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http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01fq977x90c| Title: | Reconstruction in America: Racial violence after the Civil War, 1865-1876 |
| Keywords: | Lynching—United States—19th century Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)—History African Americans—Crimes against—History—19th century Ku Klux Klan (19th century)—History Mobs—United States—History—19th century Violence—United States—History—19th century |
| Issue Date: | 2020 |
| Publisher: | Equal Justice Initiative |
| Place of Publication: | Montgomery, Ala. |
| Description: | EJI has now documented nearly 6,500 racial terror lynchings in America between 1865 and 1950. Thousands more Black people have been killed by white mob lynchings whose deaths may never be discovered. In our 2015 report, Lynching in America, EJI documented 4,500 racial terror lynchings in the period between 1877 and 1950. Our newest report, Reconstruction in America, documents nearly 2,000 additional lynchings between 1865 and 1876, raising the total number of documented lynchings to nearly 6,500. Thousands more were attacked, sexually assaulted, and terrorized by white mobs and individuals who were shielded from arrest and prosecution. White perpetrators of lawless violence against formerly enslaved people were almost never held accountable—instead, they were often celebrated. Emboldened Confederate veterans and former enslavers organized a reign of terror that effectively nullified constitutional amendments designed to provide Black people with equal protection and the right to vote. In a series of devastating opinions, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked Congressional efforts to protect formerly enslaved people. The Court ceded control to the same white Southerners who used terror and violence to stop Black political participation, upholding laws and practices that codified racial hierarchy and embracing a new constitutional order defined by “states’ rights.” Within a decade after the Civil War, Congress began to abandon the promise of assistance to millions of formerly enslaved Black people. Violence, mass lynchings, and lawlessness enabled white Southerners to create a regime of white supremacy and Black disenfranchisement alongside a new economic order that continued to exploit Black labor. White officials in the North and West similarly rejected racial equality, codified racial discrimination, and occasionally embraced the same tactics of violent control seen in the South. |
| URI: | http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01fq977x90c |
| Related resource: | https://eji.org/reports/reconstruction-in-america-overview/ |
| Appears in Collections: | Monographic reports and papers (Publicly Accessible) |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| reconstruction-in-america-report.pdf | 7.21 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Download |
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