| NUMBER OF LYNCHINGS BY YEARS IN EASTERN STATES, 1882–1903 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ’82 | ’83 | ’84 | ’85 | ’86 | ’87 | ’88 | ’89 | ’90 | ’91 | ’92 | ’93 | ’94 | ’95 | ’96 | ’97 | ’98 | ’99 | ’00 | ’01 | ’02 | ’03 | Total | |
| Indiana | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 40 | ||||||
| Ohio | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 20 | |||||||||||
| Illinois | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 20 | ||||||||
| Michigan | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||||||||||||||||
| Pennsylvania | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| New York | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Connecticut | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Delaware | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| New Jersey | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 105 |
| TOTAL NUMBER OF LYNCHINGS BY YEARS, 1882–1903 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ’82 | ’83 | ’84 | ’85 | ’86 | ’87 | ’88 | ’89 | ’90 | ’91 | ’92 | ’93 | ’94 | ’95 | ’96 | ’97 | ’98 | ’99 | ’00 | ’01 | ’02 | ’03 | Total | |
| Southern States | 50 | 61 | 68 | 90 | 76 | 66 | 78 | 100 | 98 | 120 | 146 | 125 | 123 | 111 | 93 | 113 | 85 | 70 | 83 | 93 | 73 | 75 | 1997 |
| Western States | 25 | 27 | 40 | 29 | 16 | 16 | 28 | 22 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 22 | 17 | 18 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 363 |
| Eastern States | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 105 |
| Total | 82 | 95 | 114 | 124 | 102 | 88 | 101 | 126 | 114 | 146 | 170 | 152 | 147 | 132 | 103 | 127 | 95 | 75 | 89 | 104 | 82 | 87 | 2465 |
If much that has been said and written in recent years on the subject of lynching is true; if the presence of the colored race, because of the character of the crimes which negroes commit, is largely responsible for the practice of lynching; if the immigration into this country of “the scum of Europe” is also responsible for the practice; if lynching is, in addition, a relic of barbarism and a sign of degeneracy in American civilization,—then there ought to be some correlation between the distribution of lynchings and the proportion of the white element to the colored and the foreign elements in the population, and also between the distribution of lynchings and the degree of illiteracy in the population. With this idea in mind an attempt has been made to find out whether any such correlations exist with reference to the lynchings that have occurred during the last twenty-two years in the Southern Group of States and in the three States of the Eastern Group in which lynchings have been most numerous. In the following table the percentage which the total number of lynchings bears to the total population of these several States has been placed alongside the percentage of the negroes in the population, the percentage of foreign born in the population, and the percentage of illiterates in the population. In the same table also there have been given the percentage of the persons lynched in these several States who were whites, and the percentage of the persons lynched who were negroes.
From this table there appears to be no distinct correlation between the distribution of lynchings and the percentage of negroes in the population. In a general way the percentage of lynchings to the population is highest in the States where the negro element is largest, but Virginia, North Carolina, and notably South Carolina, are exceptions. So far as any correlation at all can be traced between the percentage of lynchings and the percentage of foreign born, the latter varies inversely to the former. The percentage of illiterates varies from State to State in about the same way that the percentage of negroes does; and hence there is the same general conclusion to be drawn with reference to the correlation of lynchings to illiteracy as with reference to the correlation of lynchings to the percentage of negroes, namely, that there is no distinct correlation. When the percentage of the persons lynched who were negroes is compared with the percentage of negroes in the population, however, it is at once apparent that there is a correlation between them. If plotted graphically the lines representing the two percentages would rise and fall in almost perfect uniformity, only Georgia and Tennessee presenting slight exceptions to the general tendency.
| PER CENT OF LYNCHINGS TO POPULATION 1900 | PER CENT OF WHITES IN POPULATION | PER CENT OF NEGROES IN POPULATION | PER CENT OF LYNCHED WHO WERE WHITES | PER CENT OF LYNCHED WHO WERE NEGROES | PER CENT OF FOREIGN BORN IN POPULATION | PER CENT OF ILLITERATES IN POPULATION | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1890 | 1900 | 1890 | 1900 | 1890 | 1900 | 1800 | 1900[220] | ||||
| Mississippi | .0169 | 42.2 | 41.3 | 57.6 | 58.5 | 11.67 | 88.02 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 40.0 | 32.0 |
| Georgia | .0104 | 53.2 | 53.3 | 46.7 | 46.7 | 10.40 | 89.59 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 39.8 | 30.5 |
| Texas | .0073 | 78.1 | 79.6 | 21.8 | 20.4 | 35.18 | 61.41 | 6.8 | 5.9 | 19.7 | 14.5 |
| Louisiana | .0147 | 49.9 | 52.8 | 50.0 | 47.1 | 11.92 | 81.40 | 4.4 | 3.8 | 45.8 | 38.5 |
| Alabama | .0099 | 55.1 | 54.7 | 44.8 | 45.2 | 18.85 | 81.14 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 41.0 | 34.0 |
| Tennessee | .0081 | 75.6 | 76.2 | 24.4 | 23.8 | 24.62 | 75.37 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 26.6 | 20.7 |
| Arkansas | .0117 | 72.6 | 72.0 | 27.4 | 28.0 | 30.0 | 69.5 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 26.6 | 20.4 |
| Kentucky | .0065 | 85.6 | 86.7 | 14.4 | 13.3 | 38.32 | 61.67 | 3.2 | 2.3 | 21.6 | 16.5 |
| Florida | .0179 | 57.5 | 56.3 | 42.5 | 43.7 | 14.17 | 85.82 | 5.9 | 4.5 | 27.8 | 21.9 |
| South Carolina | .0063 | 40.1 | 41.6 | 59.8 | 58.4 | 6.83 | 93.16 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 45.0 | 35.9 |
| Missouri | .0024 | 94.4 | 94.8 | 5.6 | 5.2 | 53.84 | 46.15 | 8.8 | 7.0 | 9.1 | 6.4 |
| Virginia | .0039 | 61.6 | 64.3 | 38.4 | 35.6 | 23.07 | 76.92 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 30.2 | 22.9 |
| North Carolina | .0027 | 65.2 | 66.7 | 34.7 | 33.0 | 23.43 | 75.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35.7 | 28.7 |
| West Virginia | .0035 | 95.7 | 95.5 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 41.30 | 58.69 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 11.4 | 2.5 |
| Maryland | .0016 | 79.3 | 80.2 | 20.7 | 19.8 | 10.0 | 90.0 | 9.0 | 7.9 | 15.7 | 11.1 |
| Indiana | .0015 | 97.9 | 97.7 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 78.8 | 21.1 | 6.7 | 5.6 | 6.3 | 4.6 |
| Ohio | .0004 | 97.6 | 97.7 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 47.6 | 52.3 | 12.5 | 11.0 | 5.2 | 4.0 |
| Illinois | .0004 | 98.5 | 98.2 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 52.3 | 47.6 | 22.0 | 20.1 | 5.2 | 4.2 |
For the purpose of further investigating the subject of the distribution of lynchings in relation to particular characteristics of the population, the lynchings which have occurred during the last twenty-two years in the Southern Group of States and in the three States of the Eastern Group in which lynchings have been most numerous were classified according to the counties in which they occurred in these several States. On the basis of this classification a careful study was made of the same characteristics of the population by counties as were considered above with reference to the population by States. The percentage of lynchings to the population in the several counties where lynchings have taken place was compared with the percentage of negroes, the percentage of foreign born, and the percentage of illiterates in those several counties.[221] To facilitate comparison, trial charts were drawn on which the percentages were plotted in graphic form, and the results were carefully noted.
In the comparison of the percentage of lynchings with the percentage of negroes in the population by counties no correlation can be clearly distinguished. In many counties where the negroes constitute between sixty per cent and eighty per cent of the population the percentage of lynchings is high, but there are also numerous exceptions.
In the comparison of the percentage of lynchings with the percentage of foreign born in the population by counties there appears to be no distinguishable correlation. It is shown pretty conclusively, however, that there is no tendency for the percentage of lynchings to increase where the percentage of foreign born in the population is large.
In the comparison of the percentage of lynchings with the percentage of illiterates in the population by counties there appears to be not the slightest correlation.
The net result of this investigation into some characteristics of the population in relation to the distribution of lynchings is negative rather than positive. The proportion between the white and colored elements in the population does not seem to affect the prevalence of lynchings. It is only the proportion of whites lynched to negroes lynched that seems to bear any relation to the proportion between the white and colored elements in the population. The percentage of foreign born in the population does not seem to influence the prevalence of lynchings and there is not the slightest indication that the practice of lynching is anything else than a thoroughly American practice. So far as the percentage of illiterates in the population is an indication of the degree of culture and civilization possessed by a community, it does not appear that lynchings are confined to backward communities. The deductions which may be drawn as a result of this investigation afford no explanation why, for instance, a greater number of lynchings occurred in Decatur County, Georgia, than in any other county in that State, or why there were ten lynchings in Dallas County, Alabama, but only one lynching in Lowndes, an adjoining county. It is probably true that the distribution of lynchings is largely affected by entirely local conditions, conditions which cannot be represented by statistics.[222]
In this chapter nothing has been said about the methods adopted for lynching during the twenty-two-year period. In the record of lynchings published by the Chicago Tribune no mention is made of the manner of death which the victims suffered. It is probably true that most of the lynchings were either by hanging or by shooting, or by both hanging and shooting. Additional indignities and cruelties have not infrequently been inflicted, however, and there have been a number of cases where the victims have been burned alive. The following cases of lynching by burning alive have come to the writer’s notice: in 1884, one in Texas; in 1891, one in Texas, one in Louisiana; in 1892, one in Arkansas; in 1893, one in Texas; in 1894, one in Kentucky; in 1895, one in Texas; in 1897, one in North Carolina; in 1899, one in Georgia, one in Mississippi, one in Kentucky; in 1901, one in Kansas; in 1902, three in Mississippi, one in Arkansas, one in Texas, one in Colorado; in 1903, one in Illinois, one in Delaware; in 1904, one in Mississippi, one in Georgia, at each of which two persons were burned at the stake, in the former instance one of them being a woman. In all these cases the victims were negroes and they were believed to be either guilty of several crimes or of a single atrocious crime. The majority were lynched for the double crime of rape, or attempted rape, and murder.
If these cases of burning alive form a list that is at all complete, there is ground for believing that as the practice of lynching continues the punishments inflicted tend to increase in severity and the victims are tortured more and more before death comes to their relief.
While the exact figures have been given in this investigation of lynchings in recent years based on the Chicago Tribune record, it is to be remembered that these figures are probably only approximations. It is extremely doubtful whether exactly 3,337 persons have been lynched in the United States during the last twenty-two years, or whether there have been exactly 2,465 lynchings. It is probable, however, that these approximations are as nearly correct and as reliable as any that we shall ever get, and there seems to be no reason why they should not form a sound basis for the statistical study attempted in this chapter.