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Archive: September 2022 (1 Post)

Murder in Lafayette Square

Posted by: Heather Thomas

On a peaceful Sunday in 1859 in the nation's capital, Congressman Daniel E. Sickles shot and killed U.S. District Attorney Philip Barton Key in broad daylight on Lafayette Square. The murder and subsequent trial captivated antebellum America and sparked nationwide debates about male honor, female virtue, insanity, and the rule of law.