Lynching in Mississippi: A History, 1865-1965

Lynching, the mob practice of kidnapping and murdering as a form of vigilante justice, was especially prevalent in Mississippi. During the 100 years after the Civil War, almost one in every ten lynchings in the United States took place in Mississippi. As in other southern states, lynchings were carried out primarily by white mobs against black victims. Characterized by brutality and the complicity of communities and courts, few of the more than 500 lynchings in Mississippi during that era resulted in criminal convictions. This book studies lynching in Mississippi from the Civil War through the civil rights movement. Arranged chronologically, it examines how lynching unfolded in the state, and assesses the large number of deaths, the reasons, the distribution by counties, cities and rural locations, and public responses to these crimes. The final chapter covers lynching's legacy in the decades since 1965, and an appendix offers a lynching chronology.