Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used
to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish
an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or
intimidate. It can also be an extreme form of informal group social
control, and it is often conducted with the display of a public
spectacle (often in the form of hanging) for maximum intimidation.
Instances of lynchings and similar mob violence can be found in every
society.In the United States, lynchings of African Americans became
frequent in the South during the period after the Reconstruction era,
especially during the nadir of American race relations. Lynchings are
common in many contemporary societies, particularly in countries with
high crime rates such as Brazil, Guatemala and South Africa.The
origins of the word lynch are obscure, but it likely originated during
the American Revolution. The verb comes from the phrase Lynch Law, a
term for a punishment without trial. Two Americans during this era are
generally credited for coining the phrase: Charles Lynch (1736â€"1796)
and William Lynch (1742â€"1820), both of whom lived in Virginia in the
1780s. Charles Lynch is more likely to have coined the phrase, as he
was known to have used the term in 1782, while William Lynch is not
known to have used the term until much later. There is no evidence
that death was imposed as a punishment by either of the two men. In
1782, Charles Lynch wrote that his assistant had administered Lynch's
law to Tories "for Dealing with the negroes &c".Charles Lynch was a
Virginia Quaker,:23ff planter, and American Revolutionary who headed a
county court in Virginia which imprisoned Loyalist supporters of the
British for up to one year during the war. Although he lacked proper
jurisdiction for detaining these persons, he claimed this right by
arguing wartime necessity. Subsequently, he prevailed upon his friends
in the Congress of the Confederation to pass a law that exonerated him
and his associates from wrongdoing. He was concerned that he might
face legal action from one or more of those he had imprisoned,
notwithstanding the American Colonies had won the war. This action by
the Congress provoked controversy, and it was in connection with this
that the term Lynch law, meaning the assumption of extrajudicial
authority, came into common parlance in the United States. Lynch was
not accused of racist bias. He acquitted blacks accused of murder on
three occasions. He was accused, however, of ethnic prejudice in his
abuse of Welsh miners. Lynching Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter