Mary Surratt Research Paper

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What happens when people are given the death sentence, but are later proven innocent? John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln, and 4 people were accused of being involved in the plotting of the assassination. Mary Surratt was one of the people accused. Among the four co-conspirators, I believe that Mary Surratt’s sentence outweighed her involvement in the assassination of Lincoln. I believe that Mary Surratt’s sentence outweighed her involvement in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln for many reasons, one of those reasons being that her trial only lasted for a month. “The rapid conviction, sentencing, and the execution of the Lincoln assassination concluded the trial had lasted through May and June.” This quote shows that the trial …show more content…
“Booth asked if she would mind delivering a small package wrapped in newspaper to her tavern.” This quote explains that Mary had no clue what she was helping her son and the co-conspirators do. Booth did not tell her what was inside the small wrapped package, which is another reason why her sentence outweighed her actions. Some people may say that Mary Surratt getting the death penalty was reasonable because she was covering for her son John Surratt. “Mary Surratt claimed to not know where her son was,” John Harrison Surratt was eventually tracked down through Canada to Europe, where he served, under a false name, in the pope’s army,” these two quotes show that Mary Surratt may not have known where her son was because he was under a fake name in Europe. If she wanted to know where he was at, it would be hard, because he was under a fake name. This is also a reason why Mary Surratt's sentence was unfair, and outweighed. Among the four co-conspirators, I believe that Mary Surratt’s sentence outweighed her involvement in the assassination of Lincoln. There were many reasons why Mary Surratt's trial and sentence were unfair, and
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