John Wilkes Booth Plan

By Nicole Tchorz

  • Made a plan to kidnap the president

    Booth put together a harebrained scheme to kidnap President Lincoln, and take him to Richmond to hold him, hostage.

  • Booth organized his own group of conspirators

    In late 1864 and early 1865, Booth assembled a group of his own conspirators who were loyal to him, those people included Lewis Powell, David Herold, John Harrison Surratt, and George Atzerodt.

  • Who was assigned to assassinate the leaders.

    John Wilkes Booth was going to assassinate President Lincoln.
    Lewis Powell and David Herold were going to assassinate Secretary of State, William H. Seward. And David Herold was going to assassinate the Vice President, Andrew Johnson.

  • Lincoln's Inauguration

    Booth had said that he had an excellent chance to kill the president on Inauguration Day. Booth was so close to the President.

  • Planned to ambush Lincoln's carriage

    When Booth and his conspirators were waiting to kidnap Lincoln from his carriage, Lincoln never showed up, he was giving a speech at Booth's hotel.

  • General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Grant

  • Celebration, Civil War

    The North was celebrating their victory over the South, Lincoln had made a humorous speech involving the song "Dixie".

  • The Grand Illiumination

    The celebratory Grand Illumination made Booth sick, he was infuriated that the South had lost the Civil War.

  • Booth heard that President Lincoln would attend a performance at the Ford Theatre later that night

    This is when Booth decided it was time to get revenge on President Lincoln since he was mad that the Confederacy has lost in the civil war.

  • Booth wrote a note to the Vice President Andrew Johnson.

    Booth wrote to Johnson, "Don't wish to disturb you. Are you home? J. Wilkes Booth".

  • Booth sent a package to himself that would be delivered to Surratt's tavern.

    Booth had said to Mary Surratt that later that night, he would pick up the package from her tavern, along with guns, ammunition, and other supplies.

  • Booth contacts his conspirators

    Booth had called upon Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt, and said to them that at 10:00 p.m, he and his henchmen would throw the Union government into chaos by killing its top leaders.

  • Booth's assassination

    Booth had gotten into Fords Theatre and waited for the perfect moment to kill the president, he waited till the theatre was filled with laughter, so that then his gunshot would not be heard, at that moment when the thunderous laughter came, Booth shot with his Derringer pistol and assassinated the President from behind.

  • Fleeing the Theatre

    After Booth would assassinate the President, he would ride to Soper's Hill to meet the rest of his conspirators, after their missions were done.