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Lincoln's Assassination Trial
🇺🇸 The Glitched Gavel S01E04: The Republic vs. The Boarding House (Lincoln's Assassination Trial)
Gavel (The Narrator/Prosecutor): "April 1865. The Civil War is barely over, and the Great Emancipator lies dead. The nation, fractured and bleeding, demanded immediate vengeance. This week, we examine the highly unusual, deeply flawed military trial of the eight conspirators—including the hapless stagehand, the frantic doctor, and the Southern sympathizer who ran the boarding house: Mary Surratt." (The sound of heavy, echoing boots and the clanking of chains mixes with a low, digital moan.)
Static (The Analyst/Defense): "President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton bypassed the civilian courts entirely, convening a secret military commission. Why? Because a military court only required a simple majority to convict and could bypass constitutional rights. We scrutinize the evidence that convicted the defendants, who were forced to wear hoods and shackles, and the controversial testimony of the 366 witnesses, many of whom seemed to be under duress or eager to save their own necks."
Gavel: "The conspiracy was vast—aiming for the simultaneous death of Lincoln, Vice President Johnson, and Secretary of State Seward. We dissect the roles of the key figures: Lewis Powell's frenzied, failed attack on Seward, the drunken failure of George Atzerodt to kill Johnson, and the medical misfortune of Dr. Samuel Mudd in treating John Wilkes Booth's broken leg. Was the goal justice, or was the rush to the gallows simply a political performance designed to cleanse the Union's deep wounds? Four would hang, but the question of a fair trial hangs over the republic still."
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By robert hudson🇺🇸 The Glitched Gavel S01E04: The Republic vs. The Boarding House (Lincoln's Assassination Trial)
Gavel (The Narrator/Prosecutor): "April 1865. The Civil War is barely over, and the Great Emancipator lies dead. The nation, fractured and bleeding, demanded immediate vengeance. This week, we examine the highly unusual, deeply flawed military trial of the eight conspirators—including the hapless stagehand, the frantic doctor, and the Southern sympathizer who ran the boarding house: Mary Surratt." (The sound of heavy, echoing boots and the clanking of chains mixes with a low, digital moan.)
Static (The Analyst/Defense): "President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton bypassed the civilian courts entirely, convening a secret military commission. Why? Because a military court only required a simple majority to convict and could bypass constitutional rights. We scrutinize the evidence that convicted the defendants, who were forced to wear hoods and shackles, and the controversial testimony of the 366 witnesses, many of whom seemed to be under duress or eager to save their own necks."
Gavel: "The conspiracy was vast—aiming for the simultaneous death of Lincoln, Vice President Johnson, and Secretary of State Seward. We dissect the roles of the key figures: Lewis Powell's frenzied, failed attack on Seward, the drunken failure of George Atzerodt to kill Johnson, and the medical misfortune of Dr. Samuel Mudd in treating John Wilkes Booth's broken leg. Was the goal justice, or was the rush to the gallows simply a political performance designed to cleanse the Union's deep wounds? Four would hang, but the question of a fair trial hangs over the republic still."