By Ellie and Ari

1. The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
BY: ARIANNA ARESCO & ELLIE HIEDEL

2. About Abraham Lincoln
 Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the
United States. He was the cause of the abolishment
of slavery, & also was one of the greatest American
presidents. Although very popular, many disagreed
with his standpoints & were not in favor of him
being our leader.
 Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes
Booth on April 14, 1865.

3. Lincoln’s Killer
John Wilkes Booth was young actor by nature. He first
experienced the spotlight at a young age, & came
from a family of actors leading to his career as one.
Booth was a confederate sympathizer, & strongly
opposed to the abolition of slavery. Angered by the
finalization to diminish slavery, he conceived that
Lincoln needed to be stopped.

4. The Night of The Assassination
 As the war began to come to an end, him and some associates came up with a plan to kidnap the
president and take him to Richmond, the Confederate capital. They planned the kidnapping to take place
on March 20 1865. On the day of the kidnapping him and his six fellows were in place ready, but were
shocked when Lincoln failed to appear at the spot that they waited. The search for John Booth was one of
the largest manhunts in history, with 10,000 federal troops, detectives, and police tracking down the
assassin. When he later learned that Lincoln would be attending Laura Keene’s performance at Ford’s
Theatre in Washington D.C. on April 14, he created a new plan, much larger than a kidnapping. There plan
was to assassinate not only president Abraham Lincoln, but Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary
of State William H. Seward. Lincoln and his wife were late for the comedy and were placed in a private
box with his wife, a young army officer named Henry Rathbone and Rathbone’s fiance. The assassination
took place at 10:15 p.m. as Booth entered the box he fired a single shot from his .44-caliber single-shot
derringer pistol into the back of president Lincoln’s head. Before this he had stabbed Rathbone in the
shoulder in order to get past him to get to Abraham. Booth then leapt on stage shouting “Sic semper
tyrannis” (“Thus ever to tyrants” the Virginia state motto). Although booth broke his leg in the fall he
managed to escape Washington on horseback.

5. Lincoln’s Death
 The president was found by a member in the audience Charles Lealer, a 23-year-
old doctor. He found the president slumped in his chair paralyzed and struggling
to breathe. The news of the president’s death spread fast. Several soldiers then
carried Lincoln to a boarding house across the street. A general surgeon arrived
later on and come to the conclusion that he couldn’t be saved and would die later
on in the night.

6. The Aftermath
 After shooting Lincoln, Booth jumped to the stage below Lincoln’s box seat. He
landed hard, breaking his leg.
 Confederate sympathizers swarmed around the countryside looking for Booth,
While staying at the farm of Richard Garrett, Federal troops arrived on their search
but soon rode on. The unsuspecting Garrett allowed his suspicious guests to sleep
in his barn, but he instructed his son to lock the barn from the outside to prevent
the strangers from stealing his horses. A tip led the Union soldiers back to the
Garrett farm, where they discovered Booth and Herold in the barn. Herold came
out, but Booth refused. The building was set on fire to flush Booth, but he was
shot while still inside. He lived for three hours before gazing at his hands,
muttering “Useless, useless,” as he died.