Lincoln attended a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre. During the third act, a Confederate sympathizer named John Wilkes Booth shot and killed Abraham Lincoln. As he fled the scene, he yelled "Sic semper tyrannis", the Virginia state motto. John Wilkes Booth was tracked, twelve days later, to a farm near Bowling Green, Virginia, on April 26. He was shot and killed by Union Army Sergeant Boston Corbett. His co-conspirators were tried before a military commission and were hanged on July 7. See also Timeline of United States history (1820–1859) Timeline of United States history (1860–1899) American Civil War Confederate States of America Origins of the American Civil War Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War Timeline of the American Old West Union (American Civil War) Presidency of Zachary Taylor Presidency of James Buchanan Presidency of Abraham Lincoln Notes Further reading External links "On the Eve of War: North vs. South" lesson plan for grades 9-12 from National Endowment for the Humanities "EDSITEMENT" series 1860s in the United States 1840s in the United States 1850s in the United States History of the United States by period