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The Inaccuracies Of The Conspirator

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The Conspirator is a movie directed by Robert Redford that brought a tragic error in the American legal system to light, the trial of Mary Elizabeth Surratt. Surratt was put on trial for her alleged accessory to John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. This movie follows the court proceedings; however, as with most Hollywood productions, The Conspirator is only to some extent historically accurate. The significant parts of the movie, such as, the main people and overall story ring true to history. Redford just made some minor tweaks. Some of the inaccuracies include her children, John Wilkes Booth’s death, and the lawyers involved. The Conspirator is accurate with the main plot of the story. President Lincoln was shot on April 14, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre (Ferguson 154). Booth was an actor at the theater and knew the play, entitled Our American Cousin, so well that he chose the height of audience laughter to shoot (Ferguson 165). Samuel Arnold, Lewis Payne, George Atzerodt, Samuel Mudd, David Herold, Edward Spangler, Michael O’Laughlin, and Mary Surratt were all arrested and tried for the conspiracy to kill Abraham Lincoln and Secretary Seward. The jury was made up of nine military judges and the defendants were not allowed to see their …show more content…

The Conspirator shows a priest leading her up to the gallows clutching a crucifix. She held on to the crucifix even as her platform fell. The crucifix was then given to Aiken to present to her son John. Aiken tried to hand it to him in jail, but he told Aiken to keep it because Aiken was more of a son then he had been. Even this scene is almost accurate. The only difference in actual history is that there were two Roman Catholic Priests and she “kissed the crucifix of Jesus Carried by the priest” (Schuetz 35). So it may not have been her crucifix the priest carried and she didn’t get to hold it as she met her

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