1. The Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln

2. The War is Over
Lincoln knows peace for the first time since being elected President in 1860
His depression lifts
Jokes with family and friends
Feels free now to take carriage rides with Mrs. Lincoln and attend the theater, which he loves
He is now being praised instead of vilified for the success of the Union Army in the Civil War
All Americans are looking for Lincoln to lead them through the difficult task of reconstruction
Northerners trust and respect their President and will support his plans
South sees hope after the magnanimous surrender terms Grant gave to Lee

3. Avenging the south
John Wilkes Booth, and actor and southern sympathizer, was despondent over the south’s defeat
Lincoln had seen Booth perform many times, and was big fan
Booth ignored an invitation to the White House to meet the President

4. John Wilkes Booth Extremely popular and charismatic figure
Comes from a prominent acting family
Junius Booth, father
Edwin Booth, brother
Famous for his performances all over the country
A regular visitor to Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C.
Received his mail there
Performed there many times.

5. A Plan in the Works Booth had been concocting a plan for months
Originally wanted to kidnap the President
Force General Grant to return Confederate prisoners
Booth organized a band of co-conspirators to help him with his plan
Lewis Powell
George Adzerodt
David Herold

6. The main conspirators
Lewis Powell
David Herold
George Adzerodt

7. Booth’s Motives Darken
As the war is going increasingly worse for the south, Booth changes his plan to killing Lincoln instead
Powell is to kill Secretary of State William Seward
Adzerodt is to kill Vice-President Andrew Johnson
Booth wants to decapitate the American government so that the resulting confusion will give an advantage to the Confederates
Several other conspirators, who were in favor of the kidnapping, refuse to take part. The key three remain

8. Booth stalks Lincoln
Booth needs to know where Lincoln will be in order to kill him
Can’t get at him at the White House
The President rarely goes out
Begins to research his movements and habits
Booth (top, circled) attended Lincoln’s second Inaugural Address, later telling a friend the he could have easily killed Lincoln (bottom, circled) there

9. An opportunity
On Friday, April 14, 1865, while picking up his mail at Ford’s Theater, Booth learns that the President and General Grant will be attending a play there that evening
Booth senses his opportunity
He knows Ford’s well, having acted there many times
He knows the play, Our American Cousin, very well
He has unlimited access to the theater, as befitting a famous and important actor
Booth assembles his team and lays out the plan for the evening

10. Vice-President Andrew Johnson
Adzerodt was supposed to knock on the door of Johnson’s suite at the Kirkwood hotel, and shoot the Vice-President when he answers the door.
Adzerodt got scared and decided to get drunk instead; Johnson remained unharmed and unaware of any danger

11. Secretary of State William Seward
Injured in a previous accident, Seward was already bed-ridden
Powell gains entry pretending to bring medicine
Stabs Seward in the face and neck five times before fleeing on foot
Although gravely injured, Seward survives the attack

12. At Ford’s Theater
The President and Mrs. Lincoln arrive late to the play, as was the custom
The show stops
Lincoln is acknowledged and applauded
They take their seats and the play resumes
They are accompanied Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancée, Clara Harris
The Presidential Box at Ford’s Theater

13. Booth waits Booth is very familiar with the play Lincoln is watching
He notices that the Presidential box is not guarded
No Secret Service in 1865
The guard, not thinking any danger would occur, leaves his post to go to a local pub
Booth climbs the stairs and watches Lincoln through a hole in the box door that he made, waiting for the perfect opportunity

14. Booth strikes
Knowing the play, Booth is waiting for the perfect moment to strike
Waiting for the most commotion in the play and audience
Wants to strike when he would be least expected
The funniest line in the play arrives: "Don't know the manners of good society, eh? Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, old gal; you sockdologizing old man-trap!"

15. Lincoln is shot
The crowd erupts in laughter, and Booth shoots Lincoln behind the left ear at point blank range
Lincoln was laughing as he was shot
No one heard the gun shot
After shooting the president and wounding major Rathbone with his knife, Booth leaps from the Presidential box to the stage
The heel of his boot catches on the bunting, and he breaks his ankle as he hits the stage
He shouts “Sic Semper Tyrannis!” to a confused crowd, and limps from the stage
Mary Lincoln’s shrieks are the first indication of a major problem

16. Pandemonium
Lincoln slumps in his chair, mortally wounded, but not dead yet
The bullet is lodged behind his right eye
There is no chance for him to recover, so the people attending him try to make him as comfortable as they can
He is moved across the street to a boarding house, where he dies early the next morning

17. Artifacts Left: The derringer pistol used to assassinate Lincoln
Right: The probe used to examine Lincoln’s wound, and bits of skull fragments removed from the bullet path

18. Artifacts Left: Lincoln’s chair at Ford’s stained with his blood
Right: The Peterson House, across the street from Ford’s Theater, where Lincoln died

19. Fate of the conspirators
Booth: after having his leg set by Dr. Samuel Mudd, he chased through Maryland and Virginia and shot to death by Sergeant Boston Corbett after being cornered in a barn
George Adzerodt: Hung
Lewis Powell: Hung
Mary Suratt (owner of the boarding house where the deed was planned): Hung

20. Executions

21. Lincoln’s Death Everything changes
Now the government is in the hands of people who want revenge from the south
Booth hoping to be a hero, condemned the south to decades of misery
President Abraham Lincoln, laying in state