Revision 110848310 of "Portal:Baltimore Plot" on dewiki

Zelda is amazing damnt[[Image:Maclincoln harrisburg Highland fling.jpg|right|250px|thumb|"The MacLincoln Harrisburg Highland Fling", ''[[Vanity Fair (American magazine 1859-1863)|Vanity Fair]]'', March 9, 1861.]]‎
Many historians believe that Pinkerton’s perception of an assassination plot was incorrect and Lincoln came to regret that he had slipped through the city unannounced.<!-- Is the statement about Lincoln's regret a separate 'sentence', or is it merely part of what many historians believe? --><ref>{{cite web|url=http://teachingamericanhistorymd.net/000001/000000/000015/html/t15.html |title=Baltimore, Allan Pinkerton, and the Plot to Assassinate President Lincoln, 1861 |publisher=Teachingamericanhistorymd.net |date= |accessdate=2011-05-28}}</ref>
Many years after the fact Ward Hill Lamon would publicly argue that there had been no plot to assassinate the president in 1861. "It is perfectly manifest that there was no conspiracy—no conspiracy of a hundred, of fifty, of twenty, of three; no definite purpose in the heart of even one man to murder Mr. Lincoln in Baltimore."<ref>Lamon, W: ''Life of Abraham Lincoln'', p. 513. James R. Osgood and Company, 1872.</ref>

In ''Lincoln and His Administration'', Chittenden argues that there was no need for any precautions, such as a disguise, because Lincoln “entered the sleeping–car at Philadelphia, and slept until awakened within a few miles of Washington.” This account contradicts other first-hand accounts, which state that Lincoln spent a sleepless and anxious night with Lamon and Pinkerton, during which he “spoke in a quiet voice to avoid being noticed.”<ref>Harris, William C., Lincoln’s Rise to the Presidency. (Lawrence:University of Kansas Press, 2007), 318.</ref>

Legitimate or not, many sources report, “There is little doubt that the feeling and sentiment of the people of Baltimore is very bitter against Mr. Lincoln, so much so, indeed, that violence might have been attempted.”{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}

Whether or not the President-elect was ever in any real danger of being assassinated, Lincoln's efforts to reach Washington, D.C., safely instantly became a humiliating ''[[cause célèbre]]'' across the nation, much to his chagrin.

Several elements of the initial ''[[New York Times]]'' article of February 23, 1861, were especially damning. Primarily, the fact that such a negative report came from an ardently Republican newspaper gave it instant credibility<ref>Harper p. 90</ref>—much more than it would have enjoyed if it had come from a [[Copperheads (politics)|Copperhead]] or Southern source. When ''The New York Times'' published [[Joseph Howard, Jr.]]'s account of the President-elect disguised in a scotch-cap and long cloak, the nation "rocked with laughter, bringing abuse and ridicule down on Lincoln.".<ref>Holzer, Harold, ''Lincoln Seen & Heard''. (University Press of Kansas, 2000.) (p. 118)</ref> Substantively, the Howard article was a direct assault on Lincoln's manliness. The article states that Lincoln was reluctant—too scared—to go and was only compelled to go by Colonel Sumner's indignation and by the insistence—shame—of his wife and several others.<ref>Harper p. 89</ref>

The newspapers relentlessly<!-- Really? They NEVER stopped? --> lampooned Lincoln for slipping through Baltimore in the dead of night. [[Adalbert J. Volck]], a Baltimore dentist and caricaturist, was inspired to pen his famous satirical etching "Passage through Baltimore". Volck's image of a startled Lincoln in his nightshirt peering out of the side of his rail car as it passes through Baltimore has become part of the Lincoln iconography. "In the nineteenth century, when pictures were less common and more prized, the scotch-cap symbol remained a prop in Confederate graphics, and some Northern-made prints as well, for years—the reminder of Lincoln fleeing in disguise an automatic accusation of his supposed lack of character."<ref>Holzer, p. 118</ref>

For the rest of his presidency, the story of his sneaking like a coward through Baltimore would be told and retold by his enemies, with particular effect by cartoonists of the day. He was drawn with many variations of Scottish headwear, which eventually morphed into a Scottish [[Balmoral bonnet|balmoral]] cap and very short [[kilt]]. The absurd disguise was often accompanied by a terrified expression on the President-elect's face, to further undermine the public's image of his courage and manliness. Images such as [http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1861/march/plot-kill-lincoln-1861.htm a comic strip] in ''[[Harper's Weekly]]'' plagued Lincoln throughout his presidency.

Newspapers of all parties mocked Lincoln's actions. In a ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine, historical)|Vanity Fair]]'' cartoon, the kilt was traded for a dress the president had borrowed from his wife. By the time Abraham Lincoln arrived in Washington, he was the laughing stock of the entire country.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=CZh2pgihScoC&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=lincoln+cartoon+in+kilt&source=web&ots=EzuPgodUlw&sig=7iHJn7WkmayFNU26g-H0BRru3Q4 |title=Lincoln's wrath: fierce mobs, brilliant scoundrels and a president's mission|publisher=Books.google.com |date= |accessdate=2011-05-28}}</ref>

''The New York Tribune'' was nonetheless forced to admit "It is the only instance recorded in our history in which the recognized head of a nation [...] has been compelled, for fear of his life, to enter the capital in disguise." More blunt was the denunciation by the ''Baltimore Sun'':

:Had we any respect for Mr. Lincoln, official or personal, as a man, or as President-elect of the United States [...] the final escapade by which he reached the capital would have utterly demolished it. [...] He might have entered Willard's Hotel with a "head spring" and a "summersault," and the clown's merry greeting to Gen. Scott, "Here we are!" and we should care nothing about it, personally. We do not believe the Presidency can ever be more degraded by any of his successors than it has by him, even before his inauguration.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historynet.com/historical_figures/3704871.html?showAll=y&c=y |title=Historical Figures &#124; Abraham Lincoln Takes the Heat |publisher=TheHistoryNet |date= |accessdate=2011-05-28}}</ref>

===Pratt Street riot===
The [[Baltimore riot of 1861|Pratt Street riot]] in Baltimore on April 19 and the subsequent arrest and imprisonment of many prominent city residents did little to endear Baltimore to the Union.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}

===Hollywood recreations===
In 1951, [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] released a fictional re-creation of the alleged plot against Lincoln, ''[[The Tall Target]]''. Its story generally follows what is known about the Baltimore Plot, with some differences. It is a [[New York Police Department]] detective named John Kennedy, played by [[Dick Powell]], who contacts the administration about the conspiracy, and who boards the train hoping to discover whether any of the plotters are on board before they reach Baltimore. Kennedy discovers a plot that involves a riot to distract police protection away from Lincoln and a sharpshooter armed with a rifle with a telescopic sight to shoot the President-elect. Through Kennedy's efforts, the attempt is aborted and key members of the conspiracy are identified. There actually was an NYPD officer, [[John Alexander Kennedy]], who claimed to have been the one who uncovered the Baltimore Plot; but, unlike Powell's movie character, he was not actually on scene. Moreover, in real life, Kennedy was the [[New York City Police Commissioner|Superintendent]] of the entire force. In the film, he is depicted as a mere [[detective sergeant]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}

<!-- Move this info to the article on the movie. -->
"The Death Trap", an episode of the 1966–1967 television series ''[[The Time Tunnel]]'', includes the 1861 Baltimore plot, although it also depicts a brief difficulty with the time machine that caused the showing of (an enactment of) the 1865 shooting of Lincoln at Ford's Theatre. The episode depicts a bomb being used in the 1861 Baltimore plot, and has the attempt being plotted by Abolitionists who hope to plunge the nation into a war in which slavery will be ended; the plotters are apparent sympathizers with John Brown, who had already been hanged. (The Civil War actually began in April 1861, with the attack on Fort Sumter.)

==See also==
*[[American Civil War spies]]
*[[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln]]
*[[Charles Van Wyck]]
*[[List of United States presidential assassination attempts and plots]]

==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
*Cuthbert, Norma Barrett (ed.). ''Lincoln and the Baltimore Plot, 1861.'' (1949)
*Evitts, William J., ''A Matter of Allegiances- Maryland from 1850-1861''(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,1974)
*Flight of Abraham. Woodcut engraving from Harper's Weekly, New York, March 9, 1861.
*Harper, Robert S., Lincoln and the Press. (McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. New York, 1951.)
*Harris, William C. Lincoln's Rise to the Presidency.  (University Press of Kansas, 2000.)
*Holzer, Harold, "Lincoln Seen & Heard." (University Press of Kansas, 2000.)
*Lamon, W: Life of Abraham Lincoln, page 513. (James R. Osgood and Company, 1872.)
*Pinkerton, A. (1883). ''The Spy of the Rebellion''; being a true history of the spy system of the United States Army during the late rebellion. Revealing many secrets of the war hitherto not made public. Comp. from official reports prepared for President Lincoln, General McClellan and the [[provost-marshal-general]]. New York, G.W. Carleton & Co. (1883)
* J Hist Dent. 2001 Mar;49(1):17-23. (2001)
*Internet Movie Database
{{US Presidential Assassinations}}
{{U.S. cities in the Civil War}}

[[Category:Assassination attempts]]
[[Category:Causes of war|American Civil War, Origins of the]]
[[Category:History of Maryland]]
[[Category:History of the United States (1849–1865)]]
[[Category:Lincoln conspirators]]
[[Category:1861 in Maryland]]

[[fr:Complot de Baltimore]]