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Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination

President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865, just five days after the civil war ended. Because Abraham Lincoln was the first U.S president to be murdered, many people did not know how to react toward his death. Lincoln was assassinated while watching the play Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C. His assassinator, John Wilkes Booth, thought that by killing Lincoln, the confederacy would “somehow” be saved. Avoiding Lincoln’s death, vice president Andrew Johnson continued the Reconstruction plan. The two main goals of the Reconstruction plan were to readmit the southerners’ states back into the Union, and give slaves their freedom and peace back. However, some Americans believed that the end of the war would just begin a long struggle of deciding whether everyone should have equal or limited rights.

Draft Riots

Just two months after the emancipation proclamation was issued, draft riots started to occur.
Many Americans did not want to fight for the union army because they didn't want slavery to end. On July 1863, congress began drafting men to fight for the union army. For this reason, riot broke out in New York City along with many other states that were dealing with the same subject. Because of this riot, many draft offices were burned, and many officers were killed. Many ''angry New Yorkers'' wanted to kill slaves for getting them involved in the drafts. Because draft riots continued in the city, troops from Gettysburg had to come in and stop these violent protest. The New York riots caused the death of 120 civilians, at least 20 blacks and 100 whites, and also injured more than 2000 people. However, the draft was also beneficial because it helped the union army increase its troops fighting in the civil war.