History of Lynching in the United States
From Stewart E. Tolnay and E.M. Beck,
A Festival of Violence: An Analysis of Southern Lynchings, 1882-1930.Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992.
There are "2805 [documented] victims of lynch mobs killed between 1882 and 1930 in ten southern states. Although mobs murdered almost 300 white men and women, the vast majority—almost 2,500—of lynch victims were African-American. Of these black victims, 94 percent died in the hands of white lynch mobs. The scale of this carnage means that, on the average, a black man, woman, or child was murdered nearly once a week, every week, between 1882 and 1930 by a hate-driven white mob" (ix).
Post-Civil War / Reconstruction Era
Thirteenth Amendment—Ended legal slavery in the United States.
"Black Codes"—Laws passed by southern states that attempted to regain control of the southern black labor force.
Civil Rights Act of 1866—African Americans became citizens of the U.S, under this statute; following this civil rights
act, riots erupted in many southern states.
"In every southern state there was an assault on any activity that contested the privileges of whites or threatened to hinder white domination of the black population, including wresting the reins of political power from blacks, northern carpetbaggers, and sympathetic white southerners, known as ‘scalawags’" (8).
A Portrait of the Lynching Era, 1880-1930
"The lynching era encompasses roughly the five decades between the end of Reconstruction and the beginning of the Great Depression. During these years we may estimate that there were 2,018 separate incidents of lynching in which at least 2,462 African-American men, women and children met their deaths in the grasp of southern mobs, comprised mostly of whites. Although lynchings and mob killings occurred before 1880, notably during early Reconstruction when blacks were enfranchised, radical racism and mob violence peaked during the 1890s in a surge of terrorism that did not dissipate until well into the twentieth century" (17).
"In addition to the punishment of specific criminal offenders, lynching in the American South had three entwined functions:
first, to maintain social order over the black population through terrorism;
second, to suppress of eliminate black competitors for economic, political, or social rewards’
third, to stabilize the white class structure and preserve the privileged status of the white aristocracy" (18-19).
"Lethal mob violence for seemingly minor infractions of the caste codes of behavior was more fundamental for maintaining terroristic social control than punishment for what would seem to be more serious violations of the criminal codes" (19).
Questions:
What determined a ‘criminal offense’? What constituted proof? How many men were lynched based on false allegations? What about due process?
"Between 1882 and the late 1980s, the annual number of black victims grew alarmingly—exceeding ninety in 1892 and 1893. From the zenith reached during the ‘bloody ‘90s,’ the number of blacks killed by lynch mobs began a protracted decline over the next three decades, reaching a nadir of fewer than ten victims annually in 1928 and 1929" (29).
"Lynchings were concentrated in a swath running through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana—the region often referred to as the ‘Black Belt’" (36).
"Mob violence against African-Americans served four functions within southern society during the lynching era:
Table 2-2. Black Victims of White Lynch Mobs by State, 1882-1930
State No. of victims
Deep South
Mississippi 462
Georgia 423
Louisiana 283
Alabama 262
South Carolina 143
Border South
Florida 212
Tennessee 174
Arkansas 162
Kentucky 118
North Carolina 75
Table 2-3. Black Victims of Lynchings per 100,000 Blacks by State, 1882-1930
State No. of victims per 100,000
Deep South
Mississippi 52.8
Georgia 41.8
Louisiana 43.7
Alabama 32.4
South Carolina 18.8
Border South
Florida 79.8
Tennessee 38.4
Arkansas 42.6
Kentucky 45.7
North Carolina 11.0
Table 2-5. The Reasons Given for Black Lynchings
Acting suspiciously Gambling Quarreling
Adultery Grave robbing Race hatred; Race troubles
Aiding murderer Improper with white woman Rape
Arguing with white man Incest Rape-murders
Arson Inciting to riot Resisting mob
Assassination Inciting trouble Robbery
Attempted murder Indolence Running a bordello
Banditry Inflammatory language Sedition
Being disreputable Informing Slander
Being obnoxious Injuring livestock Spreading disease
Boasting about riot Insulting white man Stealing
Burglary Insulting white woman Suing white man
Child abuse Insurrection Swindling
Conjuring Kidnapping Terrorism
Courting white woman Killing livestock Testifying against white man
Criminal assault Living with white woman Throwing stones
Cutting levee Looting Train wrecking
Defending rapist Making threats Trying to colonize blacks
Demanding respect Miscegenation Trying to vote
Disorderly conduct Mistaken identity Unpopularity
Eloping with white woman Molestation Unruly remarks
Entered white woman’s room Murder Using obscene language
Enticement Non-sexual assault Vagrancy
Extortion Peeping Tom Violated quarantine
Fraud Pillage Voodooism
Fraud Plotting to kill Voting for wrong party
Frightening white woman Poisoning well