Our American Cousin: A Drama in 3 Acts

Tom Taylor

Jan 1869 · Printed, but not published

Ratings and reviews

This is the play Abraham Lincoln was watching at Ford's Theatre when he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. After the phrase: "you sockdologizing old mantrap!" The line caused enough laughter to muffle the sound of Booth's single shot Derringer. Nobody knew anything happened until he came stumbling from the presidential box after grappling with Major Rathbone. Falling awkwardly and breaking a bone in his foot he stumbled to center stage and waved the knife he encountered Rathbone with and shouted: "Sic Sempre Tyrannis!" the state moto of Virginia meaning "Thus always to tyrants." Booth was a Confederate sympasizer and believed he was doing the South a favor. This set in motion events leading to the last hours of Lincoln's life and the trail and capture of Booth who eventually was shot himself and died on the porch of Garrett's Farmhouse. The theatre was closed for the next century before being restored to a functioning theatre and memorial to the events of that night: April 14, 1865. The House across the street where he passed away at 7:22 am the following morning is also open for tours and part of the Ford's Theatre National Historic Site. But just the 3 main rooms on the entry floor. Two parlors where officials made plans and Mary Lincoln held up between visits to her husband. The backroom is the room Lincoln died in. This is a play that everyone should read. For history and for 1860s humor.