John Wilkes Booth: A brief look at the man who assassinated President Lincoln
In April 1865, United States was a war-ravaged country. The Civil War had taken its toll on the country, pitting armies against each other. Cities were burned and destroyed, trains destroyed, and there had been a great many number of bloody battles that took place over the four years of war.
John Wilkes Booth, twenty-six-year-old stage actor, was a bitter and dissatisfied young man. He was angry at President Lincoln for emancipating the slaves, and angry that the Confederates had lost the war. Booth and his group of co-conspirators hatched up a plan to kidnap the president, and deliver him to the Confederates as a bargaining chip to free prisoners. Later, when circumstances changed, he ended up altering his plan — Booth decided he was going to assassinate Abraham Lincoln.
On Good Friday, Booth snuck into the Ford’s Theatre, where he knew Lincoln was attending a play with his wife, and friends. Booth shot Lincoln once in the back of the head, in what some consider one of the darkest days in American history. Lincoln didn’t die straight away. He ended up in a coma for eight hours, and died in the early hours on April 15.
The story of Lincoln’s assassination and John Wilkes Booth, is a very interesting topic that’s been the subject of numerous books, and films. This…
