Lincoln’s assassination was a horrific event in American history, and to understand its impact on the country, you should look at the assassination itself, the bigger picture, and what happened to the people responsible for Lincoln’s death. To start out, five days after Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, ending our civil war, Lincoln decided to go to the production of “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s theatre in Washington D.C. Although they came late, people said that he was laughing and thoroughly enjoying the play. After learning that Lincoln was not going to be at the place that John Wilkes Booth thought he was going to be to kidnapped, he changed his plans. Booth went to the theatre. People thought that since he was a well known actor, he wasn’t going to do anything harmful to the president. So, when he went into his box they thought nothing of it. …show more content…
He put the gun up to the back of Lincoln’s head and shot him. After he shot, he jumped off the ledge and said, “Sic semper tyrannis!”, which is Virginia's state motto, and means “Thus ever to tyrants!” Even though he broke his leg jumping off the ledge, John managed to escape the theatre. In all of the commotion, when the audience realized, after Lincoln’s wife screamed in terror, that something bad had actually happened and it was not just part of the act, a doctor from the audience came to Lincoln’s aide. The doctor had told them that he would not make it through the