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Catalog Data

Associated Name:
Lincoln, Abraham  Search this
Physical Description:
iron (overall material)
Measurements:
overall: 1 1/8 in x 17 1/2 in x 4 1/8 in; 2.8956 cm x 44.45 cm x 10.5156 cm
Object Name:
shackles, ankle
Description:
These ankle shackles confined the Lincoln conspirators. Emotions were so strong that the defendants were bound—with the exception of Mary Surratt, the only woman—even during the trial.
John Wilkes Booth’s attack on Lincoln was part of a larger plot to assassinate national leaders and throw the North into turmoil. The conspirators also planned to murder Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward. Besides Booth, eight individuals were charged. Because the plot was considered an act of war, a military commission tried the accused. The court sentenced four suspects to be hanged, and the others to prison.
Transfer from the War Department, 1904
Location:
Currently not on view
Subject:
Assassination  Search this
Related Publication:
Rubenstein, Harry R.. Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life
Credit Line:
U.S. War Department. Bureau of Ordnance
ID Number:
PL.010240b
Catalog number:
10240b
Accession number:
42272
See more items in:
Political and Military History: Political History, General History Collection
Government, Politics, and Reform
Selections from the Abraham Lincoln Collection
Data Source:
National Museum of American History
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a6-f23b-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmah_881474