| Attempted assassination of Andrew Jackson | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Lithograph published by Endicott & Co, 1835 | |
| Location | United States Capitol, Washington D.C., United States |
| Coordinates | 38°53′24″N 77°00′33″W / 38.8899°N 77.0091°W |
| Date | January 30, 1835; 188 years ago |
| Target | Andrew Jackson |
Attack type | Assassination attempt |
| Weapons | 2 derringers |
| Deaths | 0 |
| Injured | 1 |
No. of participants | 1 |
| Motive | Mental illness |
| Accused | Richard Lawrence |
| Verdict | Not guilty by reason of insanity
|
| Sentence | Institutionalization |
On January 30, 1835, Richard Lawrence, an unemployed English-American house painter, attempted to assassinate United States president Andrew Jackson in Washington D.C.[1][2] Lawrence attempted to fire two derringers at Jackson, both of which failed. It was the first known attempted assassination of a president of the United States.
Assassination attempt edit
On January 30, 1835, several US politicians had gathered for the funeral of Warren R. Davis, who had represented South Carolina's 6th congressional district since 1827.[3] Andrew Jackson and most of his cabinet were in attendance at the funeral.[1] Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter who had emigrated to the US, had hidden himself behind a pillar outside the Capitol rotunda.
As Jackson and his cabinet left the building and proceeded towards the east portico,[4] Lawrence aimed one of his two single-shot derringers at Jackson's chest and pulled the trigger three paces away from him. The gun produced an explosion, fired the cap, but failed to discharge the bullet. Jackson advanced towards Lawrence with his cane; however, before Jackson could reach Lawrence, he had dropped the first derringer, withdrawn out a second, and pulled the trigger: it too misfired.[4][5]
Jackson and others attributed his survival to divine providence.[6][4][7] However, the reason for the failure of both guns to fire may be because of the dampness of the air that day.[8]
References edit
- ^ a b Grinspan, Jon. "Trying to Assassinate Andrew Jackson". American Heritage Project. Archived from the original on October 24, 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
- ^ "The Attempt to Kill "King Andrew"". United States Senate. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
- ^ Boissoneault, Lorraine (March 14, 2017). "The Attempted Assassination of Andrew Jackson". Smithsonian. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
- ^ a b c Brammer, Robert (January 16, 2014). ""I'll be damned if I don't do it!": The Failed Assassination Attempt on President Andrew Jackson". Library of Congress. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
- ^ Rohrs, Richard C. (Summer 1981). "Partisan Politics and the Attempted Assassination of Andrew Jackson". Journal of the Early Republic. 1: 149–163 – via JSTOR.
- ^ "H. to his wife, Febrary 2, 1835, regarding an attempted assassination of President Jackson on the steps of the Capitol". Tennessee Virtual Archive. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
- ^ Latson, Jennifer (30 January 2015). "How Divine Providence—and a Heavy Stick—Saved a President's Life". TIME. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
- ^ Cain, Áine (28 November 2017). "The first known attempt on a sitting US president's life is a baffling legend of misfiring pistols, historical figures, and an assassin who thought he was king". Business Insider. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
