He was just sitting there. Abraham Lincoln didn't have a wall of Secret Service agents or a high-tech security detail on April 14, 1865. He had a lone guard who eventually wandered off to get a drink at the Star Saloon next door. It’s wild to think about. In the flickering light of Ford’s Theatre, a famous actor stepped into the state box and changed history with a single .44-caliber ball. People usually sum it up by saying "the South was mad," but that’s a massive oversimplification.
Why did they assassinate Abraham Lincoln? It wasn't just a random act of post-war bitterness. It was a desperate, calculated, and ultimately failed attempt to topple the entire United States government and restart the Civil War. John Wilkes Booth wasn't some lone wolf acting on a whim. He was the center of a web of conspiracy that felt the world was ending, and they were willing to kill anyone to stop the clock.
The Breaking Point: April 11, 1865
Most history books point to the surrender at Appomattox as the end. But for Booth, the real "why" solidified just three days before the murder. Lincoln stood on the White House balcony and gave a speech. It wasn't a "we won" victory lap. He started talking about the future. Specifically, he mentioned giving the right to vote to Black Americans, particularly those who had served in the Union Army.
Booth was in the crowd.
He reportedly turned to his co-conspirator Lewis Powell and hissed, "That means n***** citizenship. Now, by God, I'll put him through. That is the last speech he will ever give." This wasn't just about a lost war. It was about white supremacy. Booth saw the destruction of the institution of slavery as the destruction of his version of America. To him, Lincoln wasn't a savior; he was a tyrant who had overstepped his constitutional bounds to rewrite the social order.
It Started as a Kidnapping Plot
We tend to think the plan was always murder. It wasn't. For months, Booth and his ragtag group—including Mary Surratt, David Herold, and George Atzerodt—had been plotting to kidnap the President. The idea was sort of insane but strategically sound: grab Lincoln, smuggle him across the Potomac into Virginia, and hold him hostage. They wanted to trade the President for thousands of Confederate prisoners of war who were rotting in Northern camps.
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If they got those soldiers back, the South could keep fighting.
They actually tried it in March 1865. Booth heard Lincoln was going to be at the Campbell Hospital to see a play. The conspirators waited on the road, ready to pounce. But Lincoln changed his plans at the last minute. He stayed at the National Hotel—the very same hotel where Booth was staying. Talk about a weird coincidence. Once Robert E. Lee surrendered in April, the kidnapping plan became useless. There was no "Confederacy" left to trade with. That's when the "why" shifted from leverage to pure, unadulterated vengeance and a hope for total systemic collapse.
Decapitating the Government
If you want to understand why they assassinated Abraham Lincoln, you have to look at the other targets. This wasn't a surgical strike on one man. It was meant to be a bloodbath. Booth assigned Lewis Powell to kill Secretary of State William Seward. George Atzerodt was supposed to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson.
Imagine the chaos.
If the President, Vice President, and the guy next in line for the succession were all killed in one night, the Union would have been headless. Booth thought this would create a power vacuum so massive that the South might rise up again, or perhaps England and France would finally intervene. It was a "Hail Mary" pass in the most violent sense possible.
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Powell actually made it into Seward’s bedroom. Seward was already bedridden from a carriage accident, wearing a heavy neck brace that actually ended up saving his life by deflecting Powell’s knife. It was a scene from a horror movie. Atzerodt, however, got cold feet. He spent the night drinking and ended up wandering the streets of D.C. instead of killing the Vice President. Booth was the only one who followed through.
The Actor’s Ego and the "Tyrant" Narrative
Booth was a celebrity. Think of him like a modern-day A-list actor—handsome, wealthy, and recognizable. He was also obsessed with the idea of being a historical hero. He viewed himself as a modern-day Brutus. In his diary, he expressed shock that the world didn't view him as a liberator. He wrote, "Our country owed all her troubles to him, and God simply made me the instrument of his punishment."
He really believed he was the protagonist in a grand tragedy.
He chose Ford’s Theatre because he knew the layout. He knew the play, Our American Cousin, by heart. He knew exactly when the biggest laugh would happen—at the line about a "sockdologizing old man-trap"—so the noise of the crowd would drown out the gunshot. This wasn't just a political assassination; it was a staged performance. He even shouted "Sic Semper Tyrannis" (Thus always to tyrants) from the stage after jumping. It was theatrical, egotistical, and deeply rooted in a distorted sense of Southern honor.
What Most People Get Wrong
A lot of folks think the North was unified in grief. Not quite. While most were horrified, there were "Copperheads" in the North who had spent years calling Lincoln a dictator. The atmosphere in 1865 was incredibly toxic. The assassination was the result of years of dehumanizing political rhetoric.
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When you ask why did they assassinate Abraham Lincoln, you have to realize that Booth felt he had the "silent majority" behind him. He thought he’d be welcomed as a savior in the South. Instead, he spent twelve days hiding in swamps and barns, realizing that even the Southerners he thought he was "saving" were tired of the blood. They just wanted the war to stay over.
The Long-Term Fallout
The irony of the assassination is that it destroyed the very people Booth claimed to care about. Lincoln’s "Ten Percent Plan" for Reconstruction was relatively lenient. He wanted the South back in the fold with as little friction as possible. "With malice toward none," as he said.
When he was killed, the "Radical Republicans" took over. They were rightfully furious. The South ended up under military rule, and the bitterness that followed lasted for generations. Booth didn't save the South; he guaranteed its long-term suffering and stagnation.
How to Explore This History Today
If you really want to wrap your head around the weight of this event, you can’t just read about it. You sort of have to see the physical reality of it.
- Visit Ford’s Theatre: It’s still a working theater in D.C. Standing in the lobby and seeing the actual derringer Booth used makes it feel incredibly real.
- The Petersen House: This is the house across the street where Lincoln actually died. The bed was too short for him, so they had to lay him diagonally. It’s a somber, cramped space that puts the tragedy in perspective.
- Read "Manhunt" by James L. Swanson: If you want the gritty, minute-by-minute details of the 12-day chase after the murder, this is the gold standard. It reads like a thriller.
- Check out the Surratt House Museum: Located in Maryland, this was a "safe house" for the conspirators. It helps you see the logistical side of how an underground cell operated in the 1860s.
Understanding the "why" helps us see that history isn't just a series of dates. It's a series of choices made by people who were often driven by fear, radicalization, and a refusal to accept a changing world. Lincoln's death wasn't an ending; it was a complicated, messy beginning to a century of struggle for civil rights that we’re still talking about today.
Next Steps for Deepening Your Knowledge
To get a full picture of the conspirators' mindset, look into the transcripts of the military trial of the Lincoln conspirators. These documents show how the government linked the plot to the Confederate Secret Service, providing a much wider lens than just Booth's personal madness. You can find these digitized through the National Archives or the Library of Congress. Focusing on the testimony of Louis Weichmann provides a fascinating, if controversial, look at the inner workings of the boarding house where the murder was planned.