Vigilantism in Washington State: A Counterpoint To National Trends
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Campus where you would like to present
SURC 135
Start Date
17-5-2012
End Date
17-5-2012
Abstract
The United States of America went through a period of vigilante justice stretching from the 1760s to roughly 1900. National and local historians have studied the motivations behind this trend. In the early period, vigilantes argued that their actions were necessary because of a lack of organized law on the frontier. Later, vigilantism became a form of social and race conflict. Vigilantes often targeted African-Americans, Mexicans, and sometimes Indians. Washington State followed this trend but it is in some ways actually a special case. It had well-established systems of justice and a distinct lack of social and racial conflict yet it experienced a surge in lynching precisely when lynching declined elsewhere. This research project sought to determine the cause of the abnormal trend of Washington State's vigilantism. By looking at the different instances of lynching and the individuals involved, a pattern seemed to emerge to suggest that, in a divergence from the national trend, Washington vigilantes were the elite members of the citizenry who were attempting to maintain the stability of the burgeoning communities. Their actions created an abnormal trend in Washington that separated it from the vigilantism that plagued the rest of the nation. The elite citizens of Washington were motivated by a desire to see justice dealt swiftly and a distrust of the state’s ability to maintain the developing frontier communities' structure through due process. This is a work in progress with plans to further study the subject and expand upon the evidence already collected.
Recommended Citation
Miller, Aaron, "Vigilantism in Washington State: A Counterpoint To National Trends" (2012). Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 118.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2012/oralpresentations/118
Additional Mentoring Department
History
Vigilantism in Washington State: A Counterpoint To National Trends
SURC 135
The United States of America went through a period of vigilante justice stretching from the 1760s to roughly 1900. National and local historians have studied the motivations behind this trend. In the early period, vigilantes argued that their actions were necessary because of a lack of organized law on the frontier. Later, vigilantism became a form of social and race conflict. Vigilantes often targeted African-Americans, Mexicans, and sometimes Indians. Washington State followed this trend but it is in some ways actually a special case. It had well-established systems of justice and a distinct lack of social and racial conflict yet it experienced a surge in lynching precisely when lynching declined elsewhere. This research project sought to determine the cause of the abnormal trend of Washington State's vigilantism. By looking at the different instances of lynching and the individuals involved, a pattern seemed to emerge to suggest that, in a divergence from the national trend, Washington vigilantes were the elite members of the citizenry who were attempting to maintain the stability of the burgeoning communities. Their actions created an abnormal trend in Washington that separated it from the vigilantism that plagued the rest of the nation. The elite citizens of Washington were motivated by a desire to see justice dealt swiftly and a distrust of the state’s ability to maintain the developing frontier communities' structure through due process. This is a work in progress with plans to further study the subject and expand upon the evidence already collected.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Daniel Herman