Lynch's court - what is it? Lynch Courts in the USA

At the end of the XIX century, Mein Reed in his "Headless Horseman" very vividly described the massacre of the crowd over the alleged criminal. Readers felt pity for the victim and bewilderment about the trial without any consequence.

Litigation took place in other countries, but only in the United States became widespread. The country, which dictates the image of a democratic society to the world, shamefully shielded her eyes and turned her head when her citizens were beaten, tortured, hanged and burned.

Lynch's court - what is it? Why did this become possible in a "free" country?

Definition of concept

Researchers of this issue give two definitions:

• The law of Lynch is a set of unspoken rules that gave authority to lynching. Everyone who wants to commit himself is to decide whether he has the right to do so. Sometimes even the apparent innocence of the convict could not stop the furious crowd.
• Lynch's court is cruel corporal punishment, torture or murder of a person without conducting an investigation and sentencing by an official court.

Some scholars believe that lynching was not an American invention. This ruthless violence came to the New World on English ships and at the right moment surfaced and settled down on fertile ground.

To scare a rebellious Scotsman with hot tar, pull out feathers and drive away under the hooting of soldiers - the most common amusement of English gentlemen. Thus they defended the right to be masters in a foreign country. And no one worried that the victim of "innocent fun" was killed by burns.

Prerequisites

A lot of unrest was brought by the Civil War in the United States. The northern and southern states pursued different goals. The first thirsted for democracy, rights, industrial development of the country. The planters of the south did not at all want to give up ownership of the land and people, share profits, obey the rules of others.

The result of the war was the 13th amendment to the US Constitution and countless many perplexed former slaves. As a rule, they were Negroes. Many did not want liberation at all. They were deprived of a roof over their heads, free food, clothing, and most importantly - guaranteed work, which gave the right to everything else.

For four years of confrontation, the economy of the South has fallen into decay. Cities are destroyed, plantations are trampled, gardens are burned, cattle are eaten or stolen. Wealthy people tried to get away from the horrors of the war, many died on the battlefields.

Deserters, unemployed, beggars raided farms in search of food. Former slaves begged to give them work and provide shelter and protection, but the owners themselves survived as best they could, and no one needed extra mouths.

The united new government did not care about the needs of free citizens. They were occupied with the solution of higher tasks, rather than the arrangement of the fate of former slaves.

To protect the lives of their loved ones and preserve the remains of property, the southerners who returned from the war took the solution of the problem in their own hands. They had only one thing - to arbitrarily decide the Lynch court. What is it - an attempt to improve the justice system, help the country get rid of thieves and bodyguards or brutal murder? The government secretly encouraged this behavior.

Founding Fathers

The founders of American lynching are two people with the same name Lynch.

One was a military man and founded his court during the War of Independence, trying to maintain order and fight against enemies and criminals. Charles Lynch's court was swift, but extremely fair, as far as possible in wartime. The accused was given the right to give arguments of his innocence.

The second is the planter from the south, William Lynch. His share was the introduction of orders after the end of the Civil War. His victims were exclusively Negroes. Some of the former slaves in their own way understood the meaning of the word "freedom" and openly confronted the Whites. The majority simply loitered without work and traded with small robbery and theft.

The limiting factor was the court of Lynch. What is this - cruel punishment of the innocent or the protection of your family and property? Now, after a lapse of a century and a half, it is difficult to understand objectively.

Advocates and opponents of lynching still can not come to a consensus. It is difficult to understand and evaluate each particular case. The current judicial system of the United States of that time would hardly have been able to cope on its own with the rampant crime and tyranny.

Followers of the Lynch trial

The violent activities of the founding fathers received not only tacit approval of citizens and government, but also gave birth to followers. From the end of XIX to the middle of the XX century, here and there in the United States there were groups of people united by one idea. The main purpose of these organizations is to administer the Lynch court. What is this - a way of self-expression, racial hatred or entertainment for bored gentlemen?

Let's try to answer these questions on the example of the activities of the largest and most famous formations. Each of them adhered to certain rules, had its own structure, the ideological inspirer.

"Ku Klux Klan": the foundation

The largest movement promoting the Lynch trial was the Ku Klux Klan. Appearing for fun, the organization has left the bloodiest trace in US history.

In 1865, war veterans from among the Confederates, scions of the best surnames of the State of Tennessee gathered in the building of the local court to meet Christmas. The six ex-officers were in a state of confusion.

The civil war in the US ended. The Confederates fought for their foundations, but were defeated and now were in the status of the humiliated and persecuted. At that time, those who supported the interests of southerners had fewer rights than those freed from slavery by Negroes.

The peaceful life was full of boring household problems that had to be solved in order to continue what their ancestors were doing on their native land.

To whom the first thought occurred to organize a secret society, it is not known for certain. But the idea was expressed, and the young men bored for concrete actions picked it up. So there was the "Brotherhood of the Golden Circle", which was soon renamed the "Clan of the Circle". For greater mystery began to use the abbreviation KKK. In three identical letters there was a hint of magic.

"Ku Klux Klan" sounded like the sound of bones of the skeleton. Immediately there was a proposal to cover the horses with white blankets, and themselves to get dressed in hoodies with slits for the eyes.

The organization grew, fun games ended. Someone from the new members suggested that justice be done. The secret society decides to free the South from the fed-ups and the blackened Negroes.

Many Lynch courts began. The blacks were hung or burned without much talk, and for the whites a ritual was invented. A hinge was hung around the neck of the accused and he was charged with the charges. The victim was not given much choice. Or admit your guilt and fulfill the requirements, or the loop will drag on.

The government has taken care to isolate the founders of the KKK, but it has not been possible to completely stop the persecution of the Negroes.

The subsequent revival of the KKK

The second wave of "Ku Klux Klan" rose after a quarter of a century. In America, a wave of lynching flashed, in the role of judges and executioners were people in pointed white caps and hoodies.

In the second decade of the XX century, members of the clan stopped killing. Now they used whips and resin with feathers. The government actively opposed lynching. The perpetrators were condemned in the press, they were subjected to public reprimand, but the law prohibiting Lynch courts was never adopted.

As soon as people started to defend the rights of blacks or representatives of other minorities in America, people with closed white faces immediately appeared and crosses began to burn.

In the seventies, the KKK declared itself officially for the last time. But it was more like using attributes to remove unwanted politicians and economic competitors.

John Birch Society

Another group of like-minded people for the return of Christian traditions and values. The persecution was directed against the actions of the government, the settlement of states by immigrants, communist ideas.

The society is considered the most anemic, but at the same time numerous. From 1958 to 1961, the number of official members increased from 12 people to 100,000.

Having offices throughout the country, the leadership could organize simultaneously in different cities manifestos, demonstrative courts of public censure, lobbying government bills.

In the end, everything was spoiled by the head of society, Welch, who by that time had had paranoid ideas about a worldwide communist conspiracy. The attempt to remove Welch from the leadership failed. Gradually, the activity became less and less publicized, until it became completely in the margins of power.

The laws of Jim Crow

At the beginning of the twentieth century, a number of legislative acts were adopted in the United States concerning the division of people by skin color. Here they are called "Jim Crow Laws." A man with that name did not exist in real life. It was a theatrical character of a poorly dressed, illiterate Negro. Subsequently, all blacks began to be called by this name.

The laws provided for people with different skin colors a scheme of parallel life. They were divided into racial camps, and when the Negro stumbled into the place where he was forbidden, he was executed. Hanging was one of the most humane methods.

Usually the victim was sneered, beaten, stoned, burned for a long time. The distribution could include members of the family of the accused or those who dared to save him or intercede.

Almost half a century of outrage lasted until the government and the court recognized Jim Crow's laws as contradictory to the US Constitution.

US Government and Lynch Court

Franklin Roosevelt at one time refused to openly fight the Lynch court, as he was afraid of losing the votes of voters.

Harry Truman spent a lot of energy and years explaining to Americans about the dangers of lynching. Ended attempts to notice that in the country "this is no more."

It turns out, Lynch courts in the US - is the result of an untenable legal and judicial system and the criminal connivance of the government? How often did criminals justify themselves because of the corruptness of the judges, and the innocent came to the dock?

For centuries, the desires and whims of wealthy people were supported. As a rule, they got away with everything: lynching, debauch, buying senators and judges. There is an impression that for a person with money there are no restrictions in actions.

US legislation provides for certain types of death penalty for crimes of varying degrees of complexity, but in history no vigilante has responded with his life for death.

Victims of lynching in the US

Well-behaved Americans managed to lynch about six thousand people in 50 years. In some states, massacres without trial and effect turned into entertainment. For the execution came families. The presence of children and pregnant women did not bother anyone.

It was customary to make postcards with Lynch's court scenes. Such congratulations were sent on Easter, Christmas, name-day. Anybody could fall under lynching: a Negro, a white, a Jew, a Mexican. There were no differences between men and women, even pregnancy was not taken into account. And belonging to communists or trade unions often cost lives.

Enraged crowds destroyed prisons, set fire to houses, abducted their victims. In each case, the authorities were powerless. However, their inaction can be considered a mute approval of acts of lynchers.

I want to dwell in more detail on two scandalous atrocities. In one they lynched the animal, and in the other they deprived the life of the innocent person.

Lynching of an animal

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the murder of a man by someone's whim was hardly surprising. Life, especially black, was inexpensive. Therefore, the fact of the lynching of the animal to the court attracted close attention.

Tennessee residents distinguished themselves. The circus troupe, who came on tour, used in the rooms an elephant named Mary. During the entrance to the arena, the animal rebelled against cruel treatment. The working circus suffered, although some sources claim that the enraged elephant trampled on many more people.

Spectators, quick to kill, shot an animal from revolvers, the more it was angered. The news of the killer elephant instantly spread through the city. The sheriff was demanded immediate execution, but he confined himself to imprisoning Mary in a cage.

Residents of the surrounding towns gathered in anticipation of an amusing spectacle. The uncontrolled crowd grew more and more excited. Threats addressed to the owners of the circus. People (or non-humans?) Spent the whole night burning fires and demanding immediate punishment.

In the morning, the hapless elephant was hanged on a construction crane. And it was possible to do this only from the second time. A crowd of several thousand people sang and danced, as if there was not an animal hanging in front of them, but a Christmas tree shone with lights.

Lynched by mistake

During his lifetime, man invented various types of death penalty. Some used to establish the truth, others used to intimidate and subjugate. The most ugly reprisal, invented by a beast named man, is the Lynch trial, especially when the innocent becomes the victim.

A factory manager from the state of Georgia, Leo Frank, the court sentenced to death for raping and killing a minor. The charge was based on the testimony of one person.

The governor of the state for some reason found this measure of punishment too harsh and replaced the execution with life imprisonment. Residents of the city were outraged by such a decision. The crowd burst into the prison, beat Franck off the policemen, and, dragging around the city, hung a raped girl not far from the grave.

Seventy years have passed, and the lynched criminal has become a victim of a conspiracy. There was another witness, intimidated by a real rapist, almost to death. He ventured to tell the truth 10 years after the murderer's death.

Leo Frank was acquitted, and relatives received compensation, but this act does not justify the residents of the city, who were quick to kill, nor the representatives of the legal authorities who admitted the Lynch trial.

Most recently, the US Senate expressed its sincere regret that the government allowed acts of lynching in the country, and apologized to the victims, promising not to allow such brutal dramas.

Probably, before the adoption of the law, the matter will never come to pass. Even the African American president will not dare to do this. Fort-Knox does not have enough gold reserves to pay compensation to the descendants of people executed by the Lynch court.