History Lesson

Saw "The Conspirator" last night.  Directed by Robert Redford with a great cast:
James McAvoy, Robin Wright, Kevin Klein, Tom Wilkinson and one of my favorites
Colm Meaney.  Colm Meany is the star of two great Stephen Frears movies "The Van" and "The Snapper".
Last night the movie house had about ten people.  I don't know why it's not getting an audience; I enjoyed it.  It's well done and has some suspense.  The scenes of  an imagined 1865 Washington, D.C. were excellent.  Although, I don't know how accurate the scenes of Washington are, nor how accurate the story.  My strongest feeling after viewing the movie was regret and anger at the edited/proscribed American History I was taught.
As I remember it, I had eight years of American History in grade school, and two in High School.  I do not recall hearing, reading or being taught any of what I saw in this movie about the conspirators in the Lincoln assassination.   I was taught that John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln; then jumped onto the stage at the Ford Theater injuring his leg.  We were even taught the name of the play.   This movie is about Mary Surratt, who I had never heard about.  According to the movie she ran a boarding house that Wilkes visited.  The film shows that her son conspired with Booth to kidnap Lincoln and when that failed he may have joined in the assassination plot.  The son was acquitted by a jury of his peers, both northerners and southerners.  He didn't have a military trial.  Mary Surratt did and was convicted and hanged.
Mary Surratt was the first woman hanged by the United States.

From the Tao:
When a country is in harmony with the Tao,
the factories make trucks and tractors.
When a country goes counter to the Tao,
warheads are stockpiled outside the cities.

There is no greater illusion than fear,
no greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself,
no greater misfortune than having an enemy.

Whoever can see through all fear
will always be safe.