Lynching

The lynching of an individual has had a long and infamous past in American history . Men do in groups what they would be ashamed to do by themselves and this mob justice , usually perpetrated towards African Americans but also towards Italians , Jews and some who took part on the Civil Rights Movement , all became targets of mob justice . By far , the target of many of these lynching were African Americans within the Southern States . 85 of all of the lynching that occurred in America occurred within the South as people attempted to impose

their own warped sense of law and towards African Americans , who many times , were innocent of the charges that were levied against them . Commanger , Henry Steele . Documents of American History . New York : Century Publishers 1947 pg 88

As recent as 1996 , an African American , James Byrd , was lynched by three white teenagers who tied the man to the back of his truck and dragged him until he was dead . The evil that is behind these acts , are no longer acceptable and stiffer punishments towards what is now correctly regarded as hate crimes , often accompany such acts

The lynching of an individual began with the birth of this country During America 's Revolutionary War , those suspected of being loyal to the crown , was often tarred and feathered for their opposition and sometimes murdered . However , the traditional definition of lynching did not come into play until the immediate years after the Civil War . From 1865-1869 , there were slightly more than 1500 lynching in the South Ibid . pg 89 It can also be seen as a direct reflection towards the existence of the Ku Klux Klan which was first organized in 1866 . The organization of the KKK was a response to Reconstruction . After the Union 's victory in the Civil War , Radical Republicans sought to ensure that the war had not been fought in vain and enacted laws which further expanded the rights of the African American within Southern society Slavery was no longer allowed but the Southern states quickly sought to return the more than four million African Americans to a quasi form of slavery in which their power was still in control . Jim Crow and Black codes were passed in response to the passage of the 13th 14th and 15th amendments which further expanded the rights of African Americans and created more of a level playing field than was ever before seen in the South . Commanger , Henry Steele . Documents of American History . New York : Century Publishers . 1947 pg . 88 The Reconstruction of the South would last from 1865 until 1877 when a weary North , tired of the fight for racial equality , abandoned these efforts and helped to place African Americans back into the oppressive roles that the had endured before the Civil War

The lynching of African Americans also served as a warning to anyone who would try to vote . Jim Crow laws and grandfather clauses were very effective in limiting the political power that African Americans...