Objective: To examine the circumstances surrounding the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

These states joined together in forming the Confederate States Anger over Lincoln’s victory in the election of 1860 led 11 of the 15 slave states to secede from the Union in 1861. These states joined together in forming the Confederate States of America.

The Confederates chose Mississippi Senator Jefferson Davis to be their president.

Jefferson Davis being sworn in as President of the Confederate States of America on February 18, 1861, on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol.

A plan was organized by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth, who was a famous actor during the time, to kidnap President Lincoln in order to exchange him for Confederate prisoners of war. John Wilkes Booth, Edwin Booth and Junius Brutus Booth (from left to right) in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in 1864.

March 18, 1865, Ford's Theatre playbill — Booth's last acting appearance

In 1864, Abraham Lincoln was reelected and John Wilkes Booth attended his 1865 inauguration. After listening to Lincoln’s speech, Booth changed his plan from kidnapping to assassination. Lincoln's second inauguration, Washington, DC, 1865.

Secretary of State William Seward Booth planned on killing President Lincoln, Vice-President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward simultaneously through the use of multiple assassins. Vice-President Andrew Johnson Secretary of State William Seward

George Atzerodt, whom John Wilkes Booth had assigned to kill Vice-President Andrew Johnson, lost his nerve and did not go through with the plot. George Atzerodt

However, Lewis Powell did follow through with his plan to kill Secretary of State William Seward. Lewis Powell in prison just prior to his execution.

After entering Seward’s home, Powell beat Frederick Seward, the son of William Seward, into unconsciousness. Powell then proceeded to stab William Seward several times in the neck and face. Amazingly, Seward survived the attack. Lewis Powell attacking Frederick Seward after attempting to shoot him.

As an actor, John Wilkes Booth was able to use his connections at Ford’s Theatre to gain access to the balcony where President Lincoln was sitting with his wife. Lincoln was seated in the Ford’s Theater State Box on the right.

On April 14, 1865, after gaining access to the balcony at Ford’s Theatre, John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln.

President Lincoln's funeral procession in New York City, 1865

(above) The porch of the Garrett farmhouse, where Booth died in 1865. Eleven days after the assassination of President Lincoln, Booth was caught and killed by Union soldiers at a farmhouse in Virginia. (above) The porch of the Garrett farmhouse, where Booth died in 1865.

Execution of Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt, conspirators of Abraham Lincoln assassination, on July 7, 1865 at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C.