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LYNCHING.   Term Paper ID:29108 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: History of lynching in the U.S.... More...

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Paper Abstract: History of lynching in the U.S. Contends lynching of African-Americans was not just an act of hatred and rage, but at attempt to control behavior. Deep South as region of most lynchings. Ku Klux Klan. Nonaction on part of North. Anti-lynching protests and activities of Ida Wells and the NAACP. Media treatment of lynchings. Paper Introduction: The history of lynching in the United States ranks as one of the most horrific, shameful episodes in American history. In Lynch Law, the first serious investigation of lynching published in 1905, James E. Cutler states that “lynching is a criminal practice which is peculiar to the United States.” The lynching of African Americans began during the aftermath of the Civil War and continued well into the 20th Century, most often with little or no opposition from government agencies. Lynching was more than brutal violence wrought on one group of American citizens by another; it was also a means of social control. The argument of this paper is that lynching was not just an act of hatred and rage, but a deliberate and conscious attempt to control behavior, and as such it perpetuated a racist caste system in the United States. Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Cit., p. Arthur Raper. 56 -561.[xii] The Arkansas Gazette, July 31, 1917.[xiii] The Chicago Chronicle, June 19, 1897.[xiv] Boston Evening Transcript, July 21, 1886.[xv] The Indianapolis News, June 19, 1897.[xvi] Ida B. Lynching, then, was intended to keep African Americans in aninferior position out of the mainstream so that they could not compete withwhites. The reasons given for lynching ranged from minor offenses allegedlycommitted by African Americans (disputes with a white man, attempting toregister to vote) to major crimes (robbery, felonious assault, rape). As Bailey observed, wholesale disenfranchisement of AfricanAmericans was achieved by intimidation, fraud, trickery and violence."Among various underhanded schemes were the literacy tests, unfairlyadministered by whites to the advantage of illiterate whites. The term lynching came into use in the United States in 179 when aColonel Charles Lynch, a Virginia landowner, held illegal trials of localsuspected lawbreakers who were white for the most part. The earliest public condemnations of lynching can be found in theactivities of Ida B. Beck. 13-14.Tolnay, Stewart E. The Tragedy of Lynching' (North Carolina: ChapelHill, 1933), pp. With regard to this figure, Myrdal stated, "There is much reasonto believe that this figure has been inflated by the fact that a mob whichmakes the accusation of rape is secure from any further investigation, bythe broad Southern definition of rape to include all sexual relationsbetween Negro men and white women; and by the psychopathic fares of whitewomen in their contacts with Negro men."[xi] An interesting aspect of lynching in the United States is itstreatment by the media, essentially the newspapers of the time. The American Pageant, (Vol. Her views were published in several newspapers, andshe also wrote a series of pamphlets against lynching, notably SouthernHorrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases, which was published in 1892. As Tolnay and Beak contend,legal action against lynching was rarely taken because "under the whiterobes, in a pattern that would be repeated many times over the next 1 years, were often the police themselves." [ix] African Americans who attempted to register to vote in the Deep Souththrough the 195 s, were often beaten, and worse. (Chicago,Ill: University of Illinois Press, 1995), p. A People's History of the United States (New York: Harper Perennial, 1995), p. Egged on byfriends and cousins, he said "Bye, baby," to a white woman in a countrystore. 15-24.[xvii] Dunn, Op. Wells conducted a thorough study of lynching inthe United States, particularly fraudulent charges presented by whiteracists as "reasons" to lynch African Americans; black men were lynched fornot paying a debt, for stealing hogs, for public drunkenness, for "looking"at a white woman, and very frequently for the vague charge of disrespectingwhites. 1.[ii] A. He whipped theaccused while they were tied to a tree. In the eyesof white southerners, the goal of White Supremacy fully justifieddishonorable devices."[vii] In his book, Bailey included Tables of Statistics of the number ofpeople lynched by race between 1992 and 197 . and E. The NAACP, made up of African Americans and some whites, consisted ofa "cadre of lawyers, investigators, educators, and publicists were waging amajor civil rights crusade. M. And, in 1955, three lynchings occurred thatbrought the issue of violence against blacks into headlines across thenation. "Lynch Law in America." The Arena, 23.1 (January 19 ), pp. Inmany instances, African Americans were lynched solely for reasons of racialprejudice. p. In Lynch Law, the firstserious investigation of lynching published in 19 5, James E. "In Memphis,Tennessee, in May of 1866, whites on a rampage of murder killed forty-sixNegroes, most of them veterans of the Union Army, as well as two whitesympathizers.... Those who were being lynched were not just hung. Wells and of the National Association for theAdvancement of Colored People (NAACP). M. In the summer of 1955, Till, a 14-year oldChicago boy, was visiting relatives in Sumner, Mississippi. It was finally the work of the NAACP, and the 1955 lynching of a14-year old boy named Emmett Till, that outraged the public and led to thedecline of lynching in the United States. Beck. Wells, the NAACP failed to get afederal lynching law passed. (New York, 19 5). Endnotes -----------------------[i] Cutler, James E. Heath & Company, 1987), p. By such atrocious practices were blacks 'kept in their place'-thatis, down. These organizations grew as a reactionto the increasing "leniency" afforded African Americans in theReconstruction period. The argument of this paper is thatlynching was not just an act of hatred and rage, but a deliberate andconscious attempt to control behavior, and as such it perpetuated a racistcaste system in the United States. Southern AfricanAmericans constantly lived in fear of becoming a victim of a lynching. 13-14.[iii] Howard Zinn. When African Americans started to have some success at stakingtheir rightful places in American society (basically in the South wheremost lived), many southern whites grew increasingly resentful and fearful.Attempts to empower African Americans failed, and for many years the whiteSouth openly flouted the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to theConstitution. Cutler statesthat "lynching is a criminal practice which is peculiar to the UnitedStates."[i] The lynching of African Americans began during the aftermathof the Civil War and continued well into the 2 th Century, most often withlittle or no opposition from government agencies. Wedged into hisbattered skull was a spent bullet. The story went on to report that the white man was fatallywounded and the Negro was hanged by a mob in the heart of town. 224.[vii] Thomas A. A People's History of the United States (New York:Harper Perennial, 1995), p. Many victims of lynch mobs were innocent and falsely accused,as many as one-third according to a study published in 1933 that focused onlynching statistics of the 192 s and early 193 s.[ii] Historian Howard Zinn describes the background that led to thelynching of African Americans. "Lynch Law in America." The Arena, 23.1 (January19 ), pp. 1) (New York: D. Obviously a great deal of violence toward Negroesexisted during slavery, but they were not free citizens. However, under the administration ofPresident Harry Truman federal Commission on Civil Rights was formed thaturged Congress to make lynching a federal crime. 3 .The Indianapolis News, June 19, 1897.Myrdal, Gunner. About 4 men were in the lynch party. In his examination of race relations in the United States, GunnarMyrdal dealt with the racist myth that the uncontrollable desire of blacksto rape white women justified lynching. (San Diego, California: Lucent Books, 1998), p. The history of lynching in the United States ranks as one of the mosthorrific, shameful episodes in American history. 15-24.Zinn, Howard. The southern white oligarchy used its economic Power to organize the Ku Klux Klan and other terrorist Groups. 1 .Ida B. Such a practice was not a crime in Chicago, but Mississippi was adifferent story. Though such executions wereclearly illegal, southern lawman generally stood aside; investigation wasrare, arrest even rarer."[xvii] Like the experience of Ida B. Some Americans, mostly African Americans, were outraged by thelynchings, notably Ida B. Wells who actively spoke out against the lynchingpractices of her time. Cit., p. An American Dilemma. The Civil Rights Movement. Cit., p. Lynching was sometimes carried out by individuals, but most often byorganized groups and the most infamous of these was the Ku Klux Klan whichwas founded in 1866 in Tennessee. He concludes that lynchingappears to have been an important source of social control, regardless ofrace; however, the number of African Americans lynched was much more thanof whites. Cit., p. 1) (New York: D. 1.Dunn, John M. Wellsalso courageously started the first anti-lynching campaign in the UnitedStates after three of her friends were lynched. The Klan became a refuge for numerous bandits and cutthroats.Any scoundrel could don a sheet." The white sheet often hid the faces oflocal police and leading citizens as well. Itscauses can be traced to a fear of African Americans gaining a measure ofpower. Lynching was more thanbrutal violence wrought on one group of American citizens by another; itwas also a means of social control. TheChicago Chronicle reported a lynching in 1897: "The Negro was killedirregularly, but justifiably."[xiii] In 1886 the Boston Evening Transcriptwrote: "Negro Desperado Lynched."[xiv] The Indianapolis News in 1897commented that the Negro man who was lynched was an "unspeakablewretch...no more thought need be given to his death than to that of adog."[xv] The above examples, and there are many more which can be foundin the Library of Congress Archives, are examples of the kind of biasedreporting that helped maintain the right of lynching as a means of socialcontrol. The American Pageant, (Vol. Tolnay and E. The Arkansas Gazette reported in1917: Negro Is Lynched At Garland City; Brutally attacked a White ManSaturday. 473.[viii] Ibid.[ix] Stewart E. (New York, 19 5). Two NAACP organizers, Reverend George Lee and Lamar Smith weremurdered in Mississippi. 65.[xix] Ibid. ..Racial tensions escalated when an all-white jury acquitted two white men of Till's murder."[xviii] In spite of growing public outrage, by the late 195 s, "whiteresistance had become so intense across the South that even moderatepoliticians sided with segregationists to stay in office. In New Orleans, in the summer of 1866, another riotagainst blacks killed thirty-five Negroes and three whites."[iv] As the violence escalated by 187 , "the national government, evenunder President Grant, became less enthusiastic about defending blacks."[v] The lynching of African Americans, as Culter stated, "can only bejustified on no other ground than that the law as formulated andadministered has proved inadequate to deal with the situation-that therehas been governmental inefficiency."[vi] The tacit approval of lynchingamong whites, especially the white power structure, couples with the uniqueviciousness of the acts of lynching, was unique in American history. Dunn. 35.[xviii] Dunn, Op. As Bailey pointed out, "in oneLouisiana parish in 1868, the whites in two days killed or wounded twohundred victims; a pile of twenty-five bodies was found half-buried in thewoods. The Tragedy of Lynching (North Carolina: Chapel Hill, 1933), pp. After the Civil War, African Americans were given the rights ofcitizens-to get an education, to compete economically, to vote, to holdoffice. C. Wells brought the inhumanity oflynching to public attention, but did not live to see anti-lynching lawenacted. The group's most urgent goal was to put an endto the lynchings that still plagued the South. Bailey. Thelynching of African Americans was particularly brutal and often took placein front of an "audience," a crowd of onlookers who cheered on thelynchers. Although lynching was virtually carried out in the South where whitesupremacists ruled, the North did little to stop these illegal, vigilantekillings. Wells. The Civil Rights Movement. The writings and speeches of Wells,who had her life threatened and had to leave the South and relocate inChicago, brought the fact of lynching and mob justice in the United Statesto worldwide attention. 198.[iv] Ibid.[v] Zinn, Op. Truman, on the other hand, issued a presidential orderin 1848 that put a dent in segregation, although no law was passedspecifically against lynching. 199.[vi] Cutler, Op. It should be noted that there were some lynchings in the North andWest as well, but nine-tenths of the lynchings took place in the deepSouth. (San Diego, California:Lucent Books, 1998), p. Merely failing to say "sir"to a white man sometimes brought on severe violence. In thelate 19th and early 2 th Centuries, much as today, the media pandered tothe crowd, or the mob, in its coverage. Lynch, acting as judge, jury andexecutioner, used lynching to maintain law and order before formal courtswere established. As Myrdal pointed out, homicidesand felonious assault-not rape-were most frequently cited to explain mobaction. However, for the mostpart, the lynching of African Americans, largely in the South and borderstates, was institutionalized into the fabric of American society and veryfew people actively protested the violence. (New York: Viking Press, 1944), pp. An American Dilemma. C.Heath & Company, 1987), p. She published her findings in the pamphlet, "Southern Horrors:Lynch Law in All Its Phrases."[xvi] She also established Anti-LynchingCommittees in the United States as well as in England, and attempted to getthe federal government to outlaw lynching. The same was true in the Old West where horse thieves,actual or suspected and mostly white, were lynched, usually by hanging.These lynchings were done outside the legal system when no system existed.This was not true, however, in the lynching of African Americans because afunctioning legal system did exist at every level of government. "The Lynching was conducted in a quietfashion."[xii] This type of coverage was not confined to the South. (New York: Viking Press, 1944),pp. 1 .[x] John M. They were mostoften tortured, burned, whipped, beaten, shot, dismembered and castrated. But it was the brutal murder of young Emmett Tillthat shocked the nation. Rape and attempted rape were the "crimes" of 25.3 percent of thevictims. Lynch Law. 473.Boston Evening Transcript, July 21, 1886.The Chicago Chronicle, June 19, 1897.Cutler, James E. Festival of Violence. Congress, however, didnot follow through. Northern politicians began to weigh the advantages Of the political support of impoverished blacks-maintained In voting and office only by force-against the more stable Situation of a South returned to white supremacy....It was Only a matter of time before blacks would be reduced once again to conditions not far from slavery.[iii] Violence against African Americans began almost immediately with theend of the Civil War. Festival of Violence. Several days after the incident, Till's "mangled,decomposing body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River. In 1892, the worst year of lynching, 161 African Americans and69 whites were lynched. 56 -561.Raper, Arthur A. 3 .[xi] Gunnar Myrdal. Severalnewspaper editors scaled back their criticism of the ongoing lynchings (andother) white terror."[xix] Nevertheless, it was the lynching of Emmett Till that paved the wayfor the modern Civil Rights struggle in the United States which eventuallymade lynching a punishable crime, and brought a greater measure of rightsto African Americans, and made them lesser victims of social control. Lynch Law. After the Civil War, laws for racialequality were passed, but since African Americans were dependent onprivileged whites for employment and the necessities of life, the laws weemeaningless. (Chicago, Ill: University of Illinois Press, 1995), p. , p. Wells. "Black homes and barnswere set ablaze in the middle of the night, and local sheriffs oftenresponded by arresting blacks for the arson of their own property."[x]African Americans were beaten and killed for committing even the slightestinfractions against the southern social code. The Klan, known as the "invisible empire,"routinely flogged, mutilated and murdered African Americans in order tokeep white[viii] control of the South. 198. BibliographyThe Arkansas Gazette, July 31, 1917.Bailey, Thomas A. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.