequent stops along the route where he would meet the public. He also continued to receive death threats ranging from the expected (knife, gunshot, physical assault) to the highly unusual (spider-filled dumpling, poisoned ink) variety.
By February 17, 1861, both Pinkerton and Davies had encountered members of a plot to kill Lincoln. They had originally assumed that the danger was to the rail line, but now it became clear – the real threat was to the President-elect. The man behind the plot was the barber at Burnam’s hotel in Baltimore, a Sicilian immigrant by the name of Ferrandini.
Cipriano Ferrandini, accused but never indicted, of plotting to assassinate Lincoln. Photo via wikipedia.
Pinkerton sent word to one Sen. Judd, a member of Lincoln’s traveling “suite” and an associate of Pinkerton’s. Sen. Judd believed that Lincoln would not agree to a change in travel plans, and he was largely correct. Eventually, the pair was able to convince the President-elect to disguise himself and skip the Baltimore leg of the trip – a feat which required the help of a Governor, a female detective, a private train, Lincoln’s personal guard, and Pinkerton himself. On the morning of February 23, 1861, Lincoln’s train arrived as scheduled without Lincoln or his wife on it. They had passed through in the middle of the night. According to Pinkerton, a mob was to attack the President-elect with knives.
“Plums delivered nuts safely.” – Pinkerton’s telegraph that the President was safe.
Lincoln in disguise by Harper’s Weekly, 1861.
---Got this out of an article. I hope it helps! (:
Dear, friend It is amazing here at the magnificent splendor of the French court. The most potent symbol of the King’s absolute power. The people are very wealthy here. They welcomed me here in a very respectful manner. It's amazing literally. The palace was just to show off to the people and show how much control he had over the economy and what he could do with the money. He is really a very nice man.. I wish you could be here with me right now, I still can't believe that i'm here. I like the way they are so organized and polite. I just don't like how they show off every time some one new comes in. I feel like it is not need to do the extra. Everyone knows your wealthy and to class. I would love to work here or live here, the workers here are nice and sweet. They know what you like even before you tell them it's great.
There were two main reasons why Bush's approval ratings fell at the end of his presidency, the first being that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were wildly unpopular, and the second being that the US economy was struggling.
Based on the Declaration of Independence and on the words of Isaiah Berlin, I can say that I agree that both statements “constitute the irreducible minimum of the ideal of equality”. On the first statement from the Declaration of Independence, we can see that when it says “all men are created equal” it is including minorities groups that are usually discriminated against due to race, gender or nationality. Basically, it states that all people are equal and should not be discriminated on the basis of race, gender or nationality.
On the second statement by philosopher Berlin, the focus is not only on the fact that one man should count as one but also it highlights that no men should be counted as more than one. Here, Berlin wants to indicate that of you are rich and powerful; you are still only one person and cannot be thought of as more worthy than the rest.
To sum up both concepts mention that all men are created equal, the first one focusing on no discrimination against minority groups; and the second one focusing on no power abuse.
