Lynching, or lynching - this is the name of lynching, the massacre of a person suspected of a wrongful act or violation of local customs, without trial or investigation. As a rule, we are talking about the actions of the street crowd.
The term "lynching" originated in the United States. Its origin is associated with the names of two Americans who bore such a surname, and carried out a similar practice.
Charles Lynch
Charles Lynch (1736-1796) was an irregular colonel in the American colonists during the Revolutionary War. It was a difficult time for America. Its inhabitants were far from unanimous in their desire to win independence, as is often shown in Hollywood films. There were also many who supported the British government. As always happens in times of trouble, there were many who wanted to profit, the civil war was accompanied by a surge in crime.
Such a situation demanded the establishment of order by means of an "iron hand". Colonel Charles Lynch understood this too. He created his own court in Beckford County. However, his actions were not much like "lynching" in the modern sense: he still did not send anyone to the gallows without listening to the essence of the case. But Lynch made the decision alone - there was no accusation or defense in this "court".
Lynching and racism
Another version connects the origin of this term with the name of officer William Lynch. This man lived in the second half of the 18th century. in the state of Pennsylvania. In 1780, this man, using his personal power, sentenced people - without trial or investigation - to corporal punishment. It was about the beating, but not the murder. Most often, the victims were blacks.
According to another version, William Lynch was a planter known for the brutal massacres of his black slaves.
But if the term "lynching" arose at the end of the 18th century, then the approval of such a practice in the United States dates back to the 60s. 19th century After the Civil War, the population of the southern states suffered both from the tyranny of the northern occupiers and from the actions of the blacks, who, having received freedom, were happy to take revenge on their former masters. It was then that the numerous murders of blacks began without trial and investigation.
Negroes were lynched not only for violating the "Jim Crow Laws" - legislation that perpetuates racial discrimination - but also on suspicion of any crime. Precisely on suspicion, because there was no talk about the investigation and the trial with the participation of the prosecutor, the defense attorney and the jury. The lynching was not always spontaneously carried out by a disorganized crowd - it could be directed by the sheriff or even the mayor of a small town.
The victims of lynching were not only blacks, but also everyone who was not included in the category of WASP ("white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant") - a privileged part of American society: Jews, Italians, Catholics. Most often, lynching was torture followed by hanging or burning at the stake, but there was also a milder option: a person smeared with tar and dumped in feathers was carried through the city on horseback, and then expelled from the city.
The government formally condemned the lynching, but did not really try to do anything. Even President F. Roosevelt did not dare to fight this phenomenon by legislative means, fearing to lose the support of voters.
Only after World War II did the practice of lynching in the United States come to naught, depriving moral support in society.
