What events led up to Lincoln's assassination? What happened afterward?
As you read, ask yourself, "Why is this event important? Does this event look like it’s related to/ result of another event on the timeline?" 
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Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, a symbolic ending of the Civil War.

Lee Surrenders

Abraham Lincoln is elected 16th president of the United States.

Lincoln Elected President

Lincoln begins his second term as President of the United States and delivers his Second Inaugural Address. Booth is in the audience.

Lincoln's Second Inauguration

John Wilkes Booth shoots President Lincoln in the back of the head using a deringer pistol.

Booth Assassinates Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all enslaved people in “states in rebellion” free. The Emancipation Proclamation also allows Black men to enlist in the U.S. Army. By the end of the Civil War, 180,000 do so.

Emancipation Proclamation

John Wilkes Booth flees to southern Maryland, where his broken leg is set.

Booth Escapes

Abraham Lincoln dies at the Petersen boarding house, across the street from Ford’s Theatre, at 7:22 a.m.

Lincoln Dies

South Carolina becomes the first state to attempt to leave the United States. Six others would follow by February 1861.

South Carolina Secedes

After a 12-day escape, John Wilkes Booth is shot by U.S. Army soldier Boston Corbett in a barn in Port Conway, Virginia. 

Booth Killed

After a 12-city train trip, President Abraham Lincoln’s body is buried in Springfield, Illinois.

Lincoln Buried

John Wilkes Booth, actor who sympathizes with the Confederacy, begins plotting with a group of conspirators to kidnap Lincoln. His goal: To exchange Lincoln for Confederate prisoners of war.

Booth Begins Kidnapping Plot

Because of Confederate enslavement and killing of Black Union soldiers, U.S. government halts prisoner exchanges with Confederates. Confederacy loses manpower as a result.

Prisoner Exchanges End

Trial of Lincoln assassination conspirators ends with execution of four conspirators, life sentences for three, and a six-year sentence for another.

Execution of Conspirators

John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators attempt to kidnap President Lincoln on a trip they thought he was taking to a military hospital. Lincoln was elsewhere.

Attempted Kidnapping of Lincoln

Lincoln gives his last public address on the balcony of the White House where he discusses the possibility of giving African American men the right to vote. Booth is in the audience and vows to kill Lincoln.

Lincoln Endorses Limited Black Voting Rights

Congress passes the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, outlawing slavery in all states. The amendment would be ratified on December 6, 1865.

Standards for Read and Analyze: Timeline of Lincoln's Assassination