The number of requests which have come to hand for copies of this study, from persons living in various sections of the United States as well as in Europe, and the attention that has been given the subject of lynchings in newspapers and magazines, indicate a desire on the part of the general public to learn the facts concerning lynchings. By many it is believed that in no other respect to-day is American civilization so open to reproach as in its toleration of the practice of lynching, and there is an increasing demand that this summary method of administering justice be suppressed and utterly abolished. That this book may contribute in some measure to a better understanding of this most serious and difficult problem is the hope with which it is placed in the hands of the reader. J. E. C. CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE _Introduction_ 1 CHAPTER II _Origin of the Term Lynch-law_ 13 CHAPTER III _Early Lynch-law_ 41 CHAPTER IV _Lynch-law 1830–1860_ 90 CHAPTER V _The Reconstruction Period_ 137 CHAPTER VI _Lynchings_ 155 CHAPTER VII _Lynch-law and its Justification_ 193 CHAPTER VIII _Remedies_ 227 CHAPTER IX _Some Conclusions_ 267 _List of Periodicals Cited_ 280 _Index_ 282 CHARTS FACING PAGE I. Number lynched compared with number legally executed, 1882–1903 162 II. Number lynched according to months in different sections of the U. S., 1882–1903 163 III. Percentages lynched for various causes by months, 1882–1903 170 IV. Number of Whites, Negroes and Others lynched according to years, 1882–1903 171 V. Number of women (Whites and Negroes) lynched according to years, 1882–1903 172 Proportion lynched for various causes, 1882–1903, Women (Whites and Negroes).