The conspiracy to kill Abraham Lincoln was not a one-man job. Many of the Confederates did not like Lincoln's ways of thinking which resulted in hostility toward the president. John Wilkes Booth was one of those people who hated Lincoln. Even though Booth was the assassin, he could not have done it without the help of his peers. Obviously Booth deserved to die because of the crime he had committed, but what about the others? Mary Surratt, David Herold, Lewis Powell, and George Atzerodt were the co-conspirators most involved in Lincoln's assassination. In the book Chasing Lincoln's Killer, all of these conspirators were all hung for their part in the conspiracy, but did they all deserve it?; George Atzerodt may have been the exception.
Out of the people listed above George Atzerodt may not have deserved the punishment he received. Atzerodt was definitely involved with many of Booth’s plans involving harm to the president. Before the plan to kill president Lincoln came about, there was another plot to kidnap him. George Atzerodt was one of the original men involved in the plot to kidnap Lincoln, yet this plan fell through and never took place or succeeded. On the night of April fifteenth eighteen sixty five, he was given the job of murdering vice president Andrew Johnson. Out of Booth, Powell, and Atzerodt, Atzerodt was given the
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The people in charge may have argued that he was too involved and even though he never went through with the plots he deserved death. Since he had no protection from a jury or even his own input he was hung for just being involved. His name was attached to Booth’s and this made him a wanted man. This world is full of sin and corruption. Many times people are not justly judged because of this fallen world. Even though Atzerodt was an evil man for being involved, he did the right thing. He did not kill anybody so he did not deserve