The Institution of Lynching

In 500-1,000 words, discuss why increased numbers of African Americans were lynched. What is the difference between lynching and murder? How were lynchings typically documented? How did the press cover lynchings? Ida B. Wells’ pamphlet LYNCH LAW IN GEORGIA used the reporting of Atlanta newspapers which covered a series of lynchings in Georgia. Read the pamphlet: Lynch Law in Georgia by Ida B. Wells: text on website (Links to an external site.) (http://hierographics.tripod.com/IdaBWells-Barnett/LynchLawinGeorgia.html) (Links to an external site.) or downloadable PDF of original text as a pamphlet (Links to an external site.). (https://ia600502.us.archive.org/30/items/lynchlawingeorgi00well/lynchlawingeorgi00well.pdf) When did the lynching of Sam Wilkes occur? How long did it take for Ida Wells and her Chicago group to prepare this account for the press? What, reports the detective, was the response of whites in Newman when asked about Sam Wilkes’ motives for the murder? What does the detective say about claims that Sam Wilkes assaulted Mrs. Cranston? Who does the detective claim was complicit in the lynching of Wilkes? How does the detective’s accounts of the lynchings of Rev. Strickland and the shooting of the five African American men in Palmeto compare to the newspaper accounts given earlier in the pamphlet? How often were the victims of lynching the apparent subjects of mistaken identity? What seems to have been the purpose behind torturing the victims of lynching? Why were federal anti-lynching bills annually defeated in Congress?