Overview

Professor Kenneth J. Zanca analyzes the responses of mid-nineteenth century Catholics in America to Mrs. Mary Surratt's trial and execution for her part in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. These reactions are placed within various contexts: the Catholic Church during America's Civil War; the wider secular and Protestant culture of the Victorian era; the post-assassination climate of 1865; and Vatican politics. Previous studies of Mrs. Surratt have explored the issues of her guilt or innocence. This work takes a line of inquiry not yet explored by historians, Catholic or otherwise, in that it investigates reactions to her execution through the eyes of contemporary Catholic and Protestant witnesses and commentators.

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Reviews

Kenneth J. Zanca has made a welcome addition to one small but important aspect of what remains a seriously understudied topic: Catholics in the South....Important contribution to social and religious history.--David O'Connell American Catholic Studies, 2009, Vol 120 No 1

Kenneth J. Zanca has made a welcome addition to one small but important aspect of what remains a seriously understudied topic: Catholics in the South....Important contribution to social and religious history.--David O'Connell American Catholic Studies

Author Information

Kenneth J. Zanca is professor of religious studies at Marymount College, Palos Verdes, California. He received his Ph.D. from Fordham University.

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