The Catholics and Mrs. Mary Surratt How They Responded to the Trial and Execution of the Lincoln Conspirator

Professor Kenneth J. Zanca analyzes the responses of mid-nineteenth century Catholics in America to Mrs. Mary Surratt's trial and execution for her part in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. These reactions are placed within various contexts: the Catholic Church during America's Civil War; the wider secular and Protestant culture of the Victorian era; the post-assassination climate of 1865; and Vatican politics. Previous studies of Mrs. Surratt have explored the issues of her guilt or innocence. This work takes a line of inquiry not yet explored by historians, Catholic or otherwise, in that it investigates reactions to her execution through the eyes of contemporary Catholic and Protestant witnesses and commentators.

Kenneth J. Zanca is Professor of Religious Studies at Marymount College, Palos Verdes, California.