A group of students, half sitting and half standing, wait on a stage in a theatre while a teacher speaks to them.
Photo by Gary Erskine.

Teaching Lincoln’s Assassination and Legacy

High School

Perspective taking is a process that not only builds empathy but also our understanding of past events. Students will review two reactions to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, investigate Dr. Samuel’s Mudd participation in the conspiracy and learn that history is not static. The events of the past continue to ripple through time and are often invoked through words and images in literature and media.

Educators and students can select from the following themes:  

  • Lincoln’s Assassination – Understand the events leading up to and following April 14, 1865. 
  • The Investigation and Trial – Dive into the search for John Wilkes Booth and the trial of the conspirators. 
  • Lincoln’s Legacy – Analyze Abraham Lincoln’s lasting impact on America today. 

Each theme includes a short narrative video and a 20-minute student-managed activity in Google Slides. Designed to build critical thinking skills, these activities explore primary sources and feature engaging discussion questions. The notes section on the first slide includes a Student Note Catcher and a Teacher Answer Key. 

Lincoln’s Assassination

Video (3 min): On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators attempted to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward. Discover how the events of that fateful evening unfolded. 

History Through Different Eyes

Side by side black and white photographs of a woman in a white dress (left) and a man in a suit (right).
Photos courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Student Activity (20 min): How a person views the world influences their actions. Perspective taking is a powerful lens through which one can view the past. Explore two different perspectives on Lincoln’s assassination and how they continue to shape how we understand this moment in history.  

Download Student Activity
Google Slides

Investigation and Trial

Video (3 min): There were nine conspirators involved in the plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson and William Seward. Find out what they were charged with and the results of the military trial.

Investigating Guilt

A photograph of a muddy knee-high boot.
Photo by Carol Highsmith.

Student Activity (20 min): There were eight people who were tried by a military tribunal for conspiracy in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. We will examine the evidence and testimony against Dr. Samuel Mudd and see how it contributed to the final verdict.

Download Student Activity
Google Slides

Lincoln’s Legacy

Video (4 min): Three constitutional amendments were ratified after the end of the Civil War. Each played a role in transforming American society, granting rights to the formerly enslaved and bringing the nation closer to a “a more perfect union.”

Calling on History

Black and white newspaper print showing Abraham Lincoln standing on stage before a crowd of people.
Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ppmsca-19926.

Student Activity (20 min): History is commemorated all around us in street names, monuments and memorials. These elements are not passive parts of our contemporary landscape, rather they are active connections to our past. By examining the Gettysburg Address, students will learn how history is called forth to make an impact on people throughout the ages.

Download Student Activity
Google Slides

Jump to: Home | Elementary School | Middle School