Who assassinated Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. On the evening of April 14, 1865, while Lincoln was attending a play called "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., Booth, an actor and Confederate sympathizer, entered the president's private box and shot Lincoln in the back of the head. Lincoln was critically wounded and died the following morning, April 15, 1865.

Extra: The assassination of Abraham Lincoln occurred just days after the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, effectively ending the American Civil War. John Wilkes Booth's motives were connected to his Confederate sympathies and his anger over the South's defeat. Booth had originally planned to kidnap Lincoln with the hope of exchanging him for Confederate prisoners, but as the war drew to a close, Booth changed his plan from kidnapping to assassination.

Following the shooting, Booth fled the theater and was pursued by Union troops. Twelve days later, he was discovered hiding in a barn in Virginia, which the Union troops set on fire. Booth was fatally shot by a Union soldier named Boston Corbett during the ensuing chaos, either in self-defense or in an attempt to force his surrender.

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln had a significant impact on the United States. Lincoln was the first American president to be assassinated, and his death shocked the nation. It also had long-term effects on the process of Reconstruction and the politics of the post-Civil War United States. The event remains a crucial part of American history and is often studied for its impact on the country as well as for the dramatic and tragic events surrounding Lincoln's final hours.