The Conspirators (2021) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Mary Surratt was convicted primarily through circumstantial evidence. As the owner of the boarding house where conspirators gathered, she was connected to John Wilkes Booth, Lewis Powell, and David Herold. Key testimony came from Louis Weichmann, who identified her as the person who supplied binoculars and instructed John Lloyd to prepare weapons for the conspirators. The military tribunal also considered her association with her son John, who was directly involved in the plot, though she claimed ignorance of his final plans.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes show Mary hosting meetings at her boarding house where conspirators discussed plans with Booth.

• mary surratt conviction
• circumstantial evidence
• boarding house
• military tribunal

The conspirators originally planned to kidnap Lincoln, not kill him. Mary Surratt maintained throughout the trial that John and Booth had plotted to capture the President and hold him for ransom as leverage to exchange Confederate prisoners. The plan shifted to assassination only days before April 14, 1865, after Lee's surrender made a kidnapping less strategically valuable. Booth changed the objective, and the others were pulled into the deadly plan.

Foreshadowing: Booth's earlier conversations with conspirators show him discussing abduction scenarios, not murder.

• kidnap plot
• assassination plot
• booth
• john surratt
• lincoln

Mary Surratt was initially sentenced to life in prison by the military tribunal. However, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton intervened and pressured the judges to reconsider. President Johnson then suspended the writ of habeas corpus that would have allowed Mary to be transferred to a civilian court, effectively ensuring the execution sentence would stand. This political intervention converted her sentence to death alongside Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt.

Foreshadowing: The political pressure from Stanton is hinted at during the courtroom deliberations.

• sentence change
• stanton
• president johnson
• execution
• death sentence

Booth was killed during the manhunt when Union soldiers discovered him hiding in a Maryland barn. When sergeant Boston Corbett ordered him to surrender, Booth raised his rifle toward the soldiers instead of complying. Corbett shot Booth through the throat, killing him. His death prevented any confession or testimony that might have revealed more about the conspiracy's full scope.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes show Booth's defiant personality and his vow to 'make a hollower sound' than the shot fired at tyrants.

• booth killed
• manhunt
• corbett
• barn
• capture

John Surratt fled the country immediately after Lincoln's assassination and evaded capture for over a year and a half. He was eventually captured abroad and returned to the United States. When Frederick Aiken visited him in prison sixteen months after the trial, John expressed gratitude for Aiken's compassionate treatment of his mother. He declined to accept his mother's rosary. Unlike the other conspirators, John Surratt was never tried for the assassination.

Foreshadowing: Mary's defense consistently emphasized John's absence from Washington during the assassination.

• john surratt
• escape
• capture
• imprisonment
• flight

George Atzerodt, a German immigrant and carriage repairman, was assigned to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson on the night of April 14, 1865. However, he failed to carry out the attack due to fear and drunken hesitation. He fled but was eventually captured. Unlike Booth and Powell, Atzerodt did not attempt to harm Johnson, and his failure marked one of the weak links in the coordinated assassination plot.

Foreshadowing: Atzerodt's nervousness is visible during the planning meetings with Booth.

• atzerodt
• vice president johnson
• failed assassination
• drunk

The ticket with the initials LJW was found during Aiken's investigation of Mary Surratt's boarding house. These initials stood for Louis J. Weichmann, a seminary friend of John Surratt who had been a lodger at the boarding house. Weichmann became the first witness for the prosecution and his testimony was crucial in establishing the connections between the conspirators and Mary Surratt's property, though his reliability was later challenged.

Foreshadowing: Weichmann is seen visiting the boarding house frequently in early scenes.

• ljw ticket
• weichmann
• boarding house
• evidence
• witness

The conspirators were tried by a military tribunal because President Johnson argued that wartime conditions justified bypassing civilian courts. The government claimed the assassination was an act of war against the United States. However, Aiken secured a writ of habeas corpus to challenge this, arguing Mary Surratt deserved a civilian trial. Johnson suspended the writ, allowing the military tribunal's verdicts to stand. Later, the Supreme Court would rule in Ex parte Milligan that citizens are entitled to civilian trials even during wartime.

Foreshadowing: The tension between military and civilian justice is a recurring theme in the film's courtroom scenes.

• military tribunal
• civilian court
• habeas corpus
• ex parte milligan
• constitutional rights

Frederick Aiken was appointed by Reverdy Johnson to take over Mary Surratt's defense despite being a Union veteran who had fought in the Civil War. Although reluctant at first, Aiken took the case because Reverdy Johnson asked him to, and he grew increasingly convinced that the case against Mary was based on circumstantial connections rather than proof of direct involvement. Taking the defense cost him his membership at a prestigious club and strained his marriage, but he pursued what he believed was his constitutional duty.

Foreshadowing: Aiken's internal conflict about defending a woman accused of assassinating 'his' president is established early.

• frederick aiken
• defense attorney
• mary surratt
• reverdy johnson
• union veteran

Lewis Powell, also known as Lewis Payne in the film, was assigned to attack Secretary of State William H. Seward as part of the coordinated assassination plot. While Booth targeted Lincoln, Powell was to eliminate Seward, who was already bedridden from a recent carriage accident. Powell attacked Seward at his residence and severely wounded him, though Seward survived. This was meant to decapitate multiple branches of the government simultaneously.

Foreshadowing: The conspirators' meeting shows Booth assigning different targets to different members of the group.

• lewis powell
• william seward
• attack
• secretary of state
• assassination plot

After the trial, Frederick Aiken abandoned the practice of law entirely. The political backlash from defending Mary Surratt had damaged his legal career. However, he went on to become The Washington Post's first City Editor around 1867, marking an unexpected transition from law to journalism. This career shift represented a new beginning after the exhausting and morally complex trial that had consumed him.

Foreshadowing: Aiken's frustration with the legal system is evident in his courtroom confrontations.

• frederick aiken
• washington post
• city editor
• career
• aftermath

Anna Surratt testified that her mother played no part in Lincoln's assassination, claiming instead that her brother John was responsible for the act. Her testimony supported Mary's defense that she was unaware of the conspirators' final plans. Anna also visited Aiken at his home and provided information about Booth and John's activities, though she remained protective of certain family details. Her testimony was one of the few pieces of evidence attempting to exonerate Mary.

Foreshadowing: Anna's loyalty to her mother is established in early scenes between the two.

• anna surratt
• testimony
• john surratt
• defense
• exoneration