8. The Collaboration For Lincoln’s Assassination
We all learned about the assassination of President Lincoln back in middle school and how John Wilkes Booth shot him at Ford’s Theater. That may seem like the start and end of the entire story, but in fact, there was actually a much larger group of co-conspirators who assisted in carrying out the plan as well as helping Booth in hiding from federal government officials. At first, it was unknown that Lincoln’s murder was the product of a conspiracy, as opposed to Booth acting independently. It was actually a meticulously strategized plan that involved many people and aspects.
Among the people involved was Mary Surratt, who owned the house where the conspirators all met to discuss their treasonous plans. She was the first female to be executed by the US government, stirring up a lot of controversies herself. In total, about ten people were part of the group and had specific jobs, including transporting Booth and planning to assassinate other figures of the government, including the secretary of state and the vice president.[3]