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The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln





Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865. This occurred five days after General Robert E. Lee of the Confederacy surrendered and thus ending the Civil War. The assassination took place at the Ford’s Theatre in Washington when Lincoln and his wife went to see a British comedy. During the play, John Wilkes Booth, a southern 26 year-old, snuck into the presidential box. He then crept up behind Lincoln and shot him in the back of the head. Lincoln was unconscious throughout the night and died the following morning, on April 15th. This was the first time in history a president of the United States had been assassinated. Booth escaped but was caught twelve days later and it has been said that he was either shot by himself or by a Union cavalry. Lincoln’s body was carried from Washington to his hometown (Springfield, Illinois) at his funeral. It took 14 days to complete this journey. A total of about 7 million Americans publicly mourned his death. Lincoln ended the Civil War, slavery, and secession, which are all monumental markers in history books today. The country now had to face two issues: how to restore the Southern states to the Union and how to combine the newly freed African Americans into national life.

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Danzer, Gerald A. The Americans. Orlando, Fla.: Holt McDougal ;, 2012. Print.