| Causes | Racial prejudice, extrajudicial vigilante actions |
| Legacy | Lasting impact on race relations and the struggle for equality |
| Subject | Lynching in the United States |
| Victims | Predominantly African Americans |
| Time period | Late 19th to early 20th centuries |
| Geographic focus | Southern United States |
| Factors limiting prevalence | Strong legal and social opposition from civil rights activists, Progressive politicians, and the federal government |
Lynching refers to the extrajudicial killing of individuals, most often African Americans, by mob-led violence in the southern United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While a persistent issue in certain regions, lynching did not reach the same epidemic levels or deeply-entrenched cultural status as in our timeline. Concerted opposition from civil rights activists, progressive politicians, and the federal government helped curb the practice relatively early in the 20th century.
The term "lynching" originated in the late 18th century, deriving from the actions of Charles Lynch, a Virginia Quaker who led a group of extra-legal tribunals during the American Revolution to punish Tories and British sympathizers. This vigilante model of "frontier justice" spread to other parts of the country in the early 1800s, particularly as settlers moved westward.
In the decades after the American Civil War, lynching became a tool employed primarily by white supremacists in the South to terrorize newly freed African Americans and reimpose a racial hierarchy. Common justifications included allegations of crimes like rape, murder, and theft, although many victims were lynched without any credible charges. Klansmen and other white vigilante groups orchestrated the majority of these horrific events.
While lynchings occurred in many parts of the country, the practice was most deeply rooted and widespread in the former Confederate states of the Deep South, especially Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Accurate statistics are difficult to come by, but researchers estimate that around 3,500 people, the vast majority of them African American, were lynched between 1882 and 1968 in the United States.
However, compared to our timeline, lynchings were less common overall and more confined to rural, isolated areas rather than becoming entrenched in the broader Southern culture and psyche. Numerous progressive politicians, civil rights activists, and journalists persistently condemned lynching and pushed for action, preventing it from becoming as normalized.
Opposition to lynching came from a variety of sources, including the NAACP, the Methodist Church, and Ida B. Wells, a prominent journalist who investigated and publicized the practice. Progressives in the Democratic Party also made lynching a key issue, using it to criticize the conservatism of the Republican Party.
Crucially, the federal government took a more proactive stance against lynching than in our timeline. High-profile prosecutions of perpetrators, as well as anti-lynching legislation passed in 1911 and 1922, demonstrated that the practice would no longer be tolerated. By the 1930s, lynchings had become relatively rare, thanks to this multi-pronged opposition.
The tragic legacy of lynching continues to reverberate through American society, impacting race relations, the criminal justice system, and the ongoing struggle for civil rights. Scholars argue that the threat of mob violence and extrajudicial killing had a chilling effect on African American political and economic advancement for generations.
While less prevalent than in our reality, the historical specter of lynching remains a potent symbol and source of trauma. Efforts to acknowledge this painful history through memorials, research, and educational initiatives continue to the present day. The scars lynching left on the national psyche have not fully healed, but the trajectory of this particular form of racial violence was altered by the determined efforts of civil rights pioneers.
