Changes

==The conspiracy==   

==The conspiracy==   

Booth also hated Lincoln with a vehemence, blaming him for the South’s misfortune.  In the summer of 1864 he had developed a plot to kidnap the president near the Old Soldier’s Home, take him to Richmond, and ransom him in exchange for Confederate prisoners of war.  Included in his conspiracy were childhood friends Edman Spangler, Samuel Arnold, Michael O'Laughlin, John Surratt, and David Herald.  George Atzerodt, a German immigrant who spoke bad English, was brought in as he operated a small ferry at Port Tobacco on the Potomac that would have been used to take the president across.  The planning for the kidnapping took place at a boarding house in Washington owned by John Surratt’s mother, Mary.  Last to join the conspiracy was a young, hulking man of over 6 feet in height who could provide the muscle needed: Lewis Thornton Powell, a former Confederate soldier and cavalryman who fought at Gettysburg and once served in Mosby’s Rangers.  By January 1865, just before he met Booth he had surfaced in Alexandria, Virginia, out of the war and signing an oath of allegiance to the Union, but with a change to his name that would become infamous: Lewis Paine.

Booth also hated Lincoln with a vehemence, blaming him for the South’s misfortune.  In the summer of 1864 he had developed a plot to kidnap the president near the Old Soldier’s Home, take him to Richmond, and ransom him in exchange for Confederate prisoners of war.  Included in his conspiracy were childhood friends Edman Spangler, Samuel Arnold, Michael O'Laughlin, John Surratt, and David Herald.  George Atzerodt, a [[Germany|German]] immigrant who spoke bad [[English]], was brought in as he operated a small [[ferry]] at Port Tobacco on the [[Potomac River]] that would have been used to take the president across.  The planning for the kidnapping took place at a boarding house in Washington owned by John Surratt’s mother, Mary.  Last to join the conspiracy was a young, hulking man of over 6 feet in height who could provide the muscle needed: Lewis Thornton Powell, a former [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] soldier and cavalryman who fought at [[Battle of Gettysburg|Gettysburg]] and once served in Mosby’s Rangers.  By January 1865, just before he met Booth he had surfaced in [[Alexandria, Virginia]], out of the war and signing an oath of allegiance to the Union, but with a change to his name that would become infamous: [[Lewis Paine]].

 

On the day the kidnapping was to have taken place, March 17, 1865, Lincoln had changed his plans; he stayed in Washington.  Booth’s plot had failed.  He would turn to murder, which only heightened when news of General [[Robert E. Lee]]’s surrender at [[Appomattox]] reached him on April 9.

==Ford's Theater==

==Ford's Theater==

[[Image:Fords-Theater.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Ford's Theater; the black crepe went up almost immediately after Lincoln's death.]]  

[[Image:Fords-Theater.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Ford's Theater; the black crepe went up almost immediately after Lincoln's death.]]