1865
Washington, DC, DC · On map
President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre, dying the following day. His death removed a leader who had advocated for gradual reconciliation and potentially moderate Reconstruction policies, leading to the more radical and ultimately unsustainable policies under Andrew Johnson. This event profoundly altered the trajectory of Reconstruction and Black civil rights.
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