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The assassination of Abraham Lincoln took place on April 14, 1865 in Ford's Theatre, located in Washington D.C. Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor at the time who had pro-slavery views. Originally, Booth led a full-fledged conspiracy to kidnap Lincoln in exchange for Confederate soldiers, but it evolved to an assassination plot of many Union leaders, but only Booth would succeed. Booth shot Lincoln during the play Our American Cousin right behind him, and then fled the scene. Lincoln immediately fell unconscious, and died at 7:00 AM on April 15, 1865.
Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States, serving during the American Civil War. At the time, Lincoln was a controversial president, and most of the South hated him. Lincoln was re-elected in 1864 and began his second term on March 4, 1865. John Wilkes Booth, meanwhile, was a famous actor known across the country. He held pro-South views, and despised Lincoln. As Lincoln's second term went on, the Confederate forces in the South were declining, and the end of the war was in sight. Lincoln promised that with war's end, not only would slavery be banned, but African-Americans would be granted rights, and would be allowed to vote. This enraged Booth. The Confederates had been in desperate need of soldiers, so Booth and his friends planned on kidnapping Lincoln, and holding him hostage until Confederate soldiers were released. However, Lincoln decided to not go to the event the conspirators planned to kidnap him at, so it failed.
At noon on April 14, 1865, Booth saw that Lincoln was expected at Ford's Theatre that evening. He instantly thought of an assassination plot, and recruited those who were earlier a part of the kidnapping plot. It is as follows:
Booth was the only one to succeed in the conspiracy. Atzerodt failed to assassinate Andrew Johnson, as he instead got drunk. David Herold guided Lewis Powell to Seward's house, and Powell was able to attack those who were living with Seward. However, Seward himself was recovering from an accident, and was confined to his bed. Since he had suffered a broken jaw, doctors had put a splint on it. Powell entered Seward's room, and stabbed him in the face and neck. Though he sliced open his cheek, the splint likely saved Seward's life as many vital veins & arteries were protected. After stabbing another man outside, Powell ran off yelling, "I'm mad! I'm mad!". Herold fled the scene already due to the screams he had heard, and a lost Powell ran away to another city.
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