How LincolnOne of America's greatest presidents was killed 150 years ago, jus t days a fter the Civil W ar ended.

n A p ril 1 4 ,1 8 6 5 , P res id en t A b ra h a m Lincoln w a tc h e d a

p la y fro m th e b a lco n y o f Ford's T h e a tre in W a s h in g to n , D.C.

H e lau g h ed a lo n g w ith th e a u d ien c e . T h e re w as good

reason to be happy. The lo n g , b lo o d y U.S. C iv il W a r h ad e n d ed

ju s t fiv e days earlie r.

S u d d en ly , a s h o t ran g o u t. Then a m an ju m p e d d o w n

fro m Lincoln 's b a lco n y an d escaped th ro u g h a b a ck door.

H e had ju s t sh o t th e p re s id e n t in th e b a ck o f th e h e ad .

L incoln d ie d th e n e x t m o rn in g , b e co m in g th e f irs t

U.S. p re s id e n t to b e a s s a s s in a te d .

As A m e rica re m e m b e rs th e 15 0 th a n n iv e rs a ry o f

th a t tra g ic e v e n t, h e re a re fiv e th in g s you shou ld

k n o w a b o u t L incoln an d th e C iv il W ar.

i n t i

assassinated (uh-SASS-uh-nay-tid) verb, past tense, murdered because of one’s importance or political beliefsabolish (uh-BAH-lish) verb, end officially

The Civil War1 8 6 1 -1 8 6 5

D A K O T A

T E R R I T O R Y

N E B R A S K A

T E R R I T O R Y[ U T A H

T E R R I T O R Y

C O L O R A D O

T E R R I T O R Y

I N D I A N

T E R R I T O R YN E W M E X I C O

T E R R I T O R Y

Union state

Confederate state

Territory (n o t a state)

I The U n ite d S ta tes s p lit in tw o .

In I860, when Lincoln was elected the 16th president, the U.S. ® OR had 33 states. Americans disagreed

on many issues, the biggest of § w h ich was slavery. Most Jg \ N

\ Northern states didn’t allow c a \

slavery, but it was still legal jMfe,

f§4 Southerners knew that / >‘ Lincoln opposed slavery,

' and they feared that he would try to abolish it in the

| South. People in 11 Southernstates were so outraged by Lincoln’s

election that they seceded, or broke away, I from the United States (known as the

Union). They formed a new country called the Confederate States of America (or theA C o n fe d e ra te so ld ie r A U n ion so ld ie r

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r2 It was thedeadliest war in U.S. history.

On April 12, 1861, the first shots of the Civil War were fired. Confederate troops attacked a Union military base at Fort Sumter, South Carolina.

For the next four years, the North and South fought many bloody battles. The Civil War would become the deadliest war in U.S. history. In all, about 600,000 Americans died.

3 Lincoln's goal was to keep the nation together.

As president, Lincoln’s main goal was to bring the nation back together—even if it meant going to war. But as the war raged on, Lincoln’s message changed. On January 1,1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in Confederate states. This made ending slavery the other main goal of the war.

4 Lincoln was killed out of revenge.

The Confederacy surrendered on April 9, 1865. The war was over, and the U.S. was once again one nation.

But many people in the South weren’t happy with the outcome of the war. John Wilkes Booth [above) supported the Confederacy. He shot Lincoln as revenge for the war. Twelve days after the murder, Booth was killed by Union soldiers.

April 20, i t u .

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5America faced a long road to recovery.

W m , \ W U M P re rtta t ABRAHAM UHC01K,11 *THJ, AT LARGE.

The country was left to recover from the war without Lincoln’s leadership. Healing the nation’s wounds was a long and difficult process. The South was left in ruins and would need many years to rebuild. But the effects of Lincoln’s presidency were felt long after his assassination.

After the war ended, the U.S. Constitution was changed to officially end slavery and protect the rights of all African-Americans.Still, African-Americans continued to struggle for equal rights well into the 20th century.

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