Very interesting episode. As a person of German descent I’ve always hoped that I would have been on the side fighting Hitler, while knowing that the vast majority of average Germans were okay with what was going on.
I think it is so interesting that Bill Carrigan’s curiosity was about how the average white person viewed lynchings, and how those views varied over time and from region to region.
In some areas, especially in the North, pretty much all the lynchings were white people. I know I have read about Italians protesting lynchings (they were frequently accused in rapes, and rapes demanded lynching in the American mind of the time). I think the centrality of social norms matters here. In the US, especially on the frontier, women were REALLY scarce. Women had an insanely high value, unlike Europe or Latin America at that time. Men who worked and saved for years to get a wife sent over from the old world were enraged by rapes. This is why this specific crime has such a violent response. It is because of this, that Southern Democratic politicians used this public anger to often attack African-American communities. I read about one case, if I can remember the details correctly, a large, tall black young man raped a young girl. The lynch mob proceeded to lynch a rich, short, old, bald African-American who had significant resentment against him because of his wealth and sophistication. A drifter could rape his way through small towns, and a dozen men would get lynched for the sin of becoming wealthy and sophisticated while black. That said, it is not like every lynching was misguided. In many frontier towns, justice was only as good as the men in the town. Sheriffs and judges came AFTER a town was thriving. A public lynching was a statement that a town would suffer no criminals. These were often acts of fear, not vengeance. Unlike in the established South, the frontiers, from the "Northwest territory" of the early 1800's to the actual West later on, the absence of formal government created uncomfortable situations. Communities went with viscous, immediate justice out of desperation. One needs to examine a lynching in western territories or early states very differently than in the old states of the South. It is important to make that distinction.
I am not justifying lynching, but I think so much written in mass media is only relevant in the South with regards to African-American lynchings. I think that distinction matters.
Very interesting episode. As a person of German descent I’ve always hoped that I would have been on the side fighting Hitler, while knowing that the vast majority of average Germans were okay with what was going on.
I think it is so interesting that Bill Carrigan’s curiosity was about how the average white person viewed lynchings, and how those views varied over time and from region to region.
Definitely worth a listen.
How many whites were lynched. You don’t mention that number 🤷♀️
In some areas, especially in the North, pretty much all the lynchings were white people. I know I have read about Italians protesting lynchings (they were frequently accused in rapes, and rapes demanded lynching in the American mind of the time). I think the centrality of social norms matters here. In the US, especially on the frontier, women were REALLY scarce. Women had an insanely high value, unlike Europe or Latin America at that time. Men who worked and saved for years to get a wife sent over from the old world were enraged by rapes. This is why this specific crime has such a violent response. It is because of this, that Southern Democratic politicians used this public anger to often attack African-American communities. I read about one case, if I can remember the details correctly, a large, tall black young man raped a young girl. The lynch mob proceeded to lynch a rich, short, old, bald African-American who had significant resentment against him because of his wealth and sophistication. A drifter could rape his way through small towns, and a dozen men would get lynched for the sin of becoming wealthy and sophisticated while black. That said, it is not like every lynching was misguided. In many frontier towns, justice was only as good as the men in the town. Sheriffs and judges came AFTER a town was thriving. A public lynching was a statement that a town would suffer no criminals. These were often acts of fear, not vengeance. Unlike in the established South, the frontiers, from the "Northwest territory" of the early 1800's to the actual West later on, the absence of formal government created uncomfortable situations. Communities went with viscous, immediate justice out of desperation. One needs to examine a lynching in western territories or early states very differently than in the old states of the South. It is important to make that distinction.
I am not justifying lynching, but I think so much written in mass media is only relevant in the South with regards to African-American lynchings. I think that distinction matters.
I had zero idea until last year that all kinds of people were lynched in America…. It’s crazy how we get half history taught… it’s bad for everyone