On March 20, 1865, John Wilkes Booth, a Maryland native and a Confederate sympathizer, attempted to kidnap the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln luckily did not appear at the location where Booth had planned to abduct him. Two weeks after the failed attempt, Union forces took control of the city of Richmond, Virginia. The collapse of the Confederate forces seemed imminent due to the fact that the Union had taken control of most of the Confederate territories. After his failed attempt to kidnap Lincoln, Booth believed that the only way the Confederate forces could regain power was by assassinating President Lincoln. Booth began preparations for his new plan.1
Lincoln had a passion for drama and the theatre, as did Booth who was a well known and successful actor in the United States. Laura Keene, one of the most famous actresses at the time, was going to perform the three act play “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., and after learning that Lincoln would be present at the event, Booth knew it was the perfect opportunity for to carry out his plan. On the evening of April 14, 1865, Lincoln occupied his private box at the Ford Theatre along with his wife, Officer Henry Rathbone and Rathbone’s fiancée. Booth was in the crowd, and when the clock reached 10:00PM, Booth entered Lincoln’s box. He positioned himself behind Lincoln, removed his .44 caliber Derringer and shot Lincoln in the back of the head. In the process he managed to stab Officer Rathbone. After the vicious attack, Booth jumped from the box and onto the stage. Upon his landing, Booth shouted, “Sic temper tyrannis!” which means “I always bring death to tyrants.” The crowd was amazed and thought that it was all part of the play. It was not until Mary, Lincoln’s wife, shouted for help that the crowd took notice of the atrocity. Among the crowd there was a doctor that attempted to care for Lincoln, but unfortunately Lincoln did not make it through and was pronounced dead the next morning.2
Booth managed to escape the premises, and this led to one of the biggest manhunts in the history of the United States. Twelve days later, on April 26th, Booth was found along with two accomplices, David Herold, and Mary Surrat, by the Union army inside a house in Virginia. The house was burned down by the Union troops and Booth was shot in the head. David Herold was sentenced to death as was Mary Surrat. Booth’s plan of “saving” the Confederate forces failed as General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate army to the Union forces on April 9, 1865, five days before Lincoln’s murder.
President Lincoln was one of the most influential people in the development of the United States of America and what it represents today. “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”- Abraham Lincoln.3
- James Orbesen, John Wilkes Booth : Beyond the Grave (Maryland, Landham: Trade Publishing, 2013), 6-14. ↵
- Kim A. O’Connell, “Lincoln’s Last Witness,” Civil War Times, no. 3 (2015): 60. ↵
- George Clack and Michael Jay Friedman, Abraham Lincoln: A Legacy of Freedom (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of State, Bureau of International Information Programs, 2008), 22. ↵
70 comments
Kailan Pena
Of course I have heard about the assassination of our wonderful president Abraham Lincoln, but I never really knew the details of the whole assassination. You could really tell Booth was a fan of the dramatics since he yelled that line before he did the deed. In all seriousness though, it was interesting to read the details on this sad moment in history, great article.
Alyssa Childs
I could never image myself taking a life of an innocent person. Abraham Lincoln will always be remembered and his life was one to carry on forever. His presidency wasn’t long enough but from what I can tell he was an outstanding president. Booth and his accomplices were blinded by stupidity and took the life of a man who was only trying to enjoy a theater play.
Belia Camarena
Although the assassination of Abraham Lincoln is not a new story for me, I really enjoyed reading this article. It was well written, and everything flowed smoothly. I was surprised to find out that John Wilkes Booth’s original plan was to kidnap the president. I had no idea that he had previously attempted to carry out this plan, or that he resorted to killing President Lincoln as a last resort. I always thought that his original plan was to kill the president.
Christopher King
I was not aware of the fact that Booth was attempting to kidnap Lincoln which would be nearly impossible. With the results of the Confederacy’s moarning for Lincolns death, I feel Booth probably would not have had successful results no matter what he did. I enjoyed the details going into the article of his assassination.
Eduardo Foster
The article is very interesting! I have hear of Abraham Lincoln before but I did not knew about his assassination. As it can be seem this guy really wanted to kill Abraham Lincoln as he had multiple tries. At the end he got what he wish for the Confederate power. Great article and keep it up with the good work!
Joshua Breard
People can do some crazy things with crazy motives. Booth wanted the Confederates to have power again and he thought he could do so by killing the president. I did not know that Booth tried to kidnap the president so that was interesting to read on. It is also sad how Robert E Lee surrendered days later after the death of Lincoln. Crazy looking back at the facts of the murder and trying to understand motives of the others. Great article! Very informative!
Oceane Roux
Thank you for this article! I find it unbelievable that such man has been able to murder the president of the US. I would have liked to learn a little more about how did Booth get so close to President Lincoln and if the security in charge of the President committed a mistake or if the protocol wasn’t as strict at that time.
Cherice Leach
This Booth guy obviously isn’t a criminal mastermind or very kind either. Who would do such a thing and murder such an honorable during a play?! That is just so disrespectful. It’s also crazy that the audience thought it was apart of the show. Our poor former President. Abe Lincoln was honestly one of the best President’s. Could you imagine all the great things he could have accomplished if Booth never committed such a tragic crime?
Michael Mandujano
Abraham Lincoln was one of the most prominent Presidents throughout U.S history, it is very saddening that such a great leader’s life had to be taken by an assassination plot. For instance, John Wilkes Booth was a twisted individual for planning to abduct President Lincoln. Although, he failed at his abduction attempt, it is wicked how Booth was successful in the assassination of President Lincoln. Overall, I enjoyed how this article perfectly went into depth and described how Lincoln was assassinated.
Maria Callejas
This was a total learning experience. Although I was aware of Lincoln’s assassination, I didn’t know Booth’s motives behind such actions. But now I do! Thanks to your great usage of evidence. What Booth didn’t know was that the killing of Lincoln was not the end of Abe’s beliefs. It is 2017 and still, Abraham Lincoln views on equality persevere. Although his life was taken away abruptly, his legacy will live on forever. Awesome article!