Political violence in the American South: 1882-1890

[摘要] (cont.) As ;;redemption;; ended and the ;;restoration;; of the South began (the time periods will be subsequently discussed) lynching decreased. The national rate of lynching dropped as disenfranchisement became permanent and legal (Vallely 2004, pg. 144). Again, regardless of the effectiveness of political violence or the direct correlation to turnout, lynching persisted throughout the 1880s. Lynching peaked in the 1890s, while Jim Crowe and other legal ;;reforms;; were being instituted, only to fall by 1900 and decrease each decade after (noted in both our dataset and the historical literature). Blacks are being excluded from voting through intimidation. If violence increases before a federal election, the powers that be are attempting to prevent an influx of blacks voting for the Republican Party or third party movements, such as Populism or Greenbacks. In the brief period where adult male blacks had the right to vote, there was evidence that the social and political structure of the South would be irrevocably altered, as over 80% of the eligible black voting population voted, even electing black representatives to Congress. The Reconstruction configuration of elites allowed the disfranchisement of a large (in some areas, a majority) group. The disenfranchisement process created high voting penalties. The Australian ballot and other double edged election reforms lowered the cost of voting ;;incorrectly;; by privileging one;;s vote; at the same time, the cost of voting increases as political violence is strategically implemented to prevent blacks from going to the polls. Any lynching causal mechanism returns to this historical claim of lynching increasing before elections. Whether the impetuses for violence are an attempt to prevent wealth redistribution or reduce Republican turnout, both allege violence to be politically motivated prior to elections.

[发布机构] Massachusetts Institute of Technology