George Washington Gayle is not a name known to history. But it soon will be. Forget what you thought you knew about why Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. No, it was not mere sectional hatred, Booth’s desire to become famous, Lincoln’s advocacy of black suffrage, or a plot masterminded by Jefferson Davis to win the war by crippling the Federal government. Christopher Lyle McIlwain, Sr.’s Untried and Unpunished: George Washington Gayle and the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln exposes the fallacies regarding each of those theories and reveals both the mastermind behind the plot, and its true motivation. The deadly scheme to kill Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William Seward was Gayle’s brainchild. The assassins were motivated by money Gayle raised. Lots of money. $20,000,000 in today’s value. Gayle, a prominent South Carolina-born Alabama lawyer, had been a Unionist and Jacksonian Democrat before walking the road of radicalization following the admission of California as a free state in 1850. Thereafter, he became Alabama’s most earnest secessionist, though he would never hold any position within the Confederate government or serve in its military. After the slaying of the president Gayle was arrested and taken to Washington, DC in chains to be tried by a military tribunal for conspiracy in connection with the horrendous crimes. The Northern press was satisfied Gayle was behind the deed—especially when it was discovered he had placed an advertisement in a newspaper the previous December soliciting donations to pay the assassins. There is little doubt that if Gayle had been tried, he would have been convicted and executed. However, he not only avoided trial, but ultimately escaped punishment of any kind for reasons that will surprise readers. Rather than rehashing what scores of books have already alleged, Untried and Unpunished offers a completely fresh premise, meticulous analysis, and stunning conclusions based upon years of firsthand research by an experienced attorney. This original, thought-provoking study will forever change the way you think of Lincoln’s assassination.
The author of the book "History of the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson, President of the United States" is Kansas senator and politician Edmund G. Ross. In this historical work, Ross, who played a pivotal role in the impeachment trial as a swing vote, offers a firsthand perspective on the events and political climate surrounding Johnson's impeachment. Ross provides a thorough examination of the political, legal, and constitutional issues of the impeachment procedure. The book explores the tense relationship between President Johnson and the Republicans in Congress, who attempted to have him removed from office due to differences over Reconstruction policies after the American Civil War. Ross sheds light on the political scheming and heated discussions that took place at this pivotal time in American history by offering insights into the motives and methods of the major people involved. Readers of "History of the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson, President of the United States" get a useful historical overview of one of the most important impeachment proceedings in American history
The Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville Railroad is a perfect example of rail lines in the mid-nineteenth century. Chartered in 1852, the line ran from Paris, Tennessee, to the Kentucky state line and connected with two other routes to create a seamless link between Memphis and Louisville. It shortened the travel time between major economic cities, but its ability to make money didn't match its founders' aspirations. Its detractors ridiculed the route as "beginning in the woods and ending in a hollow tree." Following the Civil War, the railroad revitalized the line, only to run out of money and largely fade away. Author Todd DeFeo recounts the fascinating story of a historic line.
What did Abraham Lincoln envision when he talked about "reconstruction?" Assassinated in 1865, the president did not have a chance to begin the work of reconciling the North and South, nor to oversee Reconstruction as an official postwar strategy. Yet his final speech, given to thousands gathered in the rain outside the White House on April 11, 1865, gives a clear indication of what Lincoln's postwar policy might have looked like-one that differed starkly from what would emerge in the tumultuous decade that followed. In Lincoln's Last Speech, renowned historian and author Louis P. Masur offers insight into this critical address and its vision of a reconstructed United States. Coming two days after Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox and a week after the fall of Richmond, Lincoln's speech was expected to be a victory oration. Instead, he looked to the future, discussing how best to restore the seceded states to the national government, and even endorsing limited black suffrage. Delving into the language and arguments of Lincoln's last address, Masur traces the theme of reconstruction as it developed throughout his presidency, starting with the very earliest days of the war. Masur illuminates the evolution of Lincoln's thinking and the national debate around reconstruction, touching on key moments such as the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction on December 8, 1863, and Lincoln's pocket veto of the Wade-Davis bill in July 1864. He also examines social reconstruction, including the plight of freedmen and the debate over the place of blacks in society; and considers the implications of Lincoln's speech after April 1865, when Andrew Johnson assumed office and the ground was laid for the most radical phases of the postwar policy. A nuanced study of Lincoln's views on national reconciliation, this work gives us a better understanding of the failures that occurred with postwar Reconstruction and the eventual path that brought the country to reunion.
Defeat was looming for the South--as the Civil War continued, paths to possible victory were fast disappearing. Dr. Luke Pryor Blackburn, a Confederate physician and expert in infectious diseases, had an idea that might turn the tide: he would risk his own life and career to bring a yellow fever epidemic to the North. To carry out his mission, he would need some accomplices. Tracing the plans and movements of the conspirators, this thoroughly researched history describes in detail the yellow fever plot of 1864-1865.
Covering one of the most defining moment of America's history, The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln aims to lay the multitude of theories surrounding Lincoln’s assassination to rest. Immediately after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, suspicion naturally fell on Confederate leaders as being responsible for the great crime. The belief in their complicity faded when the case against Jefferson Davis and other unindicted co-conspirators collapsed at the trial of John Wilkes Booth’s action team (Booth was dead) in May and June, 1865. The belief then hibernated for 123 years, during which period the prevailing wisdom was that Booth had in fact acted with the help of no one other than his team, with the possible exception of Dr. Samuel Mudd and Mary Surratt. In 1988, however, assassination historians James O. Hall, William A. Tidwell and David Gaddy thoroughly discredited the simple conspiracy theory in their seminal work Come Retribution, holding that the original suspicions were right after all. In 1995, Tidwell followed with a solo titled April ’65 in which he strengthened the case against Confederate leaders. The authors’ conclusions quickly gained acceptance by many experts in the field, including the author of this work, which is intended to remove any remaining doubt as to the validity of the theory. It does so by describing in detail four subplots in the overall plot to murder the President, subplots that demonstrate unequivocally that Booth was merely a pawn in the hands of far more powerful, influential and purposeful men than he, men whose backs were to the wall and who would therefore stop at nothing to avert the catastrophe that they had fought four long years to prevent and that was now upon them.