Lincoln Assassinated

Setting the scene

Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865, at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer and actor. The assassination occurred five days after General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox, which effectively ended the Civil War. Lincoln and his wife Mary were attending a performance of 'Our American Cousin.' Booth, part of a conspiracy to decapitate the Union government, slipped into the presidential box at 10:15 p.m. and shot Lincoln in the back of the head with a derringer pistol.

What happened

Booth leapt to the stage, shouting 'Sic semper tyrannis' (Thus always to tyrants), breaking his leg in the fall, and escaped. Lincoln was carried across the street to the Petersen House, where he died at 7:22 a.m. on April 15 without regaining consciousness. Booth's co-conspirators failed to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward (who was stabbed but survived). Booth fled to Virginia, where he was tracked down and killed on April 26 at Garrett's farm.

Why it still matters

Lincoln's assassination was the first of a U.S. president and devastated the nation. It occurred just as Lincoln was planning lenient Reconstruction policies toward the South. His death elevated him to martyrdom and allowed Radical Republicans to impose harsher Reconstruction, contributing to Southern resentment. The assassination also led to a flawed succession—Andrew Johnson, a Southern Democrat, clashed with Congress and was impeached. Lincoln's death ensured his legacy as the savior of the Union, but deprived the nation of his leadership during the critical postwar period, with consequences that echo in American race relations today.

Background

Reconstruction began under Andrew Johnson.