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Mary Surratt Research Paper

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Kamri Dayton Ms. Roberts ELA 7 15 March, 2017 Surratt’s Sentence As Mary Surratt walked up the steps of the gallows, knowing that the low hanging noose was about to take her life, she whispered to the soldier “don’t let me fall’. Moments later the thick rope instantly brought Surratt to her last breath. Mary was accused for being involved in the association of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln on April 15th, 1865. Mary Surratt deserved to be executed for holding her tongue during the assassination. 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 …show more content…

Lying to the court, some people find it easy to blame Surratt for trying to cover up her crime. Surratt was caught red-handed when Lewis Paine was looking for a hideout. Paine had gone back to Surratt’s boarding house after he failed to assassinate secretary, William H. Seward. It is to be that Booth visited Surratt after finding out that the president would be at Ford’s Theater on April 14th 1865. Louis Weichmann testified upon the people that John Wilkes Booth had asked Mary Surratt to deliver a package to John Lloyd before he took off after the shooting. Mary most likely knew why Booth couldn't deliver the package to Lloyd himself, he was on the run from the government and security. Mary Surratt completely deserved her punishment because she could have turned Booth and his henchman into the proper authorities. Execution is a reasonable sentence because Surratt had the chance to save a life of a grand president, but her silence resulted in taking her life also. Works Cited Kingseed, Wyatt. "A Burned Letter, Conflicting Stories and an Absent Son Helped to Send Mary Surratt to the Gallows." America's Civil War 16.6 (2004): 12-14. Web. Swanson, James L. Chasing Lincoln's Killer. New York: Scholastic, 2009.

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