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John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838 – April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who assassinated United States President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865.
Jun 17, 2024 · John Wilkes Booth, member of one of the United States’ most distinguished acting families of the 19th century and the assassin who mortally wounded U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Family and Early Life
- Outbreak of The Civil War
- Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
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The celebrated actor Junius Brutus Booth immigrated to the United States from England in the early 1820s and settled his family in Harford County, Maryland, where the ninth of his 10 children, John Wilkes, was born on May 10, 1838. In 1846, it was revealed that Junius Booth had neglected to divorce his first wife before eloping with his second, Mar...
In October 1859, Booth—who, like many Marylanders, supported slavery—was shocked and galvanized by the abolitionist John Brown’s bloody raid on Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. Booth briefly enlisted in the Richmond militia and witnessed Brown’s hanging in December. That summer, he signed on as the leading man in a touring theater company. Booth was about...
Less than a week later, Confederate forces evacuated Richmond, and within two weeks, General Robert E. Lee surrendered his troops. As Washingtonexploded in celebration, Booth attended another Lincoln speech on April 11, reacting strongly to Lincoln’s suggestion that he would pursue voting rights for blacks. Booth angrily told his co-conspirator, Da...
Learn about the life and death of John Wilkes Booth, the actor who killed President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Explore his family background, Confederate sympathies, conspiracy plans and manhunt after the assassination.
Apr 3, 2014 · On April 14, 1865, actor John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln while he was watching the play 'Our American Cousin' at Ford Theater in Washington, D.C.
Nov 6, 2020 · Learn how the assassin of Abraham Lincoln was cornered and shot in a burning barn by Union soldiers in 1865. Find out why some people doubted his identity and claimed he escaped to other countries.
- Greg Daugherty
Jul 27, 2018 · Learn how John Wilkes Booth, a popular actor and Confederate sympathizer, shot and killed President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Find out how he eluded capture for 12 days with the help of a network of conspirators.
Apr 8, 2015 · How the assassin of Abraham Lincoln tried to escape from a farmhouse surrounded by Union troops and was shot dead. Read the account of the dramatic chase and the last words of Booth.
