Lincoln Plot to assassinate Lincoln February 1861.

major bill

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Aug 25, 2012
Was there a serious plot to assassinate Lincoln February 1861? The National Volunteers, an affiliate of the Knights of the Golden Circle (K.G.C.) hatched several plans to aid the newly forming Confederacy. One was to kidnap President Buchanan and replace him with Breckinridge prior to Lincoln taking office. Another plot was to kill Lincoln as he passed through Baltimore, seize Washington D.C. and install Breckenridge as president by force. As president, Breckenridge would have likely allowed the Confederacy to leave the union without taking action and would have be very generous in any negations with the Confedercy. However the assignation of Lincoln and the installation of Breckenridge by force may have cased some negative reactions in some Northern states.

I have three questions. 1) How serious were these plots? 2) How would have the border states have reacted to a Lincoln assassination and the seizure of Washington D.C. with an installed president Breckenridge? 3)Would Breckenridge accept the presidency of the United States under these circumstances?



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Hate to not directly answer the questions- but the thing is, how could the any plot which includes as part of the plan replacing one man with another be serious? I mean, really- swipe Buchanon and stick Breckinridge in his place, did they think no one would notice the Vice President was now running things?

This ' install Breckinridge by force '- military coup? :spider: Guessing just because that is part of the plot- inclusive of a LOT of cooperation from inside both government and military, plotters could be as serious as they liked, plot can't have been very serious? All guesses- a genuine historian will be along to make hash out of this soon. :giggle:
 
I listened to a presentation about the Molly Maguires about two weeks ago and the Baltimore Plot came up in the Q&A period.

In the case of the Mollies, there is a school of thought that holds the Alan Pinkerton fabricated the story of the Mollies to please his mineowner clients. Circumstantial evidence to support this theory is that Pinkerton habitually fabricated 'evidence' for the purposes of personal financial gain. His spy work for Gen. McClellan is cited as a prime example, and also the famous 1906-1905 Big Bill Haywood case. So it is likewise theorized that the Baltimore Plot was also a fraud.
 
The K.G.C. prpaple plotted many things but just how serious a particular plot was is difficult to judge. Because they were a secret society we will never know for certian. Killing Lincoln and installed Breckinridge is differnt than kidnapping Buchanan and letting Breckinridge assume the presidency are two differnt things. The second is Constitunal, the first more of a iffy thing. One could view it as a defensive action to keep the Union from invading the Confedercy or one could view killing Lincoln as an agressive act. I do think installing Breckinridge as president would have avoided a Civil War. Still I am not certian it would have been a good thing.
 
Hate to not directly answer the questions- but the thing is, how could the any plot which includes as part of the plan replacing one man with another be serious? I mean, really- swipe Buchanon and stick Breckinridge in his place, did they think no one would notice the Vice President was now running things?

This ' install Breckinridge by force '- military coup? :spider: Guessing just because that is part of the plot- inclusive of a LOT of cooperation from inside both government and military, plotters could be as serious as they liked, plot can't have been very serious? All guesses- a genuine historian will be along to make hash out of this soon. :giggle:
I know you did this piece almost 3 years ago but your tongue-in-cheek gave me a good laugh thank you.
 
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