Intro

I. “Sic Semper Tyrannis” Perhaps you’ve heard this phrase in a history class or in a movie, but do you know how it became such a famous phrase? Well this is what John Wilkes Booth shouted right after shooting President Lincoln in the back of the head.

II. 2 years ago I actually got to visit Ford’s theater and the house where Lincoln actually passed away, and I learned a lot of interesting things about the tragedy. We got to go through an interactive exhibit in which we learned about the assassination, the conspirators, and even got to see some of the posters from the manhunt and some things from the actual night of the assassination

III. So today I will take you through the entirety of the assassination, starting at the evening of the tragedy, through the extensive manhunt, and finally we’ll talk about the conspiracy theories surrounding the topic even today.

(Transition: Let’s start at the night of the play.) (CLICK)

Body

I. On the night of April 14th, 1865, Abe and Mary Lincoln attended a play at Ford’s theater, expecting for a night of fun and laughter, however the night ended with a tragedy.

A. Abe and Mary Lincoln arrived at Ford’s theater in Washington DC at about 8:30 pm to see a performance of “Our American Cousin” and made their way to a private box. (CLICK)

i. Then at about 10:15 pm, Booth slipped through the unguarded door to the Private box. The box was protected, however John Parker, the guard, left his post to go across the street for a drink.

ii. Once Booth was inside, he fired a single bullet from his 44-caliber pistol into the back of President Lincoln’s head. Following this, he leapt from the box onto the stage and shouted “Sic Semper Tyrannis” roughly meaning “So perish all tyrants!”

iii. There is a lot debate about what he meant by this, but it has been said by many that it was his way of saying that the south would be avenged.

iv. When he hit the stage Booth actually broke his leg, but was still able to flee from the scene on horseback. Some actually thought the whole scene was part of the play, until a scream from Mary Lincoln rang throughout the theater, and they realized a tragedy had occurred. (CLICK)

B. President Lincoln was then carried to a house across the street and was placed on a bed, where he passed the next morning, April 15, 1865. The Petersen house is now a tour destination because it is still furnished with the same pieces it would have been during the time, even including a replica of the same bed in which he passed away (CLICK)

II. (Transition: From this tragedy rose one of the largest manhunts in history, involving 10,000 federal troops, detectives and police working to track Booth and his conspirators down.)

A. After the assassination on April 14th, the manhunt began right away. On Apr 17th, the first 5 conspirators were arrested. 5 days after the assassination, authorities still had not found Booth. Booth continued on the run, accompanied by several of the remaining conspirators.

B. Finally on April 25th, the Union troops began closing in on Booth and finally found him in a barn and shot him early on April 26th. He died about 3 hours later.

C. According to the New York Times, his last words were, “Tell my mother I died for my country. I did what I thought was right”

D. Finally on May 12th, the conspirators stood trial for the murder. 4 were found guilty and were sentenced to death and the remaining four were sentenced to prison at Fort Jefferson, a Union prison during the civil war

III. (Transition: The conspirators played a very large part in the assassination. Although John Wilkes Booth is the most well known, there were actually 8 others involved with the execution of the plan. (CLICK))

A. John Wilkes Booth is easily the most well known of the conspirators, being the actual murderer, however the others still played a very large and important role in the assassination.

B. Some of the others included Lewis Powell who was supposed to kill secretary of state William Seward, George Azterodt who was supposed to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Samuel Arnold.

C. One of the other well known is Mary Surratt who owned the boarding house where the conspirators met to discuss their plans, and where they went for supplies following the assassination.

IV. There are also many conspiracy theories surrounding the actual events and motives of the conspirators

A. It has been discussed by some that the original plan of the group was actually only to kidnap the President. They were to take him to Richmond and would be held until exchanged for confederate prisoners of war. After the plan fell through, Booth set his plan for assassination in motion.

i. He attempted to recruit some of his conspirators to get on board with the assassination but found few willing, however he still had enough help to carry out the deed.

ii. He was hoping to kill Lincoln, his Vice President Andrew Johnson, and secretary of state William Seward in order to send the government into disarray.

iii. There was also talk that he executed the plan in order to give the south a chance to rise again. One witness of the death said later that when he shot Lincoln, he yelled, “Revenge for the South,” and another said he yelled “Freedom”

B. There have also been numerous more far-fetched conspiracy theories.

i. In the 1997 publication “Right or wrong, God judge me” it was discussed that Andrew Johnson may have been somehow involved in the conspiracy, helping Booth to escape.

ii. However the problem with some of the more far-fetched theories is that the facts just don’t add up. In this case, Johnson was actually one of the targets of the plan;

therefore it wouldn’t make sense that he would aid the assassin.

iii. Right after the assassination, an idea arose that Lincoln was killed as part of a grand conspiracy of confederates. The details of this theory were discussed by William A. Tidwell and James Hall in 1988.

iv. They said that there was an abundance of Confederate Involvement in the crime. Lincoln was viewed as a wartime target so this theory actually holds some fact, unlike many of the others.

v. There was actually even one theory that Lincoln was killed as a result of monetary policies and that it was a conspiracy of international bankers

(Transition: There are an abundance of conspiracy theories, which have surrounded the Lincoln Assassination throughout the ages, some that arose right after the tragedy, and new ones continue to arise even today.)

Conclusion

I. Today I hope you learned about the events on the night of the tragedy, about the historical manhunt, and about some of the conspiracy theories surrounding the event.

II. All beginning at a harmless play, April 14th, 1865 became a infamous night that left the country in mourning and prompted one of the largest manhunts in history. Thanks