"Makes you feel as if you are watching a live camera riveted on a courtroom more than 150 years ago."--Diane Sawyer The true story of Abrah am \;Lincoln's \;last \;murder \;trial\, a case in which h e had a deep personal involvement--and which played out in the nation's&nb sp\;newspapers as he began his presidential campaignAt the end of the summ er of 1859\, twenty-two-year-old Peachy Quinn Harrison went on \;trial \;for murder in Springfield\, Illinois. Abraham \;Lincoln\, who h ad been involved in more than three thousand cases--including more than tw enty-five murder \;trials--during his two-decades-long career\, was hi red to defend him. This was to be his \;last \;great case as a law yer.What normally would have been a local case took on momentous meaning.& nbsp\;Lincoln's \;debates with Senator Stephen Douglas the previous fa ll had gained him a national following\, transforming the little-known\, s elf-taught lawyer into a respected politician. He was being urged to make a dark-horse run for the presidency in 1860. Taking this case involved gre at risk. His reputation was untarnished\, but should he lose this \;tr ial\, should Harrison be convicted of murder\, the spotlight now focused s o brightly on him might be dimmed. He had won his most recent murder \ ;trial \;with a daring and dramatic maneuver that had become a local l egend\, but another had ended with his client dangling from the end of a r ope. The case posed painful personal challenges for \;Lincoln. The mur der victim had trained for the law in his office\, and \;Lincoln \ ;had been his friend and his mentor. His accused killer\, the young man&nb sp\;Lincoln \;would defend\, was the son of a close friend and loyal s upporter. And to win this \;trial \;he would have to form an unhol y allegiance with a longtime enemy\, a revivalist preacher he had twice ru n against for political office--and who had bitterly slandered \;Linco ln \;as an "infidel...too lacking in faith" to be elected. Lincoln's&n bsp\;Last \;Trial \;captures the presidential hopeful's \;dram atic courtroom confrontations in vivid detail as he fights for his client- -but also for his own blossoming political future. It is a moment in histo ry that shines a light on our legal system\, as in this case \;Lincoln \;fought a legal battle that remains incredibly relevant today." ~Fro m the catalog
\nPlease join us for a discussion of this \;era in history. \;
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