Despite the triumph of equality and justice that followed the success of the Unionist (the union of the northern states during the American Civil War) Army in the American Civil War, Reconstruction (Reconstruction - restoration, reorganization of the southern states after the Civil War (1861-1865)) had the adverse effects in the southern states, where the white majority began to assert their superiority by the extreme measures, namely by the ad hoc (special) unauthorized reprisals against blacks, or lynching (Onion).
Lynching played a great role in the process of Reconstruction of the South. The film greatly shows the horror examples of the lynching over the blacks in the South of America, as well as shows the life of people of that time (Griffith, Griffith, and Aitken).
According to most researchers, lynching is a massacre (beatings, murder) without trial, which got its name from the racist planter Charles Lynch, who lived in the XVIII century in Virginia. Lynching was usually applied towards the blacks, although it was often subjected to whites, whose views did not satisfy the aggressive crowd or members of the Ku Klux Klan (Wells-Barnett).
Since 1882, when it were recorded the first manifestations of lynching, 4950 of people became the victims of lynching till 1927 year. Although most of these executions, especially those that took place in the north and west of the country, were carried out by simple means, for example, using a firearm or rope, in the south the crowd resorted to means, characterized by the extreme sadism.
In 1893, for example, a crowd of 10,000 people gathered in the town of Paris (Texas) to be present at the illegal execution of the mentally handicapped black man, accused of murdering a child. First, he was poked by a red-hot poker, and then the crowd burned his eyes and shoved a burning ember in his mouth. After an hour of such tortures the black man was burned alive at the stake (Onion). Despite the growing urbanization of the South and the efforts of the National Guard in the suppression of lynching, which led to a decrease in the number of victims of the brutal mob, at the beginning of the XX century in some isolated locations the right of Lynch continued to reign in the relations between whites and blacks (Wells-Barnett).
Ku Klux Klan substituted its secret councils very mysteriously and creepy. If blacks were seized and killed in broad daylight, in respect of whites it was implemented just the medieval ritual. At the beginning of its existence, Ku Klux Klan called the victim to court, usually held at night, somewhere in the desert or in the forest. To not come to such a scene meant to admit the own guilt and in such case the sentence was imposed by Klan in absentia. In principle, a person, received the notice of Klan, could avoid a trial through leaving the country or to publicly renouncing own views and condemning them.
Usually racists arranged such a step. The people, abandoning this, very often were waiting for the death, and crime were so beautifully arranged, and the law enforcement agencies of the southern states contain so many Klan members or sympathizers, that virtually none of them for a long time was disclosed (Onion).
If the defendant appeared at the bunch of bandits, he met frightening, semi-mystical ceremony. In the darkness he was surrounded by a crowd in fancy robes of Klan members, illuminated only by the light of torches; before the victim it was head of the Klan and read out the charges. Any attempts to justify himself could only worsen the situation, so it was necessary to plead guilty and beg for mercy. To get to the attention of the Klan can be had for many things - political views on equal rights for blacks, etc., attempts of the persecution of members of the Klan, and more. Women could be even accused of sexual relations with Negroes and mulattoes (with, oddly enough, the Klan had nothing against ties of white men with colored women, here is the equality of the sexes). If the accused persisted in their fundamentals views, the violence was much heavier. Women could shave off as a sign of disgrace, stripped naked, beaten whip, even rape. The most stubborn and dangerous opponents hung previously stripped naked and beaten whip, and then subjected to other tortures (Wells-Barnett).
Thus, lynching is a form of vigilante justice. Other extrajudicial killings, when a suspect was banal hanged or drowned, lynching is also known for its cruelty. Before the death the victim suffered from the taunting, tormented sophisticated, and indeed sometimes the execution was extremely ruthless - beaten in human blood could drag on the rope of the horse, which was started at a gallop. It is believed that violent extrajudicial killings were brought to America from England. So, from the shores of Albion to the New World it was brought the tradition to execute by smearing tar and falling of feathers. Only at first glance it looks strange, even brutal fun.
The origin of the word 'lynching' refers to the end of the XVIII century. Historians are still debating after which of the two Linches the term came. Some are in favor of Colonel irregular troops of the American colonists Charles Lynch (1736 - 1796), others - for the Virginia planter Captain William Lynch (1742-1820). The first during the War of Independence famously formed his own court in the county of Bedford and introduced law and order through the ropes. Victims of restoring order usually became the supporters of the English king. To honor Charles Lynch it must be said that he did not hang all trials indiscriminately, but first listened to the case and make a decision. In addition, in an atmosphere of chaos, he was able to maintain the relative order (Onion). The second Lynch, planter, also became famous for the extrajudicial killings, but mostly of the Negro slaves. It was unnecessary to blame William Lynch in racism in the animal pointless - he was a man of his time, and for him, like for the vast majority of the American population, Negros and whites were the fundamentally different beings. Planter Lynch believed that he protects the law and contains the ‘animate things’ in due course. Again, it is not necessary to represent him as a serial killer who begins each morning with his brutal execution of any of the slaves - a slave in the first place is a valuable asset (Wells-Barnett).
Lynching in America lasted until the 1960s. After that, lynching is no longer classified as a separate crime, and began to consider as an aggravated murder. We should not forget that the extrajudicial killings were repaired often with the connivance of the local authorities. Even if vigilantes and judged, it is often justified. In conclusion, it could be noted that the film 'Birth of Nation' shows a new idyll in the southern states, which have regained the happiness under the rule of the Ku Klux Klan (Griffith, Griffith, and Aitken).
Works Cited
Birth of Nation. Dir. D W. Griffith, and Harry Aitken. Prod. D. W. Griffith. 1915. Film.
Onion, Rebecca. "A Lynching Map of the United States, 1900-1931." Historical Treasures, Oddities, And Delights (2013): n. pag. Web. <http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2013/01/08/lynching_map_tuskegee_institute_s_data_on_lynching_from_1900_1931.html?wpsrc=sh_all_dt_tw_top>.
Wells-Barnett, Ida B. Southern Horrors and Other Writings: The Anti-Lynching Campaign of Ida B. Wells, 1892-1900. Boston: Bedford Books, 1997. Web.
