In the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, federal officials captured, imprisoned, and indicted Jefferson Davis for treason. If found guilty, the former Confederate president faced execution for his role in levying war against the United States. Although the federal government pursued the charges for over four years, the case never went to trial. In this comprehensive analysis of the saga, Treason on Trial, Robert Icenhauer-Ramirez suggests that while national politics played a role in the trial’s direction, the actions of lesser-known individuals ultimately resulted in the failure to convict Davis. Early on, two primary factions argued against trying the case. Influential northerners dreaded the prospect of a public trial, fearing it would reopen the wounds of the war and make a martyr of Davis. Conversely, white southerners pointed to the treatment and prosecution of Davis as vindictive on the part of the federal government. Moreover, they maintained, the right to secede from the Union remained within the bounds of the law, effectively linking the treason charge against Davis with the constitutionality of secession. While Icenhauer-Ramirez agrees that politics played a role in the case, he suggests that focusing exclusively on that aspect obscures the importance of the participants. In the United States of America v. Jefferson Davis, preeminent lawyers represented both parties. According to Icenhauer-Ramirez, Lucius H. Chandler, the local prosecuting attorney, lacked the skill and temperament necessary to put the case on a footing that would lead to trial. In addition, Supreme Court Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase had little desire to preside over the divisive case and intentionally stymied the prosecution’s efforts. The deft analysis in Treason on Trial illustrates how complications caused by Chandler and Chase led to a three-year delay and, eventually, to the dismissal of the case in 1868, when President Andrew Johnson granted blanket amnesty to those who participated in the armed rebellion.

“McFate just might be the next Tom Clancy, only I think he’s even better... The action is non-stop and shuttles back and forth between scary-believable and rollicking good fun. I read High Treason during a six-hour plane ride and the trip went by like the snap of my fingers.” —James Patterson In this pulse-pounding action thriller perfect for fans of Brad Thor and David Baldacci, Tom Locke must stop dark forces working to overthrow the president En route to the National Prayer Breakfast, the U.S. vice president’s motorcade is hit in a vicious, expertly planned attack that throws Washington, DC, into chaos. Everyone assumes it’s terrorists— everyone but young FBI agent Jennifer Lin. She is certain that the easy answers here are not the likely ones. . . . Half a world away, former military contractor Tom Locke has his own doubts about what happened—and who did it. He suspects his former employer, Apollo Outcomes. But why would the global private military corporation orchestrate such a brutal strike on U.S. soil? Returning to DC, Locke teams with Lin and discovers that a civil war is secretly brewing in the military-contracting world. A division of one company has gone rogue, led by a power-hungry former colleague of Locke’s who may have planned the attack on the vice president himself. But this man couldn’t have pulled it off without help from inside the government. The VP’s itinerary and route were confidential—which means there must be a traitor high up in either the White House or the NSA who is leaking information. But why? And who could be pulling the strings? Radical Islamic terrorists? Or is this a new ploy by Putin to subvert American leadership? Or is someone else behind the attack? Only Locke can get to the bottom of the conspiracy—and blow it apart with one bold strike before it’s too late. “High Treason has brutal assassinations, shocking betrayals, even heated gun battles in the shadow of the White House. It had me breathless—from the sheer audacity of its storytelling to its breakneck pacing. It’s not to be missed!” —James Rollins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Odyssey

This book explores the treason trial of President Jefferson Davis, where the question of secession's constitutionality was debated.

In 1728 a stranger handed a letter to Governor Yue calling on him to lead a rebellion against the Manchu rulers of China. Feigning agreement, he learnt the details of the plot and immediately informed the Emperor, Yongzheng. The ringleaders were captured with ease, forced to recant and, to the confusion and outrage of the public, spared. Drawing on an enormous wealth of documentary evidence - over a hundred and fifty secret documents between the Emperor and his agents are stored in Chinese archives - Jonathan Spence has recreated this revolt of the scholars in fascinating and chilling detail. It is a story of unwordly dreams of a better world and the facts of bureaucratic power, of the mind of an Emperor and of the uses of his mercy.