I helped fact-check this podcast for The History Channel. I got to investigate the lighting conditions in Jefferson Davis’s cell, and the difference (if any) between beaver fur and beaver felt hats.
May 10, 1865. Jefferson Davis is awakened by gunshots. The president of the defeated and disbanded Confederate States of America is on the run, and today, federal troops finally catch him. His arrest puts the face of the Confederacy behind bars. But it also creates a problem for federal officials: what exactly do we do with this guy? How will they hold Davis accountable for his acts without turning him into a martyr for his cause? And then there’s the larger question: how can they piece a shattered nation back together?
May 9, 2022