This Document Based Question (DBQ) is focused around the Assassination of John F. Kennedy (JFK) and the conspiracy theories revolved around the assassination. After reading "Who Killed JFK?", students will look at the 10 different sources surrounding the assassination and will answer the question, was JFK assassinated by the lone gunman Lee Harvey Oswald?
Many different significant events were going on when JFK was the President The Cold War, Space Navigation, The Cuban Missile Crisis just to name a few. Since so many events were going on there could be so many different people around the world that didn’t agree with the Presidents decisions and would want him assassinated. This is such a significant time in history which makes this assassination such a significant event, with view points from many different perspective not just of the assassination, but why it happened.
Use the sources below and answer the questions that follow:
Many different significant events were going on when JFK was the President The Cold War, Space Navigation, The Cuban Missile Crisis just to name a few. Since so many events were going on there could be so many different people around the world that didn’t agree with the Presidents decisions and would want him assassinated. This is such a significant time in history which makes this assassination such a significant event, with view points from many different perspective not just of the assassination, but why it happened.
Use the sources below and answer the questions that follow:
Context:
From Wikipedia
The assassination of John F. Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, took place on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time(18:30 UTC) in Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was fatally wounded by gunfire while riding with his wifeJacqueline in a Presidential motorcade. The ten-month investigation of the Warren Commission of 1963–1964, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) of 1976–1979, and other government investigations concluded that the President was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald. This conclusion was initially met with support among the American public, but polls conducted from 1966 on show as many as 80% of the American public hold beliefs contrary to these findings.[1][2] The assassination is still the subject of widespread debate and has spawned numerous conspiracy theories and alternative scenarios. In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) found both the original FBI investigation and the Warren Commission Report to be seriously flawed. The HSCA also concluded that there were at least four shots fired and that it was probable that a conspiracy existed. Later studies, including one by the National Academy of Sciences,[3] have called into question the accuracy of the evidence used by the HSCA to support its finding of four shots.
Just before 12:30 p.m. CST, Kennedy’s limousine entered Dealey Plaza and slowly approached the Texas School Book Depository head-on. Nellie Connally, then the First Lady of Texas, turned around to Kennedy, who was sitting behind her, and commented, "Mr. President, you can't say Dallas doesn't love you," which President Kennedy acknowledged.[4][5]
When the Presidential limousine turned and passed the Depository and continued down Elm Street, shots were fired at Kennedy; a clear majority of witnesses recalled hearing three shots.[6] There was hardly any reaction in the crowd to the first shot, many later saying they thought they had heard a firecracker or the exhaust backfire of a vehicle.[7] President Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally, sitting beside his wife in front of the Kennedys in the limousine, both turned abruptly from looking to their left to looking to their right. Connally immediately recognized the sound of a high-powered rifle. "Oh, no, no, no", he said as he turned further right, and then started to turn left, attempting to see President Kennedy behind him.[8]
According to the Warren Commission[9] and the House Select Committee on Assassinations,[10] as President Kennedy waved to the crowds on his right, a shot entered his upper back, penetrated his neck, and exited his throat. He raised his clenched fists up to his neck and leaned forward and to his left, as Mrs. Kennedy put her arms around him in concern. Governor Connally also reacted, as the same bullet penetrated his back, chest, right wrist, and left thigh. He said, "My God, they are going to kill us all."[11][12]
The final shot took place when the Presidential limousine was passing in front of the John Neely Bryan north pergola concrete structure. As the shot was heard, a fist-size hole exploded out from the right side of President Kennedy's head, covering the interior of the car and a nearby motorcycle officer with blood and brain tissue.[13] Secret Service agent Clint Hill was riding on the left front running board of the car immediately behind the Presidential limousine. Sometime after the shot that hit the president in the back, Hill jumped off and ran to overtake the limousine.[14] After the president had been shot in the head, Mrs. Kennedy climbed onto the rear of the limousine, though she later had no recollection of doing so.[15] Hill believed she was reaching for something, perhaps a piece of the president's skull.[16] He jumped onto the back of the limousine, pushed Mrs. Kennedy back into her seat, and clung to the car as it exited Dealey Plaza and sped to Parkland Memorial Hospital.
Governor Connally, riding in the same limousine in a seat in front of the President, was also critically injured but survived. Doctors later stated that after the governor was shot, his wife pulled him onto her lap, and the resulting posture helped close his front chest wound (which was causing air to be sucked directly into his chest around his collapsed right lung). James Tague, a spectator and witness to the assassination, also received a minor wound to his right cheek while standing 270 feet (82 m) in front of where Kennedy was shot. The injury occurred when a bullet or bullet fragment struck a nearby curb.[17]
No radio or television stations broadcasted the assassination live because the area through which the motorcade was traveling was not considered important enough for a live broadcast. Most media crews were not even with the motorcade but were waiting instead at the Dallas Trade Mart in anticipation of Kennedy's arrival. Those members of the media who were with the motorcade were riding at the rear of the procession.
The Dallas police were recording their radio transmissions over two channels. A frequency designated as Channel One was used for routine police communications. A second channel, designated Channel Two, was an auxiliary channel, which was dedicated to the president's motorcade. Up until the time of the assassination, most of the broadcasts on this channel consisted of Police Chief Jesse Curry's announcements of the location of the motorcade as it wound through the streets of Dallas.
President Kennedy's last seconds traveling through Dealey Plaza were recorded on silent 8 mm film for the 26.6 seconds before, during, and immediately following the assassination. This famous film footage was taken by garment manufacturer and amateur cameraman Abraham Zapruder, in what became known as the Zapruder film. Frame enlargements from the Zapruder film were published by Life magazine shortly after the assassination. The footage was repeatedly shown on television, starting in 1975, sometimes omitting the fatal head shot.
The assassination of John F. Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, took place on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time(18:30 UTC) in Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was fatally wounded by gunfire while riding with his wifeJacqueline in a Presidential motorcade. The ten-month investigation of the Warren Commission of 1963–1964, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) of 1976–1979, and other government investigations concluded that the President was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald. This conclusion was initially met with support among the American public, but polls conducted from 1966 on show as many as 80% of the American public hold beliefs contrary to these findings.[1][2] The assassination is still the subject of widespread debate and has spawned numerous conspiracy theories and alternative scenarios. In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) found both the original FBI investigation and the Warren Commission Report to be seriously flawed. The HSCA also concluded that there were at least four shots fired and that it was probable that a conspiracy existed. Later studies, including one by the National Academy of Sciences,[3] have called into question the accuracy of the evidence used by the HSCA to support its finding of four shots.
Just before 12:30 p.m. CST, Kennedy’s limousine entered Dealey Plaza and slowly approached the Texas School Book Depository head-on. Nellie Connally, then the First Lady of Texas, turned around to Kennedy, who was sitting behind her, and commented, "Mr. President, you can't say Dallas doesn't love you," which President Kennedy acknowledged.[4][5]
When the Presidential limousine turned and passed the Depository and continued down Elm Street, shots were fired at Kennedy; a clear majority of witnesses recalled hearing three shots.[6] There was hardly any reaction in the crowd to the first shot, many later saying they thought they had heard a firecracker or the exhaust backfire of a vehicle.[7] President Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally, sitting beside his wife in front of the Kennedys in the limousine, both turned abruptly from looking to their left to looking to their right. Connally immediately recognized the sound of a high-powered rifle. "Oh, no, no, no", he said as he turned further right, and then started to turn left, attempting to see President Kennedy behind him.[8]
According to the Warren Commission[9] and the House Select Committee on Assassinations,[10] as President Kennedy waved to the crowds on his right, a shot entered his upper back, penetrated his neck, and exited his throat. He raised his clenched fists up to his neck and leaned forward and to his left, as Mrs. Kennedy put her arms around him in concern. Governor Connally also reacted, as the same bullet penetrated his back, chest, right wrist, and left thigh. He said, "My God, they are going to kill us all."[11][12]
The final shot took place when the Presidential limousine was passing in front of the John Neely Bryan north pergola concrete structure. As the shot was heard, a fist-size hole exploded out from the right side of President Kennedy's head, covering the interior of the car and a nearby motorcycle officer with blood and brain tissue.[13] Secret Service agent Clint Hill was riding on the left front running board of the car immediately behind the Presidential limousine. Sometime after the shot that hit the president in the back, Hill jumped off and ran to overtake the limousine.[14] After the president had been shot in the head, Mrs. Kennedy climbed onto the rear of the limousine, though she later had no recollection of doing so.[15] Hill believed she was reaching for something, perhaps a piece of the president's skull.[16] He jumped onto the back of the limousine, pushed Mrs. Kennedy back into her seat, and clung to the car as it exited Dealey Plaza and sped to Parkland Memorial Hospital.
Governor Connally, riding in the same limousine in a seat in front of the President, was also critically injured but survived. Doctors later stated that after the governor was shot, his wife pulled him onto her lap, and the resulting posture helped close his front chest wound (which was causing air to be sucked directly into his chest around his collapsed right lung). James Tague, a spectator and witness to the assassination, also received a minor wound to his right cheek while standing 270 feet (82 m) in front of where Kennedy was shot. The injury occurred when a bullet or bullet fragment struck a nearby curb.[17]
No radio or television stations broadcasted the assassination live because the area through which the motorcade was traveling was not considered important enough for a live broadcast. Most media crews were not even with the motorcade but were waiting instead at the Dallas Trade Mart in anticipation of Kennedy's arrival. Those members of the media who were with the motorcade were riding at the rear of the procession.
The Dallas police were recording their radio transmissions over two channels. A frequency designated as Channel One was used for routine police communications. A second channel, designated Channel Two, was an auxiliary channel, which was dedicated to the president's motorcade. Up until the time of the assassination, most of the broadcasts on this channel consisted of Police Chief Jesse Curry's announcements of the location of the motorcade as it wound through the streets of Dallas.
President Kennedy's last seconds traveling through Dealey Plaza were recorded on silent 8 mm film for the 26.6 seconds before, during, and immediately following the assassination. This famous film footage was taken by garment manufacturer and amateur cameraman Abraham Zapruder, in what became known as the Zapruder film. Frame enlargements from the Zapruder film were published by Life magazine shortly after the assassination. The footage was repeatedly shown on television, starting in 1975, sometimes omitting the fatal head shot.
Listen to the following radio reports:
WARNING: SOME OF THE CLIPS PROVIDED DO SHOW THE ACTUAL ASSASSINATION.
Source #1
The first source is about Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused for shooting President Kennedy, the source will help you analyze if in fact Oswald was in the Texas School Book Depository. This will also give you a sense of the surroundings and the different films that are used to analyze the assassination, and the amount of people that were there to witness the assassination, or be involved.
Watch the following clip and take notes about the previous questions:
- Was there movement in the School Book Depository?
- Was there enough evidence to accuse this man of murder?
- Could he fire 3 bullets with a sniper riffle in 8 seconds?
Watch the following clip and take notes about the previous questions:
Warning: This video shows the assassination up close using footage from the Zapruder Film at 4:54.
Source #2:
This 2nd source is also about Lee Harvey Oswald, but instead of this being a video on the assassination viewpoint, it is a biography of Oswald and how so many thought he could be the killer with questions in his history such as living in the Soviet Union for a short period of time.
Go to the following page and read the biography of Lee Harvey Oswald. You may watch the short video as well.
- What motive would Oswald have?
- What is so suspicious about his life before the Assassination?
- Who could Oswald be connected to?
Go to the following page and read the biography of Lee Harvey Oswald. You may watch the short video as well.
Source #3:
This 3rd source will give you the theory that the CIA had President Kennedy assassinated for some of the decisions that he was making relating to Foreign Policy.
Read the file below about the CIA theory surrounding the JFK assassination:
- Would the CIA actually go through with something like this?
- Why would they not just try and have the President impeached?
- Could the United States government turn on the President so quickly?
Read the file below about the CIA theory surrounding the JFK assassination:
JFK-CIA Theory | |
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File Type: |
Source #4:
Source 4 are Maps, and video of the interactive map depicting Dealey Plaza. It shows the map in 3D version so it is easier to get a sense of the president’s car and the shooter in relation with Dealey Plaza and the School Book Depository.
Study the maps below and watch the video that goes along with them:
- Why did Oswald not take the easy shot (coming up Houston Street as opposed to Elm Street)?
- What does the map help with visually?
- Does the map give a better sense of where other shooters could be standing?
Study the maps below and watch the video that goes along with them:
Source #5:
Source 5 is a news article posted in November 2014, of an exclusive interview with a man named James Files, who was a mafia hit man. This source will give an insight on a certain member of the mobs perspective saying that he in fact shot the president from the grassy noel in Dealey Plaza.
Go to the link below and read the article:
James Files Interview
- Is this enough motive for a Mob hit man to kill the president?
- Could Files be boasting for TV or does the background information give him credibility?
Go to the link below and read the article:
James Files Interview
Source #6:
The 6th source is a video on Louis Steven Witt or “the black umbrella man.” This source talks about and has actual live footage of the only man seen in any videos using an umbrella, but then seconds after the shooting he folds it back up and just sits on the edge of the street 30 feet away from where the president was shot.
Study the picture below and watch the video clips:
- Was this man signaling a gunman with the umbrella?
- Why did he not remember anything from that day revolving around the assassination?
- Why was he sitting calmly next to a Cuban man right after the shots?
Study the picture below and watch the video clips:
Source #7:
Source 7 is two diagrams depicting the “magic bullet” theory, and saying that there must have been more then one gunman because the trajectory of the bullet is impossible, unless Oswald was shooting some sort of “Magic Bullet” out of his rifle.
Study the pictures/diagrams below and watch the two video clips:
- Could a bullet ricochet from JFK and into Governor Connally?
- How does this defend the theory of more than one lone gunman?
Study the pictures/diagrams below and watch the two video clips:
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Source #8:
Source 8 is of the Grassy Knoll, all of the pictures were taken at least 30 seconds after the shooting, showing that if in fact the Mob man James Files did commit the assassination, he would have time to just walk away because no one reacted for at least 30-45 seconds.
Go to the following pages and review the material. Also, watch the video clip below:
Grassy Knoll 30 seconds after the assassination
James Files on camera on the Grassy Knoll
- Did Files have enough time to just walk away from the scene?
- Why was no one reacting to the assassination for such a long period of time?
- Would this be enough evidence to arrest Files?
Go to the following pages and review the material. Also, watch the video clip below:
Grassy Knoll 30 seconds after the assassination
James Files on camera on the Grassy Knoll
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Source #9:
Source 9 is an article about how Cuba could have been involved in the JFK assassination. One of the main reasons this theory is important is because Cuba and the U.S. had just been involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis, and also the blown operation that President Kennedy gave the O.K. to was the assassination of Fidel Castro.
Go to the following website and review the material:
Cuba and the Kennedy Assassination
- Did Cuba have enough motive to kill Kennedy?
- Was this a revenge attack because of the Cuban Missile Crisis?
- Was this revenge for the blown assassination attempt on Castro?
Go to the following website and review the material:
Cuba and the Kennedy Assassination
Source #10:
The final 10th source discusses the theory that (at the time of assassination) Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson pulled the strings on the assassination and used Oswald only as the fall guy. A quote also from Jack Ruby, the man who killed Oswald coming out of the Dallas Police station was quoted saying "if you knew the truth, you’d be amazed.”
Go to the following website and review the material:
LBJ and the Kennedy Assassination
- Did LBJ have enough motive to assassinate JFK?
- Why are LBJ’s files still covered up after 50 years?
- Why does Jackie Kennedy believe LBJ had the motive to kill Kennedy?
Go to the following website and review the material:
LBJ and the Kennedy Assassination