On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer. Lincoln's death came just days after the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House, effectively ending the Civil War.
Lincoln's assassination had a profound impact on the nation and further increased tensions between the North and the South. The North was outraged and grieving, while the South was shocked and divided. Many in the South saw Booth's act as a heroic deed, while others condemned it as a brutal murder.
The assassination also had a significant impact on the Reconstruction era. With Lincoln gone, there was no longer a clear leader to guide the country through the process of rebuilding. As a result, the Reconstruction era was a time of great turmoil and conflict, as the North and the South struggled to come to terms with the war and its aftermath.