Ida B. Wells, “Lynch Law in All its Phases,” Address at Tremont Temple in the Boston Monday Lectureship. Feb. 13, 1893.
Worksheet – Week 7
Ida B. Wells, “Lynch Law in All its Phases,” Address at Tremont Temple in the Boston Monday Lectureship. Feb. 13, 1893.
1. How did the media (newspapers) contribute to the presumption of guilt of the African American men who were accused of attacking the deputies?
2. Why did Wells feel confident in the criminal justice system at first? After the men were killed, how did Wells’ faith and understanding in due process and law enforcement change? How do you think this affected both whites and blacks in Memphis?
Maria Carter – Ku Klux Klan Violence in Georgia, 1871.
1. What was John Walthall crime? How did the KKK act as a law enforcement agency? What laws were they trying to uphold?
Jane Dailey, “Southern Historical Association Deference and Violence in the Postbellum Urban South: Manners and Massacres in Danville, Virginia.”
1. Dailey essentially argues that historians must look at resistance in a situational light (Not all resistance is physically fighting or marching for rights). For Dailey, she looks at public space (sidewalks especially). African Americans had to abide by strict social rules in the South. Explain the purpose of enforcing these “laws” by whites and breaking these “laws” by Blacks. Why is there so much importance to public space – for Blacks and whites?
Crime and the Civil War
HIST/PA/SOC 349
Tensions Over Slavery
After 1820, slavery was a defining political issue for the country, although politicians often avoided talking about it prior to the 1850s
The 1850s saw bitter and sometimes brutal contestations over the expansion of slavery into Western territories
Compromise of 1850
Bleeding Kansas (1854-1861)
Jayhawkers (anti-slavery) and Border Ruffians (pro-slavery) clashed over the status of Kansas
Caning of Charles Sumner (1856)
Representative Preston Brooks beat Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner with a cane for criticizing slavery and insulting his cousin
John Brown’s Raid
After receiving news of the Sumner caning, John Brown attacked and hacked to death several pro-slavery settlers in Kansas
Years later in 1859, Brown began what he hoped would become a massive slave revolt by invading the arsenal at Harpers Ferry, VA
Several people were killed
Clash of Political Gangs
In U.S. cities, political gangs clashed violently with one another on election days
Some conflicts were between Nativist whites and Irish gangs, but many were between rival Irish gangs in cities like NYC
Vote rigging and election riots became common in the 1850s
The Dead Rabbits and the Bowery B’Hoys
The Civil War
Abraham Lincoln elected in 1860
Before Lincoln was inaugurated, seven Southern states seceded, citing the desire to preserve the institution of slavery
Lincoln was not an abolitionist at the start of the war, but he was a proponent of free labor
Following the firing on Fort Sumter in April of 1861, four more states seceded
Resulting war would last for four years and result in between 650,000 and 720,000 dying and 4.2 million people being freed
Civil War and Crime
The Civil War complicated definitions of crime somewhat
Many areas, particularly captured Southern cities, were actually under martial law
Dissenters to both Confederate and Union causes were often arrested for fomenting dissatisfaction or advocating for the enemy cause
People could be arrested for distributing song sheets or wearing stars and bars regalia
Benjamin Butler, who grew tired of Southern women insulting and spitting at his troops in New Orleans, issued General Order 28 in 1862
Women and Crime
The number of women arrested and jailed for crimes increased dramatically during the Civil War period
Women’s criminality had been on the rise since the 1840s, but the number of women incarcerated during the war to unprecedented highs
1864: 37.2% of MA prisoners were female
Many cities saw number of female prisoners rise by about 1/3
During same period, number of male prisoners dropped by half
Women were arrested for property crimes at 10 times the rate of men
Counterfeiting
Southern print technology lagged behind Northern print technology by quite a bit
Confederate bills were often poorly printed and inconsistent in their designs, which made them easy to counterfeit
Both Southern and Northern printers began counterfeiting bills in huge numbers
North did not regard counterfeiting of Southern bills as criminal since Confederacy was illegitimate
Samuel Upham
After witnessing widespread public interest in Confederate money, Philadelphia printer Samuel Upham began printing “novelty” Confederate bills
The bills were easy to pass off as real
Upham may have introduced up to $15 million dollars in fake currency into the South
Helped to destabilize Confederate money
Prostitution
Prostitution expanded rapidly during the Civil War as masses of women following the armies (camp followers) and others settled in military-occupied cities
Washington, DC, for example, had 450 brothels by 1864
Estimated 7,500 prostitutes operating in and around the city
“Female virtue if it ever existed in this Country seems now almost a perfect wreck. Prostitutes are thickly crowded through mountain & valley, in hamlet and city.”
-W.J. Ninns
Licensing of Prostitution
Nashville, TN fell under Union control early in the war
1,500 prostitutes streamed into the city to take advantage of the presence of Union troops
Provost Marshal George Spalding ordered prostitutes into a ship called the Idahoe in an attempt to rid the city of them
When that failed, he created a system of licensing in which all prostitutes had to register, pay a fee, and submit to medical inspection.
Intended to ward off venereal disease, which was a major problem in the army
Bread Riots
The Confederate Army faced constant food shortages
Many Southern civilians believed (correctly) that food speculators were artificially inflating prices or withholding food from market
In the Spring of 1863, poor white women rioted over food prices in Atlanta, GA; Salisbury, NC; Mobile, AL; Petersburg, VA; Richmond, VA; and at least 7 other cities
Often robbed merchants at gunpoint if they refused to provide flour, bacon, or molasses at a fair price
NYC Draft Riots (1863)
In 1863, the Federal government passed the National Conscription Act, which allowed men to be drafted into the Union Army
Made exceptions for people who could afford to hire substitutes or pay $300 fee
Many poor men were angry about this, not only because it exempted the rich but also because it forced them to fight in a war whose cause they increasingly opposed
Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863
Signaled the fact that the war had become a war of emancipation rather than simply an effort to keep the Union together
NYC Draft Riot
On July 13th, after the draft began, rioters began attacking government buildings and the draft office
Rioting eventually included 5,000-15,000 people
As riots grew, rioters began attacking black New Yorkers and buildings that were centers of the city’s black community
Colored Orphan Asylum was burned and looted
Between 11 and 18 black New Yorkers were lynched, and 70 more went missing
120 people were killed
Took the arrival of the Union army from Gettysburg to quell the disturbances
The Red Times:
Reconstruction Violence
HIST/PA/SOC 349
Reconstruction
Reconstruction, which lasted from 1865-1877, was one of the most violent “peacetime” periods in American history
The Southern United States, which had historically been more violent than the rest of the country, devolved into even more bloodshed
Homicide rates were high
Red River Delta region of Louisiana had the highest homicide rate of any area of the U.S. during Reconstruction
Much of this violence was racial violence committed against African-Americans
Homicides of all types went up in places like LA, however
Emancipation
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
Many enslaved people gained their freedom during the war by running to Union Army lines
In 1865, the states ratified the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which formally abolished slavery except under certain conditions
These conditions would prove to be disastrous in their consequences for African-Americans and their relationship to the criminal justice system
Nevertheless, millions of African-American gained legal freedom as a result of the Amendment
The Black Codes
When Southern states had their political power restored by Andrew Johnson, they immediately set about passing laws called Black Codes
Black Codes varied by state, but common provisions included
Requiring black people to be under contract for their labor at all times or face imprisonment
Curtailing their movements and negotiating power when it came to employment
Establishing required work hours for black laborers
Denying blacks the right to bear arms or assemble
Allowing black children to be taken from their parents and apprenticed out to white people
Radical Reconstruction
The Radical Republican congress wrested control of Reconstruction from Johnson in 1866
Divided the South into military districts, and established Freedmen’s Bureau offices around the South to ensure that freedpeople were being treated fairly
Forced Southern states to ratify the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed equal protection under the law regardless of face
Required black suffrage in 1867; secured the ratification of the 15th Amendment in 1870
Granted black men the right to vote nation-wide
An Imperfect Freedom
“But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state.”
Reconstruction was in many senses disappointing in terms of the promotion of racial equality
Freedpeople were not granted land or reparations
14th Amendment, like the 13th, contained what would be become a very unfortunate exception
Nevertheless, Reconstruction ushered hundreds of black men into political positions, local, state, and national
Biracial governance
Rise of Vigilantism
Many white Southerners reacted extremely poorly to Reconstruction
Attacked Reconstruction governments as corrupt, ineffectual, and dangerous because they promoted “Negro Rule”
Resented the legal equality granted to African-Americans and wanted to reassert white supremacy
Because they did not have the ability to reassert white supremacy legally, many Southerners turned to vigilantism to intimidate and terrorize the black population into submission
Ku Klux Klan, founded in 1866, was one of the first of these groups
Other groups included the Knights of the White Camelia, Red Shirts, and White League
White Terrorism
The Klan and like-minded groups attacked Southern blacks (and their white allies) for any number of offenses: owning or being reputed to own a gun, having or being alleged to have interracial relationships, being too economically successful
Among the most likely people to be targeted, however, were people involved in Republican politics
1 in 10 black state legislators was subject to physical violence by the Klan
One of the Klan’s primary aim was to suppress the black vote through terrorism and allow white Democrats to retake Southern governments
Vigilantism and Voter Suppression
Politically motivated violence was frequent around election times
Violence around election times In 1868, the year Grant took the presidency, there were 200 politically motivated murders in Arkansas
1,000 people were murdered in LA between April and November
The effects of this violence were dramatic:
In 1867 elections, 28,000 black men voted
In 1868, 501 did
In Georgia, 9,300 votes were case by black men in 1867
97 were cast in 1868
Extra-Legal Violence
When white Democrats proved unable to control the elections, they sometimes led armed rebellions against the Reconstruction governments
Battle of Liberty Place/Canal Street, New Orleans, 1872
Mob of White Leaguers armed themselves and battled the Metropolitan Police Force in order to install a Democrat to the governorship
Congressional Intervention
Congress passed a series of three Enforcement Acts in 1870-1871 that targeted the Klan and criminalized violations of the 14th and 15th Amendments
Provided for Civil Rights violations to be prosecuted at the federal level
While the Acts were enforced, convictions rates for those charged under them were low
Northern interest in Reconstruction faded after 1872
Fatigue and a worsening economic situation in the North lessened support for Reconstruction
Freedmen’s Bureau was allowed to lapse in 1872
All but three Southern states were controlled by Democrats by 1876
The End of Reconstruction
U.S. v. Cruikshank (1875)
Case arose from the 1873 Colfax Massacre in LA
White Democrats had murdered 60-150 black Republicans after a disputed election
White perpetrators were charged under the Enforcement Act
Supreme Court ruled that only civil rights violations committed by states, not individuals, were subject to federal prosecution
This basically gave white Southerners carte blanche to terrorize black Southerners because they could count on not being prosecuted
Compromise of 1877
Rutherford B. Hayes promised to withdraw troops from the South in return for electoral votes
The Aftermath of Reconstruction
Violence died down in the 1880s, but only because Southern states could use legal means to repress the black population
Between 1890 and 1910, ten of eleven Southern states passed laws that disenfranchised blacks, albeit not officially
Used poll taxes and literacy tests
Implemented legal segregation—Jim Crow—during the same period
Cartoon criticizing literacy tests, Harper’s Weekly, January 18, 1879
Justice System and Racial Control
The Southern justice system became a tool for exerting racial control over and disenfranchising the black population
Black people were charged more frequently than white people for crimes like vagrancy
Black people were more likely to be convicted of crimes than white people were, and also more likely to be given long sentences
Black prison population skyrocketed
Prison labor
Many black prisoners were forced to work on chain gangs under abysmal conditions
One historian described life on Mississippi’s Parchman Prison Farm as “worse than slavery”
Deaths were commonplace on chain gangs
Once white Southerners no longer had an economic stake in the relative well-being of black bodies, conditions grew even more inhumane
The South Post-Reconstruction
“[The South’s] police system was arranged to deal with blacks alone, and tacitly assumed that every white man was ipso facto a member of that police. Thus grew up a double system of justice, which erred on the white side by undue leniency and the practical immunity of red-handed criminals, and erred on the black side by undue severity, injustice, and lack of discrimination.”
W.E.B. Du Bois
