July 6, 1865---"The Nation"

JULY 6, 1865:             

Having accomplished its goal of ending slavery, preacher-publisher-abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison shutters THE LIBERATOR magazine (1831-1865). He immediately begins publishing THE NATION, which becomes and remains the longest continuously published periodical in the United States, known for its Left-Liberal viewpoints. 

 

 

A second LIBERATOR, unrelated to Garrison’s, is published 1918-1924, and a third from 2002 onward.

Edman Spangler's conviction

On this day, the sentences of the Lincoln Assassination Conspirators were announced. After President Johnson signed the Death Warrants it was further announced that the hangings of David Herold, Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt and Mary Surratt were scheduled to take place at noon on July 7^th.

One thousand tickets were distributed to various VIPs and to the Press to watch the hangings. Some were scalped, bringing tremendous prices.

The condemned were allowed pen and ink, visitors, and access to clergy. Though most protested their innocence, Lewis Powell protested Mary Surratt’s innocence. George Atzerodt, however, made dying declarations that further implicated her.  Powell remarks were ignored. Atzerodt’s remarks were reported to the President.

Since a majority of the trial court judges recommended clemency (life imprisonment), Surratt’s lawyer, Reverdy Johnson, applied for a Writ of Habeas Corpus, meant to stay her execution. The Writ was granted by the District of Columbia District Court.

When President Johnson heard of the Writ he promptly wrote an Order cancelling it on the basis that Habeas Corpus remained suspended during wartime --- even though he had declared the insurrection practically at an end on May 9^th.  When legally challenged, his argument shifted: the crimes themselves were committed during wartime, and thus Habeas Corpus could not apply. The legally specious argument won the day largely because most people wanted Mary Surratt to die.

Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus

President Johnson’s behavior of the next 24 hours was truly despicable. He refused the Court’s recommendation for clemency, later claiming he had never seen it, and he refused to see Anna Surratt, Mary’s daughter, who had come to beg for her mother’s life. He later claimed that he was never informed as to why Anna Surratt had visited the White House --- though he couldn’t have imagined she wanted a personal tour.