A Festival of Violence

Shows that economic and status concerns were at the heart of lynching

A statistical study of lynching in ten southern states which shows that economic and status concerns were at the heart of that violent practice. This book tests explanations of the causes of lynching, using US Census and historical voting data and a newly constructed inventory of southern lynch victims.This finely detailed statistical study of lynching in ten southern states shows that economic and status concerns were at the heart of that violent
practice. Stewart Tolnay and E. M. Beck empirically test competing explanations of the causes of lynching, using U.S. Census and historical voting data and a newly constructed inventory of southern lynch victims. Among their surprising findings: lynching responded to fluctuations in the price of cotton, decreasing in frequency when prices rose and increasing when they fell.