In the Aftermath of the Lincoln Assassination

Humanities on Demand

Elizabeth D. Leonard is the John J. and Cornelia V. Gibson Professor of History at Colby College, where she has taught since 1992. Leonard is the author of three books on the Civil War era, and she is under contract to write the biography of Joseph Holt, Lincoln’s judge advocate general. In this talk, she explores Holt’s role in the manhunt that followed the assassination. She also delineates the arguments that took place between those who were determined to avenge Lincoln’s death (and the war itself) and those who aimed to forgive the rebel South and forget the plight of the recently freed slaves.

This lecture was part of the Legacy of Lincoln symposium co-presented by the Maine Humanities Council, Maine Historical Society, and American & New England Studies Program at USM on March 21, 2009.