America's Original Sin: White Supremacy, John Wilkes Booth, and the Lincoln Assassination

by John Rhodehamel

On April 14, 1865, after nearly a year of conspiring, John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln as the president watched a production of Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre. Lincoln died the next morning. Twelve days later, Booth himself was fatally shot by a Union soldier after an extensive manhunt. The basic outline of this story is well known even to schoolchildren; what has been obscured is Booth's motivation for the act, which remains widely misunderstood nearly 160 years after the shot from his pocket pistol echoed through the crowded theater. In this riveting new book, John Rhodehamel argues that Booth's primary motivation for his heinous crime was a growing commitment to white supremacy. In alternating chapters, Original Sin shows how, as Lincoln's commitment to emancipation and racial equality grew, so too did Booth's rage and hatred for Lincoln, whom he referred to as "King Abraham Africanus the First." Examining Booth's early life in Maryland, Rhodehamel traces the evolution of his racial hatred from his youthful embrace of white supremacy through to his final act of murder. Along the way, he considers and discards other potential motivations for Booth's act, such as mental illness or persistent drunkenness, which are all, Rhodehamel writes, either insufficient to explain Booth's actions or were excuses made after the fact by those who sympathized with him. Focusing on how white supremacy brought about the Civil War and, later, betrayed the conflict's emancipationist legacy, Rhodehamel's masterful narrative makes this old story seem new again. The first book to explicitly name white supremacy as the motivation for Lincoln's assassination, America's Original Sin is an important and eloquent look at one of the most notorious episodes in American history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Civil War, Civil War History, Race, Politics

480 pages, Hardcover

Published September 7, 2021

About the author

John Rhodehamel is the former archivist of Mount Vernon and curator of American historical manuscripts at the Huntington Library. He is editor of George Washington: Writings and the American Revolution: Writings from the War of Independence, 1775-1783. He lives in Newport Beach, California.

Reviews

[Lissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was incredible, and I plowed through it in three reading sessions. The author's style is very readable, and he manages to weave together various elements to really give the reader an impression of the era. I don't normally "see" what I read in my head (thanks, aphantasia), but I could ALMOST do so as the author described Booth's movements right before the assassination. You can come to the book with a great deal of knowledge about the American Civil War or virtually none, and I think either can enjoy reading this and find something new in the process (my new nugget of information was about what happened between Major Rathbone and Clara Harris - yikes
I only have two tiny quibbles. The first is that the author does have a tendency to repeat anecdotes (such as the killer of John Wilkes Booth having castrated himself). And the second is that the author mixed up the tibia and the fibula bones. The non-weight bearing bone in the leg is the fibula, so if John Wilkes Booth broke the non-weight bearing bone, it would have been the fibula, not the tibia. If he indeed broke his tibia, his injury was more severe since it is the weight-bearing bone in the leg. A cursory google search came up with results for JWB breaking his tibia and his fibula, but the NPS site says he broke his tibia, which would definitely hobble him a great deal more than a fibula fracture would have.

This is an excellent book, and one that I would highly recommend. The author does a great portrayal of how Lincoln's, and the entire country's, view changed on slavery as the war progressed, and the author definitely proves his argument about white supremacy fueling JWB's rage towards him. (I mean, it makes complete sense, to the point that it almost feels like the author is beating a dead horse, to say. However, considering the number of people out there who insist that the South went to war for states' rights, conveniently neglecting to mention what those states wanted the right to do, is mind-boggling. And, I have to say as a high school and college student, I never had it stated so implicitly. Booth killed Lincoln because he was a Southern sympathizer, we were always taught. However, what did those sympathies entail? What was the driving force behind them? Never addressed. The author goes out of his way to show why that was a glaring error.)

[John Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best part of this book are the historical tidbits not widely known: Abraham Lincoln was estranged from his harsh father as an adult: John Wilkes Booth's father, Junius, abandoned his first wife and child and immigrated to the U.S. and soon became a secret bigamist; John Wilkes was the favorite of 10 children not only to his parents but to his siblings; John Wilkes, considered the most handsome man in America, quit acting in 1864 to devote his full attention to either abducting or killing Lincoln. Lincoln didn't find faith in a personal God until after his election as president.
Rhodehanel throughout maintains that secession was based solely on white supremacy, and in turn keeping slavery intact and prohibiting interracial marriage. It had nothing to do with the revisionist thinking about "states rights." The author also points out that Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis not only were traitors but also white supremacists. As the war ended, Lincoln proposed in a speech giving some Black men the right to vote for the first time. In the audience, Booth vowed it would be the last speech Lincoln ever gave. Three days later Booth killed him.

[Bob Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook. The story of the Lincoln assassination. In large part a biography of John Wilkes Booth and the history of the conspiracy, as well as an examination of the depth to which white supremacy motivated the protection of slavery at all costs. It was really well done and well read. I've read a few books about Lincoln and the Civil War that cover some of this, but this covered a lot of new ground for me. It fleshes out Booth's character and story considerably. The author makes a very strong case for the depth of feelings of white supremacy, and not just in the South. He shows the depth of feeling that social and legal equality for black Americans was unthinkable. He makes a strong case that the protection of slavery was single reason behind secession, and the threat to that social order was what fueled Booth's hatred for Lincoln. At the same time it is a reminder that we are perhaps not currently living in the most divisive time in our country's history.

[Asuka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Puts the information I learned in public school history class to shame.

A great in-depth look into John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Assassination, the title is not fibbing.

It is very obvious that John Rhodehamel is very knowledgeable and did extensive research before writing this book. White supremacy is still a problem that we have lingering around today, and some may even say growing.

I think books like these should be mandatory reading, history should not be repeated. The issues talked about in this book are unfortunately relevant to the current day, and are very critical issues. I find it very sad that most average people are not educated well on such events, and lack a great amount of understanding towards history in general.

I hope this book gains more popularity within the education scene, and I will definitely be recommending it to others, even if they aren't history buffs.

[Katie Avalos · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating, compelling read written in an easily accessible manner. Having very little prior knowledge of the subject matter, this held my attention from start to finish and left no gaps where I felt like I needed to go look anywhere else for information. Several other works were mentioned which I will now likely check out to dig deeper in certain areas, but they are not remotely necessary to follow this tragic tale. The author wove so many bits and pieces of information from a variety of sources into a cohesive story that really breaks down the factors leading to the completely unnecessary, tragic death of one of America's greatest presidents.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book looking at the motivations behind the actions of John Wilkes Booth's murder of president Abraham Lincoln. This book focused on the explicit racism behind the South's rebellion and Booth's plot the author used contemporary newspaper articles from both North and South, letters, and speeches, including Booth's own writing showing the racial motivations behind the Civil War. Poking holes in oft cited motivations of Booth using his family history, and testimony of his co-conspirators, friends, family, and acquaintances this book contained a lot of interesting information in a well written narrative. This book put more detail into the typical historical picture of Booth and the times in which he lived. The pictures, political cartoons, and publication covers, showed the types of propaganda that were put out in support of the Souths position on white supremacy. I received a free ARC of this book through the Goodreads First Reads giveaways.

[Kenneth Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book takes an in depth look at the racial beliefs of Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth. The author explores the early lives of both men and how their racial beliefs were formed. The main focus was on John Wilkes Booth and how his upbringing and life fueled his rabid belief in the Confederacy and white supremacy.
The book shows the animosity and prejudice against African Americans were used against Lincoln. The charges of race mixing even coined a new phrase: miscegenation.the vitriol against Lincoln was unprecedented and not equaled until the rhetoric of trump in 2016.
The book clearly describes the white supremacy beliefs of Booth and his plot to assassinate Lincoln. The book clearly demonstrates how slavery and white supremacy were primary causes of the Civil War.
The assassination of Lincoln is told through Booth’s various plots and his accomplices.

[Bridgette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rhodenhamel retells the familiar story of Abraham Lincoln's assassination, but with a twist or at least another view about the motives of it. John Wilkes Booth motives for assassinating Lincoln have never been fully understood or explained . This novel shows how the more Lincoln fought for civil rights, the more Booth's anger towards Lincoln grew. The point of view from this story is that Lincoln's assassination was a result of emancipation and racism. Other motivations are explored, but debunked. This is the first book to name white supremacy as a motive for Lincoln's assassination and the author just may have a case about it. Well written, well researched, well done! Highly recommend!

[David Kent · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written and insightful account of the Lincoln assassination with a focus on the white supremacist motivations of John Wilkes Booth. Rhodehamel also goes into the white supremacist motivations of Southerners who chose to fight to destroy the nation in order to protect and expand the enslavement of others. An easy read on a topic critical for all Americans to understand.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional book. Events leading up to Lincoln’s assassination and how it was planned by Booth and associates in greater detail than information we were taught about in history classes. White Supremacy was alive and well in the 1860’s during Civil War. Lots of similar events happening today.

[Gigi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primarily useful for providing great context for the more in-depth books on the assassination of Lincoln by exploring the insane racism of the 19th century, of course particularly in the South where everything really did revolve around the slave system and it’s race ideology framework. While this book does provide a pretty good overview of the conspiracy, the discussions and details of the mechanics are better (and probably more precisely) explored elsewhere. However, where the work here is excellent is as advertised: around discussions of the conspiracy’s and the conspirators’ relationships with race. This is maybe the only big flaw (and it is a big flaw) in Kauffman’s otherwise stellar “American Brutus”—he almost completely sidesteps any discussion or even mention(!) of race. Rhodehamel’s book seems like a clear eyed corrective of that massive oversight and for that alone it’s well worth a prominent place in any exploration of Lincoln’s murder or the psychology of Booth et al.