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Birth:
John Wilkes Booth was born on May 10, 1838 just outside of Bel Air, Maryland. He was born from the actor Junius Brutus Booth and his mistress Mary Anne Holmes. J.W. Booth was the youngest of 10 kids. -
Scandal
During the year people found that Booth's father eloped with his mother (Mary Ann Holmes) and never divorced his first wife. This created a huge scandal for the family. In turn, this made a big impression on young Booth, and not necessarily in a good way, since he was extremely proud of his illustrative heritage. -
Period: to
No-nothing Party
During the 1850s, Booth was a part of the No-Nothing Party in his teen years. The objective of the party was to limit immigration to the United States. It, also, strongly opposed Catholics. The most memorable part of the party was that when ever a member is asked about the actions of the party, they say that they no nothing. -
Acting Debut
In 1855, Booth makes his acting debut in Richard III by Shakespeare in Baltimore. Booth did such an amazing job on the show that he was invited to join an acting troupe on tour. This later starts the beginning of his very successful career as an actor. -
Debut
In August of 1855, Booth made his acting debut of Richard III by Shakespeare with 2 of his brothers. Booth had decided to follow in his father's footsteps and take up acting, which was soon proven that he was very good at it. He soon was asked to join an acting troupe on tour because the audience loved the performance so much. This started off Booth's very successful career as an actor. -
John Brown Execution
Like most Virginians, Booth strongly supported slavery, so obviously John Brown's constant attacks on slavery made him angry. Later on in the year, he joined a militia that helped to find John Brown. Finally, on December 2, 1859 Booth witnessed Brown's hanging in Charles Town, Virginia. -
John Brown Execution
John Brown was a man who was extreme in his beliefs about how slavery should be abolished and he thought there needed to be more action done. This made Booth angry, so after the raid of Harper's Ferry, he joined a militia which helped in the capture of Brown. Later that year on December 2, 1859, Booth witnessed Brown's execution. -
Civil War
On this day the civil war began and Booth chose to support the Confederacy. Booth had always been against equality between the races. He didn't believe in black suffrage, hated abolitionists with a passion, and was a big supporter of slavery. -
Civil War
On April 12, 1861 the war between the northern and southern states had officially started. Booth was a very strong supporter of slavery, hated abolitionists, and didn't believe in blacks suffrage. For these reasons he chose to side the Confederates. -
The Marble Heart
In November of 1863, John Wilkes Booth was performing the Marble Heart at Ford Theater (a very popular play at the time). It was later realized that, in the audience, was the man that Booth had grown to hate immensely. This was the one and only time the Abraham Lincoln would ever survive through a whole play with Booth in it. -
Debt
During this year Booth was spending more and more time trying to find a way to kidnap Lincoln. As time went by, he performed less and less, which means he earned less and less. Later in the year he was in debt. -
Attempted Kidnapping
Booth got word that Lincoln would be going to see the 'Still Waters Run Deep' play in Washington D.C., so he and his men created a plan to kidnap the president. His men were six southern sympathizers. On the day they were supposed to kidnap Lincoln, they failed because the president decided to change his plans at the last minute. -
Lincoln's Second Inaugural Speech
In early May, Booth and his secret fiancee (Lucy Hale) attended Lincoln's second inaugural speech. Throughout the whole speech Booth is said to be muttering complaints about Lincoln and tried to convince one of the people he came with to shoot the president. Thus, the hate that Lincoln has grows. -
Lincoln Assassination
On the night of April 14,1865, Lincoln came to see the play 'Our American Cousin' (a popular comedy) at Ford's Theater. Booth, being a famous actor at this time, could easily get access to where Lincoln was watching the play. Booth creeped up behind Lincoln and shot im in the back of the head. He then leaped off the balcony and it's believed that he yelled " Sic semper tyrannis !" ( Thus always to tyrants!) before escaping. -
Death:
Booth and his accomplices crossed the Potomac River, but were soon caught in Richard H. Garrett's Barn in Port Royal, Virginia. Booth refused to surrender, so his pursuers caught the barn on fire to force him out. Though, Union soldier, Thomas P. "Boston" Corbett ended up accidentally shooting him in the neck and paralyzing Booth, when he only meant to shoot him in the arm. Booth ended up getting carried out of the barn and died three hours later.
