What are some myths about lynching and the Old South (Antebellum South)?

Answer 1

Its pretty obvious that your Question is confusing alot of People.I would hope that you would Re-phrase your Question or Re-word it. ANTEBELLUM is Latin for BEFORE THE WAR. this saying is usually used when referring to the south BEFORE the Civil War.
Since your question is a very sensitive and serious question, i hope you consider this....
Here is a link for you to see the definition of Antebellum..
http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/a/a0327100.html
adj.
Belonging to the period before a war, especially the American Civil War.
antebellum etymology
[Latin ante bellum : ante, before + bellum, war.]

Answer 2

Below is a list of lynchings that took place, is there anything in these facts that would lead anyone to believe there were any myths involved in Lynching?

Table 2-2. Black Victims of White Lynch Mobs by State, 1882-1930
State/ No. of victims
Deep South
Mississippi/ 462
Georgia/ 423
Louisiana/ 283
Alabama/ 262
South Carolina/ 143
Border South
Florida/ 212
Tennessee/ 174
Arkansas/ 162
Kentucky/ 118
North Carolina/ 75
************************************
"Between 1882 (when reliable statistics were first collected) and 1968 (when the classic forms of lynching had disappeared), 4,743 persons died of lynching, 3,446 of them black men and women. Mississippi (539 black victims, 42 white) led this grim parade of death, followed by Georgia (492, 39), Texas (352, 141), Louisiana (335, 56), and Alabama (299, 48). From 1882 to 1901, the annual number nationally usually exceeded 100; 1892 had a record 230 deaths (161 black, 69 white). Although lynchings declined somewhat in the 20th century, there were still 97 in 1908 (89 black, 8 white), 83 in the racially troubled postwar year of 1919 (76, 7, plus some 25 race riots), 30 in 1926 (23, 7), and 28 in 1933 (24, 4)." (Robert L. Zangrando, "The Reader's Companion to American History," 1991)

Answer 3

The Antebellum South (South before the Civil War) was one that was rife with myths that most slaves wished to revolt. The occasional instance of this (Nat Turner, for example) happening reinforced the idea that slaves were dangerous and needed to be watched carefully.

On the flip side, abolitionists firmly believed the myth that all slaves were ready and willing to escape to freedom. Though there were probably more slaves wanting to be free than those wanting to revolt and murder their masters, their number was still relatively small within the general population. One factor was fear of the unknown; another was fear that they would never see family members again.

As for lynching--those atrocities in the South happened mostly after the Civil War rather than before--there was no reason to extract extralegal justice when Slave codes were written in such a way that the master could legally do whatever he liked with his "property".

Answer 4

Here's a myth for you. Indiana (not a Southern state) led the nation in lynchings from about 1870 through the 1930s; the total was over 3,000. There is a scholarly work on this although I cannot remember the title right now. Just read it about 2 years ago.

Answer 5

I am not aware of any "myths" about lynching and the Antebellum South. The lynchings were real and not myths.

Answer 6

One myth is that lynchings were by in large isolated incidents. Sadly, many were never accounted for by local authorities, thus not included in reports. Murder by way of lynching was somewhat common during the reconstruction period of Southern History.

Answer 7

I wouldnt consider lynchings a myth though. For interesting reading, check out the Leo Frank v. Mary Phagan case. Leo Frank was a white New Yorker Jew who owned and operated a pencil factory in Atlanta. To make a long story short, he was accused of murdering a young factory worker, sentaced to death, later retracted and sentaced to life. The citizens of the subarbs around Atlanta (the city of Marietta) were outraged, broke into the prison and took him back to Marietta and hung him themselves. There is proof that she girl was actually murdered by an african american janitor at the factory, but the people didnt like Yankees, let alone Jews and hung him. Actually let the African American Janitor testify against him in court (which for that time, it was illegal for Blacks to testify in Court against white citizens.) interesting case.

Answer 8

One MYTH is that the KKK only lynched criminals.

In reality they lynched innocent men, women, and children.