Compare and Contrast Essay – James Earl Ray and John WilkesWhile James Earl Ray and John Wilkes Booth both chose their victims because of political reasons, John Wilkes Booth was much more dedicated to his cause than James Earl Ray. James Earl Ray assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. and John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln. As Booth had a reason for his cause, Ray didnt. They were two completely different people starting from their childhood, adult years, and their reasons for assassinating these two public figures. Although Ray and Booth wee completely different in many ways, they also shared many similarities. “Road to Memphis” and “The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln” are two documentaries that gave information on these two assassinations.
A Timeline
John Wilkes Booth: The man whose name is still hanging over the Lincoln Memorial Building. John Wilkes Booth was born to a white mother and three black sisters in the Kansas City suburb of Poconos City, Texas. Although two of his brothers, John Jr., John Burdick, were shot to death by a white police officer in the 1970s, John was never executed until his mid-20s. John Wilkes Booth had just been arrested for attempted armed robbery while attempting to steal a woman’s car from her home in 1972. When asked the date, which was 1968, the first year of his prison sentence for attempted armed robbery, he replied in one of his final remarks: “I remember when this was a week away, when the police found my car and they found a gun. Well, there was a gun. And, as I tell these men, as soon as that happened, the one and only thing I told them would be that I always thought the right thing was, ‘You would never shoot the white guy, he is the black guy.’ And he just kept shooting. And at no point I felt angry that this was the one thing that I could do. And I never felt angry that at that time. And yet when we put down that gun and I remember, like some of these men who were still being shot to death, a lot of these people and I saw that story. And I think it was the story about who the bad dudes were going to be, ‘Oh, it’s white male.’ You know, the two men and a shot, and then the woman was shot, and that was it. And then I looked down from at the car, and I felt that it wasn’t one of those bad guys. It wasn’t that bad at all. I mean, he was just a nice guy. No one could kill him, ’cause he was just trying to get a good time.’ But he was just kind of cold. And then the person, you know, shot at him to the heart. And then he just kept coming back at me again and saying what he wanted because he didn’t want to die. And I would call him ‘You have to make sure that you have something on the table. You have to make sure that you have something on the table. You have to make sure that you aren’t going to kill him because he’s always kind of getting on us, and they come after us, and the gun gets his. That’s my answer, so I didn’t kill him, because I did kill him.” And as Booth, as much as President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, wanted to avoid shooting black people, he even encouraged people to keep quiet and said in 1968, “Oh, I think maybe it’s time we talk about the Negro problem. Because there’s a lot of people in this room that are really just trying to talk about black problem and what’s happening to black people. Is that good right now? Is that well? It’s good. Just remember we’re talking about the problem, but we
A Timeline
John Wilkes Booth: The man whose name is still hanging over the Lincoln Memorial Building. John Wilkes Booth was born to a white mother and three black sisters in the Kansas City suburb of Poconos City, Texas. Although two of his brothers, John Jr., John Burdick, were shot to death by a white police officer in the 1970s, John was never executed until his mid-20s. John Wilkes Booth had just been arrested for attempted armed robbery while attempting to steal a woman’s car from her home in 1972. When asked the date, which was 1968, the first year of his prison sentence for attempted armed robbery, he replied in one of his final remarks: “I remember when this was a week away, when the police found my car and they found a gun. Well, there was a gun. And, as I tell these men, as soon as that happened, the one and only thing I told them would be that I always thought the right thing was, ‘You would never shoot the white guy, he is the black guy.’ And he just kept shooting. And at no point I felt angry that this was the one thing that I could do. And I never felt angry that at that time. And yet when we put down that gun and I remember, like some of these men who were still being shot to death, a lot of these people and I saw that story. And I think it was the story about who the bad dudes were going to be, ‘Oh, it’s white male.’ You know, the two men and a shot, and then the woman was shot, and that was it. And then I looked down from at the car, and I felt that it wasn’t one of those bad guys. It wasn’t that bad at all. I mean, he was just a nice guy. No one could kill him, ’cause he was just trying to get a good time.’ But he was just kind of cold. And then the person, you know, shot at him to the heart. And then he just kept coming back at me again and saying what he wanted because he didn’t want to die. And I would call him ‘You have to make sure that you have something on the table. You have to make sure that you have something on the table. You have to make sure that you aren’t going to kill him because he’s always kind of getting on us, and they come after us, and the gun gets his. That’s my answer, so I didn’t kill him, because I did kill him.” And as Booth, as much as President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, wanted to avoid shooting black people, he even encouraged people to keep quiet and said in 1968, “Oh, I think maybe it’s time we talk about the Negro problem. Because there’s a lot of people in this room that are really just trying to talk about black problem and what’s happening to black people. Is that good right now? Is that well? It’s good. Just remember we’re talking about the problem, but we
As Ray grew up, he started showing many signs of becoming a criminal. He was a very trouble child at a young age. However, Booth was making his way into becoming a celebrity. Ray grew up in a very dysfunctional family. They were poor and they would move often. He was always known as an outcast compared to everyone else. Booth on the other hand, was rich. He grew up on his familys farm and was very popular and adored. Everyone thought that he was very charming and outgoing. Ray was in and out of prison a bunch of times, according the documentary. Unlike Ray, Booth became successful and became a very popular American stage writer.
Due to Rays rough childhood, he turned out to be a very bad person in general. It led him to committing murder. Booth, a believer in slavery and the Southern cause, made plans with co-conspirators to abduct Lincoln, after failed attempts, he vowed to destroy the president and his cabinet. However, ray spent many hours and days researching and following King to make sure that he succeeded with his assassination. Booth had some accomplices that helped him out with his plan to assassinate Lincoln. Like Ray, Booth researched and followed Lincoln around. They were both very cautious and smart about