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
Tyler Sleeter
Interesting article. I was not aware that Booth had originally attempted to kidnap President Lincoln. It would be interesting to imagine how much different history would be if Lincoln had not died before reconstruction began. I know that Booth and his conspirators had plans to assassinate several people that night, which had the potential to cripple the United States government.
Mario Sosa
Very elaborate article. What some people seem to forget is that Booth had other co-conspirators that were tasked with simultaneously assassinating the vice president and secretary of state, along with Lincoln. I was not aware that Booth had attempted to kidnap Lincoln a month prior to his assassination. It makes me wonder how America would have changed had Lincoln avoided assassination. Great job!
Cesar Zavala
The assassination of Lincoln is probably on of the most famous assassinations to have happened in the history of the United States. Something I didn’t know before reading this article was that it took twelve days to capture Booth. Nowadays an assassination like this would end with the assassin being captured almost immediately. Another fact which I was not familiar with was that before planning to assassinate Lincoln, Booth wanted to kidnap him instead. I wonder how different things would be if he had kindapped him instead of assassinating him.
Teresa Valdez
This article is a very fluid narrative of the assassination. It was nice to gain a little insight to Booth’s motives, as well as to learn about his co-conspirators. If only we could have seen the legacy Lincoln could have implemented after the war. I liked how the article began with Booth’s side of the story and ended in paying homage to Lincoln.
Lianna Ybarra
I had no idea that Booth had originally wanted to kidnap him. I could only imagine the pain and suffering his loved ones and fellow Americans felt when they learned of the news. It’s a little scary to think how the president was assassinated just because someone wanted the confederates back in control. I wonder if he wasn’t assassinated how much more he would have done for the U.S. I have only heard great things about his presidency and it would’ve been great to know how much more he would have done.
Justin Sassman
Pretty good article about this topic, I also didn’t know that Booth wanted to kidnap Lincoln at first instead of killing him. Also realizing that the assassination was just days after the southern armies surrendered, it would make you think what would happen if Booth would have known that would be still carry out his plan, change his plan, or just step away from it completely.
Aaron Jaramillo
Good article Andres, it was well researched, and well written. I just knew the basic facts of Abraham Lincolns assassination. After reading this I learned a whole lot more about Lincolns death. I had no idea about Booth’s attempt to kidnap Lincoln, that was interesting to learn. You did a good job explaining the story with your sources you cited. Very well done job!
Sergio Cervantes
It is always refreshing to learn new facts about a tragic event in US history. I find even the minor details such as, the name of the play or the model of the pistol used to kill Lincoln, add color to the picture. I had heard that Booth had shouted a Latin phrase but never knew what it actually meant. Now, because of the meaning of the phrase, it seems that many of the Confederates viewed the central, federal government as a symbol of tyranny and oppression. The image included depicting a US newspaper announcing the murder of Lincoln is a great add-on. Overall, a great read!
Christian Lozano
Great Article, I knew of the basic info of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, but this article definitely goes more in depth than to what I have previously read. One example is how even Officer Rathbone sustained a stab wound, that was something I never knew. Good Job!
Maalik Stansbury
I didn’t even know that Booth was found with accomplices. I only knew the basic information of Abe being assassinated. Great job with explaining the rest of the story, sense people don’t really know the whole story. Also great deal of research was presented in your article. Great job.