Democrats Danced When President Lincoln Was Assassinated

In 1854, Americans witnessed a historical first when they saw the creation of the anti-slavery Republican Party. What made the Republican Party different from other anti-slavery political organizations that have been around for many years is that no one could have imagined that a president could have been elected on an anti-slavery platform. That was huge at the time. 

Democrats in the South broke away from the Union after Lincoln was elected. Those in the North, especially the Copperhead Democrats who ran many of the Northern newspapers, wanted to keep African slavery intact. They even fought to split the nation in two and allow slavery to remain in the South. 

During the Civil War, the Northern newspapers run by Copperhead Democrats of the time were really no different than what CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, and other Democrat-controlled media disseminate what they call the truth today. They hated Lincoln back in the day in the very same way that Democrats hate Trump today. And yes, they ruthlessly attacked and vilified Lincoln at every opportunity. 

That is not a myth, nor is it an exaggeration. Copperhead Democrat editors conducted smear campaigns against Lincoln, spread horrible rumors and straight-out lies about the president, incited violence against Lincoln's policies, called for Lincoln's impeachment, and even called for Lincoln's assassination. Yes, it wasn't really much different than what took place while President Donald Trump was in office.

President Abraham Lincoln was the first president to ever run and hold that office as a member of the Republican Party. He was also the first president to be assassinated. His killer was a Southern Democrat, an actor, a man who is said to have been influenced to carry out his deadly plot to kill the president by Copperhead Democrats who ran many of the Northern newspapers during the Civil War. 

While I've talked about firsts in American history and how Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theater on April 14, 1865, was a first in American history, another first in our history has to do with the vile reaction of Democrats after President Lincoln's assassination. The fact is that Democrats actually praised John Wilkes Booth for shooting President Lincoln. So yes, while some did mourn after the assassination of the president -- others who hated Lincoln actually lauded his assassin. 

In fact, it was reported at the time that some supporters of John Wilkes Booth "publicly danced in the streets and rejoiced at the assassination of President Lincoln."

Political hatred is nothing new in American History. There have always been haters. And yes, my friends, on April 15th, 1865, a lot of them were Democrats who danced when they found out President Lincoln was shot to death. 

While most in the North conveyed what can only be considered "profound grief" at the news that Lincoln was killed by an assassin, it might be a surprise to many that President Abraham Lincoln was considered a "tyrant." One newspaper wrote at the time that he was "a tyrant who needed to be killed."

Instead of being seen as he would later as "the great emancipator" and the man who worked tirelessly to preserve the Union, Copperhead Democrats in the North echoed the sentiment of their brothers and sisters in the South, who wrote about how Lincoln "deserved a tyrant's death." 

In Texas, The Galveston News printed, "In the plentitude of his power and arrogance he was struck down, and is so ushered into eternity, with innumerable crimes and sins to answer for."

While it's understandable to expect such things coming out of Southern Democrats, one Copperhead Democrat in Massachusetts was reportedly so gleeful to hear of Lincoln being murdered that he horrified his neighbors by shouting, "They've shot Abe Lincoln! He's dead, and I'm glad he's dead." 

If you think it was only Democrats who universally enjoyed the news of Lincoln's assassination, George W. Julian, who was a Republican congressman from Indiana at the time, what we today would call a RINO, a "Republican In Name Only," is known to have said, "Lincoln's death is a God-send."

 

And yes, if you're wondering, there were even those in the Union Army who celebrated that Lincoln was shot. Probably one of the most noteworthy was a soldier by the name of James Walker, who was a member of the 8th California Infantry. The 8th Regiment California Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the Civil War. It was a unit that was raised late in the war, actually in the last year of the war. 

The 8th Regiment California Volunteer Infantry had its headquarters located initially at Alcatraz Island and spent almost all of its existence serving in posts around San Francisco Bay, the California Gold Country, and later in Washington Territory and Oregon. 

Upon hearing the news, James Walker allowed his hidden sentiments to rise to the occasion. In front of his Union Army comrades, he declared that Lincoln was a "Yankee son of a bitch who ought to have been killed long ago." Believe it or not, Walked was arrested, given an immediate court-martial, and sentenced to death by firing squad. He was very fortunate that an appeals court later commuted his sentence. 

Of course, he wasn't the only person in the Union Army to voice his glee that his Commander-in-Chief was shot. Believe it or not, it's recorded that military officials dishonorably discharged dozens of enlisted men right after Lincoln's assassination for voicing their joy at hearing the sad news. One was a Michigan soldier stationed in Lincoln’s hometown. He was heard shouting, "The man who killed Lincoln did a good thing."

But really, let's be frank here, it shouldn't be surprising that some people celebrated Lincoln's death just as they celebrate that President Trump's home was raided or that President Trump was indicted for doing what many others have done. 

President Lincoln became a martyr to freedom and nationalism alike. Yes, like Trump, Lincoln was a champion of nationalism. He held the nation together through the worst years that our nation has ever faced. While many issues caused the Civil War, and it was not just the issue of slavery, President Lincoln's opponents were Democrats who would have rather the United States dissolve itself than lose their precious Antebellum life. A lifestyle of slave ownership and wealth that they fight to keep today.

Tom Correa