Mary Surratt Research Paper

Mary Surratt lied about knowing people . The reason I say this is because in source two it states ,” Before God sir , I do not know this man nor did I hire him to dig a ditch.” This shows that she lied about knowing people and hiring them. Hence proves that she had something to hide. Another reason that she should have been executed was in source two , it states ,”Mary Surratt lied about knowing Lewis Paine” . This shows and tells you that she lied to the federal government and police which means something is out of the normal.

Mary Surratt was a “forty-two-year-old Maryland widow,” (Swanson 15). She was a Southerner before she moved to Washington D.C., which means that the Confederate belief still influenced her. She was also the mother of John Surratt, who was a “Confederate secret agent and friend of Booth’s,” (Swanson 15). She owned a boarding house in Washington D.C., which has been visited by many Confederates, including John Wilkes Booth and Lewis Powell. There are numerous indications that suggest she had something to do with the assassination plot that took place on April 14th, 1865.

Mary Surratt was the defendant among the executed that received a punishment far out weighing her role in the crime. Mary Surratt was convicted of conspiracy in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. She was sentenced to death and became the first woman to be executed by the U.S. government. Mary Surratt was the mother of John Surratt who was a conspirator that helped John Wilkes Booth plan Lincoln’s kidnap and later, his assassination. With the help of Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, “Lincoln and the Writ of Liberty,” and the movie The Conspirator, it can be proven that Mary Surratt’s punishment was unjust. Mary Surratt received a punishment far worse than what she deserved because she was innocent, blamed for her son’s actions, and she did

Mary has one motive for murdering her husband. The motive is that she couldn’t accept the fact that her husband was leaving her. He says, “ ‘This is going to be a bit of a shock to you, I 'm afraid,’ he said. ‘But I 've thought about it a good deal and I 've decided the only thing to do is tell you right away. I hope you won 't blame me too much...So there it is,’ he added. ‘And I know it 's kind of a bad time to be telling you, bet there simply wasn 't any other way. Of course I 'll give you money and see you 're looked after. But there needn 't really be any fuss. I hope not anyway. It wouldn 't be very good for my job.’ " Although he didn’t say the exact words the reader can infer this when he states “… i’ll give you money and see you 're looked after. But there needn 't really be any fuss. I hope not anyway. It wouldn 't be very good for my job…” Some readers might disagree with her for killing her husband because he was leaving her, but she was truly in love with him

There are lots of reasons why Mary Surratt is guilty but,there are also reasons why she is not guilty. One of the reasons why she is guilty is her reaction. Mary’s reaction was suspicious when the police came and told her that Abraham has got assassinated she wasn’t crying or anything she acted like she already knew about it.Then the

Mary Eugenia Surratt was the first women who was put to death by the federal government. Her son, who was believed to also be involved with the plot, was tried in 1867. He was not released from prison until June, 1868. The hanging of his mother has been considered as a gross miscarriage of justice. Her prosecution never established that she knew anything about the plot and that she was not even part of the assassination plans. (De Witt, Campbell,

Mary Surratt was guilty and deserved to be put in prison for helping assassinate the president. Mary Surratt lied when it came to talking about the kidnap/assassination plot to kidnap/assassinat Abraham Lincoln and frequently talked to John Wilkes Booth.

Mary Surratt, a women who assisted in killing Abraham Lincoln , is guilty of conspiracy because she knew what the plans where to assassinate the 16th president of the United States. She gave John Wilkes Booth, the killer of the president, and their follow colleagues a places to sleep and live, the boarding place she provided is also the place they came up with the plans to murder the president. One of the people who were around during this was John M. Lloyd, he was an assistant to Mrs.Surratt . As he describes Mrs. Surratt in his testimony, he had do several things that had to be done to make sure that their plan carried thru, Like getting an buggy to pick up Booth to go to the theater. Also Mrs.Surratt and Booth often held private meetings

Mary Surratt had John Wilkes Booth stay at her boarding house before the assassination of Lincoln. She said that she only knew about the kidnapping of president, but prosecutors believed that Surratt was lying because she wanted

Most Americans know John Wilkes Booth as the assassin of Abraham Lincoln- shot at a play at Ford’s Theater on April 14th, 1865. However, the names of the conspirators that surrounded Wilkes Booth are relatively unknown, especially that of Mary Surratt. Mary Surratt, a mother and boardinghouse proprietor, was arrested and tried for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln along with her son, John Surratt. Pleas from her family, lawyer, and fellow conspirators did not allow her to escape her fate, and she was hanged for her crimes on July 7th, 1865. Even from the scaffold, Lewis Powell, another conspirator condemned to die, cried, “Mrs. Surratt is innocent. She doesn't deserve to die with the rest of us.” So who was this woman, and most

Mary Surratt was a part of Abraham Lincoln’s kidnapping plot. In Source one it states “Mary knew about the kidnaping part but not the plan to kill the Abraham Lincoln. Mary Surratt was guilty for trying to kidnap Abraham Lincoln. Source2 “Booth had originally wanted to kidnap the president.” Booth only wanted to kidnap Abraham Lincoln to give a little scare, but after a while he got the idea in his mind that he wanted to kill Abraham Lincoln. In Source 2 it states “But our cause being almost lost, something decisive must be done”. Booth had written in his diary on what he was planning on doing. “Abraham Lincoln’s secretary new, however chose to keep it a secret”. The secretary knew and didn’t tell anyone, not even Abraham Lincoln she could have helped him in not being shot.

How do we know Mary Surratt is not guilty? Well, in Booth’s journal, Booth had never mentioned Mary's name. He did although mention that he did not want to kill the president but wanted to kidnap him. Not until later on when John Wilkes Booth found out

Larson does show to have posed her own questioning of Surratt 's role. She states that "new information {is} uncovered every day" (134). Mary is clearly established as not only guilty but more highly involved than anyone has given her credit for thus far.

Mary Surratt's son John Surratt was one of Booth’s friends, he was helpful and would often see Booth at their family boarding house. On the day of the assassination John Surratt willingly picked up parts for gun that Booth needed, and left it with his mother. He left town that day for a week, and his mother gave the parts to Booth for him. When the police came

Mary was even charged with a capital offense and sentenced for twenty years. The Governor was forced to release her due to such a large public outcry. Mary testified before The U.S. Congress because of the Ludlow Colorado incident where National Guardsmen raided a colony of miners. The Miners were on strike, they were living in tents along with their wives and children. Twenty people were killed during the raid, mostly women and children. Mary was deeply affected by this tragedy and referred to it as “The machine Gun Massacre”. Mary travelled across country telling everyone who would listen about what happened in Ludlow.