Thesis on "Lincoln Conspiracy Trial 1865"

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[EXCERPT] . . . .

Lincoln Conspiracy Trial (1865)

Along with the ending of the American Civil War, tension could still be felt across the United States of America, with a great number of people being unwilling to accept the ending of slavery and the triumph experienced by the Union. Abraham Lincoln's rise in power had been impressive, with the American president having become famous for his anti-slavery beliefs and for his success in uniting the North and the South under a union supporting freedom. Being reluctant to accept their states being destroyed, a number of southerners organized a plan to assassinate Lincoln. In spite of the plan having had several errors performed by the people involved, southern actor John Wilkes Booth succeeded in dealing a serious gunshot to Lincoln, who died shortly after. The actor and most of his accomplices had not been caught by the authorities immediately after the attack, with the group managing to leave the crime scene. The day of Lincoln's murder, the 14th of April, 1865, continues to be remembered as the day in which one of the greatest American presidents left this world. The first witnesses testified in the trial of Lincoln's killers on the 12th of May, with hundreds of others waiting for their turn in the process.

Being determined to overthrow the government in the North, the conspirators had also attempted to murder Secretary of State William H. Seward. However, Lewis Powel, the man in charge with the assassination, only managed to deal a series of stabs to the official, none of the wounds proving to be deadly.

It is of no surprise that such actions took place consequent to the Civil War, with people considering the southern pride to be too great for the slavery supporters to simply accept matters as they were. In addition to that, the southerners had been aware that they would experience severe financial difficulties as a result of slavery (their main industry) being eradicated.

Most probably, the southerners believed that having Lincoln killed would bring hope into the southern camp and distress into the northern one. However, their actions proved to be insignificant and authorities started a full-scale manhunt for those that took part in the conspiracy. Dedication had been taken to the extreme with the conspirators, most of them being certain that they performed a glorious act against the people that had killed their kin and made subjects out of them.

Under the command of Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, a commission started to investigate the case, shortly taking into custody Mary Surrat, one of the contacts that Booth had been known to have in Washington, and Lewis Powell, that had been recognized by one of Seward's employees. The commission also managed to determine the implication of other five persons in the case. The suspects had been captured through various methods, with the police managing to determine their exact involvement in the conspiracy.

Samuel Arnold, George Atzerodt, David Herold, Samuel Mudd, Michael O'Laughlen, Lewis Powell, Edmund Spangler, Mary Surratt and John Wilkes Booth had been the nine persons suspected by the police to have organized Lincoln's murder. Stanton did not accept the concept that the nine had been the only people that contributed in the plot. Moreover, he had reasons to consider that the plan had been thought of by a potential Confederate government wanting to fuel another war between the North and the South.

Herold and Booth had been captured hiding at a farm, and, in spite of former having surrendered after seeing that he had little chances of escaping, Booth decided to face the authorities. The fight had not been fair, and, as Booth had been both tired and disabled, the authorities did not had difficulties putting him down. Severly wounded, the actor died shortly after the event, apparently begging those around him to put an end to his misery. In spite of the clear details relating to Booth's capture and murder, there are still some unconfirmed accounts relating to Booth's escape, and to him having died normally, because of a natural death, several years later.

In spite of the effectiveness proved by the authorities, John Surratt Jr., the son of Mary Surratt, managed to evade the law by departing to Canada. Even with that, Surratt had been arrested in November, 1866, in Egypt, after forceful investigations performed by the Americans.

Stanton's opinion concerning the place where the accused were to be tried came against that of Secretary of Navy, Gideon Welles, as the latter wanted to have the criminals judged in a normal, civilian court. It is not clear whether Stanton had been certain that the assassination had been a war crime, or, whether he wanted to be sure that the people accused suffered greatly during their trial. Little people from the presidential administration favored Stanton's desire to have a military trial and execution. A reason for their thinking had been that they were afraid that the criminals would not die while in trial, and, thus, become martyrs. The prisoners suffered greatly all across the trial, with Stanton obliging most of them to wear canvas hoods that covered their faces.

Due to the military nature of the trial, the War Department took advantage of the situation and began to examine more than just an assassination plot, as they've considered that this would be a good opportunity to link several other crimes to the Confederate government. It later turned out that the Confederates had supported several terrorist events meant to cause detriment to the North and its people.

Consequent to the start of the trial, the prosecutors showed evidence that the roots of Lincoln's assassination had been deeper than everyone believed. Apparently, the Confederates came up with the murder plot before the ending of the war, approximately in 1864. Moreover, Lincoln had not been the only one that the Confederates wanted dead, with them wanting to eliminate most of the influential people in the North.

Consequent to testimonies coming from a variety of witnesses, it became clear that Booth had been planning to assassinate Lincoln before the crime actual occurred. It appears that the plan did not initially involve the killing of Lincoln, with the Confederates only being interested in removing the Union's president from power. Also, not all of the Confederate states agreed to the plan, with it firstly having been rejected in Richmond.

Even with the clear evidence that all of the suspects had been guilty of the charges presented by the prosecutors, the defense counsels attempted to lessen the penalties received by the accused. Amazed by his client's obsession with the cause that he fought for, Lewis Powell's counsel motivated his client's actions through the fact that the man had lost all that had been human in him at the time. The Defense raised desperate reasons for the juries to have mercy on part of those accused. However, most people present had been certain that there little chances for the convicted to escape the death penalty.

Booth's companion at the moment of his capture, David Herold, had apparently showed off relating to his taking part in the president's assassination, even though he had actually played a small role in the conspiracy. Because of his actions, his counsel had been convinced that it would require a miracle for the jury to absolve him from hanging. In a hopeless attempt, the counsel argued that Herold had been but a pawn in the scheme, and that Booth had manipulated him as he wished. The evidence had been too incriminating for the jury to simply allow all of those convicted to escape without facing the death penalty.

The only ones to have received the death penalty had been Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt, and David Herold. Samuel Arnold, Dr. Samuel Mudd and Michael O'Laughlen had all been sentenced… READ MORE

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