John Wilkes Booth
Born May 10, 1838
Bel Air, Maryland
Died April 26, 1865
Port Royal, Virginia
Stage actor and Southern sympathizer who
assassinated President Abraham Lincoln
John Wilkes Booth was a fanatical supporter of the Confederate cause during the Civil War. On April 14, 1865—as people throughout the North celebrated the end of the conflict—Booth made a deranged (insane) attempt to strike one final blow for the South. He shot Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) as the president sat watching a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Lincoln died the following day. Although Booth and his accomplices (partners in crime) were soon captured, the assassination sent shock waves through the country. Lincoln's violent death made it much more difficult for the North and South to resolve their differences after the war.
Supports the South in the Civil War
John Wilkes Booth was born in Maryland in 1838. His father, Junius Brutus Booth (1796–1852), was the leading Shakespearean actor in the country at that time. His brother, Edwin Booth (1833–1893), became a well-known actor as well. John made a good living as an actor, but he never received the attention he felt he deserved.
By the time Booth reached his twenties, growing political tension in the United States had erupted into war.
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