Abraham Lincoln and the Dakota 38 Decision of 1862

The execution of the Dakota 38 in December 1862 remains one of the most contested decisions of Abraham Lincolns presidency. In the aftermath of the U.S.-Dakota War, military tribunals sentenced 303 Dakota men to death. After a comprehensive review of the trial records, Lincoln commuted 264 of those sentences, allowing 38 to proceed-an act that resulted in the largest mass execution in American history.