Wrist Irons worn by the Abraham Lincoln Conspirators
name: label: associated person
content: Lincoln, Abraham
notes: label: Description
content: These wrist irons confined the Lincoln conspirators. Emotions were so strong that the defendants were bound—with the exception of Mary Surratt, the only woman—even during the trial.
label: Description
content: John Wilkes Booth’s attack on Lincoln was part of a larger plot to assassinate national leaders and throw the North into turmoil. The conspirators also planned to murder Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward. Besides Booth, eight individuals were charged. Because the plot was considered an act of war, a military commission tried the accused. The court sentenced four suspects to be hanged, and the others to prison.
label: Description
content: Transfer from the War Department, 1904
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Assassination
setName: label: See more items in
content: Political History: Political History, General History Collection
label: See more items in
content: Government, Politics, and Reform
label: See more items in
content: Selections from the Abraham Lincoln Collection
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Rubenstein, Harry R.. Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: U.S. War Department. Bureau of Ordnance
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PL.010239a
label: catalog number
content: 10239a
label: accession number
content: 42272
objectType: label: Object Name
content: wrist irons
label: Object Type
content: handcuffs
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: iron (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 13 3/4 in x 3 in x 1 1/2 in; 34.925 cm x 7.62 cm x 3.81 cm