Why president garfield was assassinated

The new president, Chester A. Arthur, declared days of national mourning. Many considered him perhaps the most promising president of their era, despite his having served only four months in office before the shooting. That generation would be shocked to learn that today, in , just years later, Garfield and his story are largely forgotten. Even the spot where the shooting took place, the old Baltimore and Potomac train station, is long gone.

Garfield was the third youngest president when he took office, just 49 when elected in The morning of the shooting, Garfield himself, at 6 feet tall and pounds, performed handstands for his young sons in their bedroom and tossed them in the air while playing and saying goodbye. A lifelong abolitionist, he enlisted in the Union Army, became a captain, and participated in the Civil War battles of Shiloh and Chickamauga.

Elected to Congress in , Garfield played leading roles in almost every major issue of the day. He helped win passage of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution to guarantee equal rights for freed slaves. But after the convention stalemated for 35 ballots, delegates stampeded to an alternative all knew as a competent and intelligent candidate, Garfield himself. When finally elected president, Garfield had little time to enjoy it.

In office, he quickly became embroiled in a signature fight of the era, the struggle against political bosses who strangled the works of government through patronage and spoils. President James A. C on July 2, Although he was severely wounded, President Garfield initially survived the shooting. He never fully recovered though, and passed away on September 19, a mere six months after his inauguration as President.

Read more about it! The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America. The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.

Search this Guide Search. Garfield is shot and severely wounded by Charles J. Conti had gained some attention internationally with Early in the morning, enslaved Africans on the Cuban schooner Amistad rise up against their captors, killing two crewmembers and seizing control of the ship, which had been transporting them to a life of slavery on a sugar plantation at Puerto Principe, Cuba. In , the U. The pair were attempting to fly around the world when they lost their bearings during the most challenging leg of On July 2, , U.

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs into law the historic Civil Rights Act in a nationally televised ceremony at the White House. In the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education, the U. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in schools was Alarmed by the growing encroachment of whites settlers occupying Native American lands, the Shawnee Chief Tecumseh calls on all Native peoples to unite and resist. Born around near Springfield, Ohio, Tecumseh won early notice as a brave warrior.

He fought in battles between Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking breaks British publishing records on July 2, when his book A Brief History of Time remains on the nonfiction bestseller list for three and a half years, selling more than 3 million copies in 22 languages.