A Brief History
On June 5, 1893, the murder trial of Lizzie Borden began. Borden was accused of killing her father and stepmother with an axe. Despite the popular assumption of her guilt, she was acquitted in one of the most famous trials in US history.
Digging Deeper
Some of the other candidates as the most famous American trial include the following:
In The Sacco and Vanzetti Trial of 1921 for robbery and murder, the men were believed by many to be railroaded because they were immigrants and anarchists in a case that saw worldwide attention.
The Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925 pitted super lawyers William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow against each other in arguing about Darwinian Evolution.
In The OJ Simpson Trial of 1994-1995, the football legend was accused of double homicide in a highly televised trial featuring the best defense lawyers of the day.
Finally, all four of the presidential impeachment trials could be considered contenders for the title. Will the 2023 trial of Donald Trump make this list?
Question for students (and subscribers): What trial do you think is the most famous or infamous in US history? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Charles Rivers Editors. The Life and Trial of Lizzie Borden: The History of 19th Century America’s Most Famous Murder Case. Charles River Editors, 2016.
Sanchez, Anita. The Monkey Trial: John Scopes and the Battle over Teaching Evolution. HarperAudio, 2023.
The featured image in this article, a contemporary magazine drawing of the Borden trial, is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason: This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1928.
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