Mass Legal Executions of Blacks in the United States, 17th-20th Centuries

Abstract

Throughout history, governments have sometimes executed persons in groups for the same offense. The United States has done less of it than most, with or without due process. But although never numerous, a look at an unstudied aspect of both multiple homicide and capital punishment showed the occurrence of posttrial mass executions—four or more persons for the same incident—interesting for what they tell about the social climate of the eras in which they occurred, particularly regarding the place of Blacks in society. Before the end of slavery, more than half of the mass legal executions were of Blacks, generally for slave revolts. After that, Blacks were still disproportionately involved relative to population, accounting for one third of those executed. Counting mass lynchings would probably raise the percentage toward that in the pre-1866 era and to the percentage of Blacks legally executed overall.

Capital Punishment and the Legacies of Slavery and Lynching in the United States

“…Social control of enslaved people was also a key motivation for the development of resources and practices that facilitated executions in the slave states. Nearly half of the mass executions in the United States before 1860, for example, were of enslaved Blacks accused of plotting or participating in revolts against slavery (Blackman and McLaughlin 2003). Moreover, the slave states formally enshrined the racially unequal use of executions into law: many crimes in slave states carried the death penalty if committed by enslaved people, but not for Whites (Blackman and McLaughlin 2003).…”

“…Despite affinities and historical connections to lynching, slavery may have a more significant legacy effect on contemporary capital punishment. The legacy of slavery may be transmitted mainly through institutional practices and organizations since the antebellum South used executions to suppress rebellions of enslaved people (see, e.g., Blackman and McLaughlin 2003) and hence had more fully developed the legal and institutional infrastructure for executions. Slavery may also contribute to the contemporary use of executions through attitudinal mechanisms since slavery has durably shaped White racist attitudes in general and toward punishment in particular (Acharya, Blackwell, and Sen 2018).…”

Crime clearance rates in Canadian municipalities: A test of Donald Black's theory of law

“…Much of the support for Black's stratification hypothesis is found in the study of race and the death penalty and legal executions (see, for example, Blackman and McLaughlin, 2003;Sorensen and Wallace, 1995). However, studies of crime reporting and policing and studies involving other stratification variables such as age, sex, and socioeconomic status produce mixed or negative results (see, for example, Baumer, 2002;Black, 1970;Braithwaite and Biles, 1980;Chappell and Maggard, 2007;D'Alessio and Stolzenberg, 2003;Doyle and Luckenbill, 1991;Eitle et al, 2005;Furlong and Mehay, 1981;Gaines, 2006;Gottfredson and Hindelang, 1979;Häkkänen and Laajasalo, 2006;Mastrofski et al,2002;Stauffer et al, 2006;Stolzenberg et al, 2004;Wells et al, 2006;Williams and Holcomb, 2004).…”

Black Female Executions in Historical Context

“…For instance, Virginia hanged Winney and her accomplice Phill for murdering their master "most barbarously" near Fredericksburg in July 1769 (Schwarz, 1998, p. 147). In several multiple execution cases, slave women acted with one or two other slave women to commit murder or poisoning in retaliation for their mistreatment from White owners (Blackman & McLaughlin, 2003). In Virginia, officials hanged Creese and Sally for killing their mistress, who had been repeatedly violent toward Creese.…”