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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What did David Herold say was a condition of helping Lewis Powell with the plot to assassinate William Seward?
(a) He did not want to enact the plot during daylight hours.
(b) He did not want to kill anybody himself.
(c) He did not want to drive the carriage.
(d) He did not want to have to clean up any mess.

2. What rule was in place about the bridge that John Wilkes Booth intended to cross on his escape into Maryland?
(a) Any crossing the bridge had to dismount his horse and walk his horse over the bridge.
(b) Anyone crossing the bridge had to pay a toll.
(c) No one was allowed to take a horse over the bridge.
(d) No one was allowed to cross the bridge after dark.

3. What words did one audience member report hearing John Wilkes Booth speak as he ran from the stage toward the wings?
(a) "I will be famous."
(b) "I have done it."
(c) "At last, freedom."
(d) "He is dead."

4. Who was the only actor on stage when Booth made his leap from the balcony?
(a) Fanny Seward.
(b) Charles Leale.
(c) Harry Hawk.
(d) Clara Harris.

5. What distinctive marking did John Wilkes Booth's horse have on her body?
(a) A white circle on her nose.
(b) A black star on her forehead.
(c) A white star on her forehead.
(d) A white diamond on her flank.

Short Answer Questions

1. Though it would have been easy for John Wilkes Booth to gain an audience with President Lincoln within the Executive Mansion due to Booth's acting fame, why did he not take that action?

2. How many casualties did the Civil War result in?

3. After John Wilkes Booth crossed the bridge, he turned to look for his co-conspirators. Whom did he see?

4. What weapons did Lewis Powell bring to William Seward's house, intending to kill him?

5. What was the subject of Lincoln's dream the night before the assassination, as recorded by Secretary Welles in his diary?

Short Essay Questions

1. In the scene of Abraham Lincoln being moved from the theater, how does James L. Swanson get across the message of how damaging people's morbid curiosity can be?

2. What are two themes touched upon within Abraham Lincoln's inauguration day speech of 1865?

3. How did Mary Todd Lincoln's letter to the Ford Theater's proprietors unwittingly help Abraham Lincoln's would-be assassins complete their goal?

4. What action did David Herold take at the scene of William Seward's home that James L. Swanson imagines to have inspired the ire of John Wilkes Booth?

5. What is James L. Swanson's purpose when he describes John Wilkes Booth's passions as including "the romance of lost causes"? (2)

6. Over what issues was the American Civil War fought?

7. What were the reasons that Dr. Charles Leale wanted to move Abraham Lincoln from the theater, even though he had just proclaimed his wounds sure to be fatal?

8. Since John Wilkes Booth could have easily gained an audience with President Abraham Lincoln in the Executive Mansion using his famous face, why did he not just assassinate him in such a meeting?

9. What methods does James L. Swanson use to convey the chaotic nature of the scene within Ford's Theater after John Wilkes Booth had escaped?

10. How was Frederick Seward injured during Lewis Powell's attempt to assassinate Secretary of State William Seward?

(see the answer keys)

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