Wells starts her inspiring movement with writing the pamphlet, Lynch Law in Georgia. Wells (1893).Which of the following arguments did Ida B. This confession, while humiliating in the extreme, was not satisfactory; and, while the United States cannot protect, she can pay. And in May 1892 the office of her newspaper, the Free Speech, was attacked by a white mob and burned. It is not the creature of an hour, the sudden outburst of uncontrolled fury, or the unspeakable brutality of an insane mob. Although lynchings have steadily increased in number and barbarity during the last twenty years, there has been no single effort put forth by the many moral and philanthropic forces of the country to put a stop to this wholesale slaughter. . Wells: "Lynch Law in America" (1900) Log in to see the full document and commentary. But the spirit of mob procedure seemed to have fastened itself upon the lawless classes, and the grim process that at first was invoked to declare justice was made the excuse to wreak vengeance and cover crime [in the South] . Ida B. 'without . Home; Ida B. Wells-Barnett; African Culture . A Speech at the Unveiling of the Robert Gould Shaw "Of Booker T. Washington and Others," from The Sou "The Author and Signers of the Declaration", State of the Union Address Part II (1912), State of the Union Address Part III (1912), Chapter 19: The Progressive Era: Eugenics. Not only are two hundred men and women put to death annually, on the average, in this country by mobs, but these lives are taken with the greatest publicity. Over one hundred have been lynched in this half year. Wells, Ida B.. "Speech on Lynch Law in America, Given by Ida B. The thief who stole a horse, the bully who jumped a claim, was a common enemy. (1900). The world looks on and says it is well. There is however, this difference: in those old days the multitude that stood by was permitted only to guy or jeer. It has been to the interest of those who did the lynching to blacken the good name of the helpless and defenseless victims of their hate. For more information, including classroom activities, readability data, and original sources, please visit https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/185/civil-rights-and-conflict-in-the-united-states-selected-speeches/4375/speech-on-lynch-law-in-america-given-by-ida-b-wells-in-chicago-illinois-january-1900/. . The result is that many men have been put to death whose innocence was afterward established; and to-day, under this reign of the unwritten law, no colored man, no matter what his reputation, is safe from lynching if a white woman, no matter what her standing or motive, cares to charge him with insult or assault. In Paris the officers of the law delivered the prisoner to the mob. It contains the reports of several lynchings and the results of an . American Ida B. Very scant notice is taken of the matter when this is the condition of affairs. Not only this, but so potent is the force of example that the lynching mania has spread throughout the North and middle West. No scoffer at our boasted American civilization could say anything more harsh of it than does the American white man himself who says he is unable to protect the honor of his women without resort to such brutal, inhuman, and degrading exhibitions as characterize lynching bees. The cannibals of the South Sea Islands roast human beings alive to satisfy hunger. The sentiment of the country has been appealed to, in describing the isolated condition of white families in thickly populated negro districts; and the charge is made that these homes are in as great danger as if they were surrounded by wild beasts. The Modern City and the Municipal Franchise for Wo Equal Rights Amendment to the Federal Constitutio Better Baby Contest, Indiana State Fair, State of the Union Address Part IV (1911). . In many cases there has been open expression that the fate meted out to the victim was only what he deserved. Wells make about lynching in nineteenth-century America? A Texas newspaper called her an "adventuress," and the governor of Georgia even claimed that she was a stooge for international businessmen trying to get people to boycott the South and do business in the American West. . Lynch law in Georgia: a six-weeks' record in the center of southern civilization, as faithfully chronicled by the "Atlanta journal" and the "Atlanta constitution": also the full report of Louis P. Le Vin, the Chicago detective sent to investigate the burning of Samuel Hose, the torture and hanging of Elijah This condition of affairs were brutal enough and horrible enough if it were true that lynchings occurred only because of the commission of crimes against womenas is constantly declared by ministers, editors, lawyers, teachers, statesmen, and even by women themselves. Ida B. Wells-Barnett published "Lynch Law in Georgia" o n June 20, 1899, to raise public awareness about white racism and violence in the South, particularly with the act of lynching. Yet she doggedly reported on lynchings and made the subject of lynching a topic which American society could not ignore. She was also active in the womens rights movement. From this moment on, Ida B. Under the authority of a national law that gave every citizen the right to vote, the newly made citizens chose to exercise their suffrage. Whenever a burning is advertised to take place, the railroads run excursions, photographs are taken, and the same jubilee is indulged in that characterized the public hangings of one hundred years ago. Neither do brave men or women stand by and see such things done without compunction of conscience, nor read of them without protest. This condition of affairs were brutal enough and horrible enough if it were true that lynchings occurred only because of the commission of crimes against womenas is constantly declared by ministers, editors, lawyers, teachers, statesmen, and even by women themselves. Following the death of both her parents of yellow fever in 1878, Ida, at age 16, began teaching in a one-room schoolhouse in rural Mississippi. . Wells began against lynching prompted the passage of anti-lynching laws in some parts of the South, and a large drop in the number of documented lynchings, from 235 in 1892, to 107 in 1899. Ida B. A few months ago the conscience of this country was shocked because, after a two-weeks trial, a French judicial tribunal pronounced Captain Dreyfus guilty. Paid Italy for lynchings at Walsenburg, Col 10,000.00 She became involved in local politics in Chicago and also with the nationwide drive for women's suffrage. During the last ten years a new statute has been added to the unwritten law. This statute proclaims that for certain crimes or alleged crimes no negro shall be allowed a trial; that no white woman shall be compelled to charge an assault under oath or to submit any such charge to the investigation of a court of law. Biography of Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Journalist Who Fought Racism. The United States already has paid in indemnities for lynching nearly a half million dollars, as follows: Paid China for Rock Springs (Wyo.) What becomes a crime deserving capital punishment when the tables are turned is a matter of small moment when the negro woman is the accusing party. TeachingAmericanHistory.org is a project of the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University, 401 College Avenue, Ashland, Ohio 44805 PHONE (419) 289-5411 TOLL FREE (877) 289-5411 EMAIL [emailprotected], State of the Union Address Part III (1911). When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Lit2Go: Civil Rights and Conflict in the United States: Selected Speeches, Speech on Lynch Law in America, Given by Ida B. It is not the creature of an hour, the sudden outburst of uncontrolled fury, or the unspeakable brutality of an insane mob. Hardly had the sentences dried upon the statute books before one Southern State after another raised the cry against negro domination and proclaimed there was an unwritten law that justified any means to resist it. Her most famous pieces propelled Wells to the leadership of the anti-lynching crusade at the turn of the twentieth century. . But the spirit of mob procedure seemed to have fastened itself upon the lawless classes, and the grim process that at first was invoked to declare justice was made the excuse to wreak vengeance and cover crime [in the South]. Second, on the ground of economy. America during the first six months of this year (1893). As a skilled writer, Wells-Barnett also used her skills as a journalist to shed light on the conditions of African Americans throughout the South. ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/ida-b-wells-basics-1773408. Copyright 20062023 by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida. ThoughtCo. Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a teacher, activist, and journalist who worked tirelessly from the late 1890s to document and fight against lynching throughout the United States. . Read and analyze the "Voices of Freedom" primary source document from the chapter titled "Lynch Law in All Its Phases" by Ida B. 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Phelan, Why the Chinese Should Be Excluded (1901), William James on The Philippine Question (1903), Chinese Immigrants Confront Anti-Chinese Prejudice (1885, 1903), African Americans Debate Enlistment (1898), Booker T. Washington & W.E.B. TeachingAmericanHistory.org is a project of the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University, 401 College Avenue, Ashland, Ohio 44805 PHONE (419) 289-5411 TOLL FREE (877) 289-5411 EMAIL [emailprotected], State of the Union Address Part III (1911). The American Birthright and the Philippine Pottage. These executions were often carried out by lawless mobs, though police officers did participate, under the pretext of justice. June 01, 1909 New York City, New York. For additional statistics on lynching, see the Tuskegee Institutes count. According to Wells figures, 66% percent of the victims were African Americans, 34% were white or of some other race. IDA B. And the world has accepted this theory without let or hindrance. Ida Wells was born into slavery. The Tariff History of the United States (Part I), The Tariff History of the United States (Part II). Ida B. Primary Source: Ida B. Wells-Barnett, "Lynch Law in America" (1900) Ida B. Wells-Barnett, born a slave in Mississippi, was a pioneering activist and journalist. Ida B. Wells's speech, "Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases," delivered in 1892, stands as a counterpoint to two more frequently studied rhetorical events. At Newman, Ga., of the present year, the mob tried every conceivable torture to compel the victim to cry out and confess, before they set fire to the faggots that burned him. (1900). . It represents the cool, calculating deliberation of intelligent people who openly avow that there is an unwritten law that justifies them in putting human beings to death without complaint[1] under oath, without trial by jury, without opportunity to make defense, and without right of appeal. . Wells. It asserted its sway in defiance of law and in favor of anarchy. United States Atrocities : Lynch Law. Another source of statistics and information on lynching is the report of the Equal Justice Institute. Not only are two hundred men and women put to death annually, on the average, in this country by mobs, but these lives are taken with the greatest publicity. Lynch law in Georgia by Wells-Barnett, Ida B., 1862-1931; Le Vin, Louis P Publication date 1899 Topics Lynching, African Americans Publisher Chicago : This pamphlet is circulated by Chicago colored citizens Collection lincolncollection; americana Digitizing sponsor Wells moved from Memphis to Brooklyn. A Red Record: Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynchings in the United States, 1892-1893-1894, Respectfully Submitted to the Nineteenth Century Civilization in 'the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave' (Chicago: Donohue and Henneberry, 1895), by Ida B. Wells-Barnett, contrib. Our Core Document Collection allows students to read history in the words of those who made it. Wells was an African American journalist, abolitionist and feminist who led an anti-lynching crusade in the United States in the 1890s. But their trouble was all in vainhe never uttered a cry, and they could not make him confess. To those who fail to be convinced from any other point of view touching this momentous question, a consideration of the economic phase might not be amiss. . This pamphlet was authored by Ida B. Wells-Barnett and widely circulated in the North. Hardly had the sentences dried upon the statute books before one southern state after another raised the cry against negro domination and proclaimed there was an unwritten law that justified any means to resist it. Conversation-based seminars for collegial PD, one-day and multi-day seminars, graduate credit seminars (MA degree), online and in-person. Not only are two hundred men and women put to death annually, on the average, in this country by mobs, but these lives are taken with the greatest publicity. Lit2Go Edition. A Speech at the Unveiling of the Robert Gould Shaw "Of Booker T. Washington and Others," from The Sou "The Author and Signers of the Declaration", State of the Union Address Part II (1912), State of the Union Address Part III (1912), Chapter 19: The Progressive Era: Eugenics.