Resources for exploring topics and issues in History. Includes Ancient, European, Modern, and United States History and Government as well as Economics, Religious Studies, and the History of Art.
Hanged! : Mary Surrat and the Plan to Assassinate Abraham Lincoln by Sarah MillerFrom the critically acclaimed author of The Borden Murders comes the thrilling story of Mary Surratt, the first woman to be executed by the US government, for her alleged involvement in the plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. A dubious distinction belongs to Mary Surratt: on July 7, 1865, she became the first woman to be executed by the United States government, accused of conspiring in the plot to assassinate not only President Abraham Lincoln, but also the vice president, the secretary of state, and General Grant. Mary Surratt was a widow, a Catholic, a businesswoman, a slave owner, a Union resident, and the mother of a Confederate Secret Service courier. As the proprietor of the boardinghouse where John Wilkes Booth and his allies are known to have gathered, Mary Surratt was widely believed, as President Andrew Johnson famously put it, to have "kept the nest that hatched the egg." But did Mrs. Surratt truly commit treason by aiding and abetting Booth in his plot to murder the president? Or was she the victim of a spectacularly cruel coincidence? Here is YA nonfiction at its best--gripping, thought-provoking, and unputdownable.
Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. SwansonBased on rare archival material, obscure trial manuscripts, and interviews with relatives of the conspirators and the manhunters, this fast-paced thriller that tells the story of the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth and gives a day-by-day account of the wild chase to find this killer and his accomplices. Based on James Swanson's bestselling adult book Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer, this young people's version is an accessible look at the assassination of a president, and shows readers Abraham Lincoln the man, the father, the husband, the friend, and how his death impacted those closest to him.