4.5: Ida B. Wells: “Lynching: Our National Crime” (1909)

A Guided Journey through Key Documents, 1865-present
Table of Contents
4.5 Ida B. Wells: “Lynching: Our National Crime” (1909)
Historical Context
Guiding Questions
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Abstract

This reading shifts the focus from industrialization to social reform. Lynching is a term used to describe mob violence against individuals. Hangings are most commonly associated with lynching, but the term includes a range of violence from severe beatings to other forms of torture or murder. In the United States after the Civil War, lynching became a common tactic deployed by white mobs against African Americans, particularly in the South.

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