Lynching was a common act toward African Americans throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. It was an act that helped keep white supremacy prominent. It is what occurs when tens or hundreds of people take the law into their own hands and illegally take the life of another human being. These people see such behavior as justified regardless. As shown in the picture below, most lynchings had
Map of the United States, in red are the 20 states where the most lynchings occurred; 1882-1968
The estimated number of lynchings according to the cause of such an act.
occurred in the southern section of the United States. This was due to the fact that southern whites wanted neither the north or the black's participation in government. These mobs sought out mainly black men and would accuse these men of ridiculous crimes. Wether or not these accusations were true, none of these people deserved to be lynched. Not only by hanging but people could be lynched by fires, and group assaults. These lynchings, more often than not, would have an audience. Fathers, Mothers, and children would gather around to witness such a horrific act. Any African-American
deemed suspicious enough to the white people were in danger of being lynched. The inhumanity of such an act was appalling to all civil rights activists and inspired the start-up of many associations. These associations had to get involved to make up for the government lack thereof. These mobs could brutally murder black men and women and have no consequences and would because they felt threatened by their economic and political standings. It all started with the white man trying to prove his dominance over someone with darker skin, and to prove that he was property and not a human being, thats why there was an increase in lynchings once civil rights for African-Americans became an objective.
The picture to the right is titled "This is her first lynching.