Lincoln’s assassination

April 15, 1865

150 Years Ago Today!

Who was John Wilkes booth?

• Born in Maryland in 1838

• Southern sympathizer (he wanted the Confederacy to

win)

• He stayed in the North during the Civil War

• Famous Actor

• He planned to kidnap the President one month earlier,

but the President did not show up to the spot where

Booth thought he would be.

Who was John Wilkes booth?

“Our American Cousin”

• Five days after the Civil War ends, Lincoln attends a

play with his wife.

• They sit in a private booth above the stage.

• John Wilkes Booth sneaks in the booth and shoots

the President in the head.

• Booth leaps off the booth to the stage and breaks

his leg, but escapes.

• Lincoln is carried to a farmhouse across the street

and dies the next morning.

“Our American Cousin”

Booth on the run…

• The Union Army searched for Booth

• Booth, with a broken leg, escapes Washington D.C.

on a horse with an accomplice.

• They stop at a farmhouse where a doctor sets

Booth’s broken leg.

• Using a boat, they go across the Potomac River and

hide in a barn in Virginia

Booth on the run…

Booth on the run…

• The Union Army found Booth on April 26th

• They surrounded the barn and set it on fire.

• As the barn burned, Booth was shot.

• He was carried out of the building and died 3 hours

later.