Documenting American Violence A Sourcebook

by Waldrep, Christopher; Bellesiles, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780195150032
• ISBN10: 0195150031
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-01-12
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Violence forms a constant backdrop to American history, from the revolutionary overthrow of British rule, to the struggle for civil rights, to the present-day debates over the death penalty. It has served to challenge authority, defend privilege, advance causes, and throttle hopes. In the first anthology of its kind to appear in over thirty years, Documenting American Violence brings together excerpts from a wide range of sources about incidents of violence in the United States. Each document is set into context, allowing readers to see the event through the viewpoint ofcontemporary participants and witnesses and to understand how these deeds have been excused, condemned, or vilified by society. Organized topically, this volume looks at such diverse topics as famous crimes, vigilantism, industrial violence, domestic abuse, and state-sanctioned violence. Among theevents these primary sources describe are: --Benjamin Franklin's account of the Conestoga massacre, when an entire village of American Indians was killed by the Paxton Boys, a group of frontier settlers --militant abolitionist John Brown's attack on Harper's Ferry --Ida B. Wells' condemnation of lynchings in the South --the massacre of General Custer's 7th Cavalry at Little Bighorn, as witnessed by Cheyenne war chief Two Moon --Nat Turner's confession about the slave revolt he led in Southampton County, Virginia --Oliver Wendell Holmes' diaries and letters as a young infantry officer in the Civil War --a police officer's account of the Haymarket Trials --Harry Thaw's murder of the Gilded Age's most prominent architect, Stanford White, through his own published version of the events --the post-trial, public confessions of Ray Bryant and J.W. Milam for the murder of Emmett Till --the Los Angeles Police Department's investigation into the causes of the 1992 riot Taken as a whole, this anthology opens a new window on American history, revealing how violence has shaped America's past in every era.

Author Biography

Christopher Waldrep is Jamie and Phyllis Pasker Prof. of History at San Francisco State University and the author of The Many Faces of Judge Lynch: Extralegal Violence and Punishment in America. Michael Bellesiles is the editor of Lethal Imagination: Violence and Brutality in American History.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 3
Crime as Social Drama	p. 11
Hugh Stone, a Convicted Murderer, on the Sin of Murder, 1698	p. 17
Jereboam O. Beauchamp Confesses to Murdering Solomon P. Sharp, 1825	p. 21
Harry Thaw's Account of His Murder of Stanford White, 1906	p. 27
Rev. Madison Peters Justifies the Murder of Stanford White, 1907	p. 30
Jeffrey Toobin on the O. J. Simpson Trial, 1995	p. 33
The Conquest of America	p. 37
Virginia's Capital Laws
Laws of the Colony of Virginea, 1610-1611	p. 43
The Pequot War
Capt. John Underhill's Account of the Mystic Massacre, 1637	p. 46
Kieft's War
David De Vries Describes the Beginnings of Kieft's War, 1642	p. 49
Bacon's Rebellion
An Anonymous Account of the Rebellion in Virginia, 1676	p. 52
The Pueblo Uprising and Its Suppression
Governor Antonio de Otermin's Report on the Uprising in New Mexico, 1680	p. 55
Spanish Officials Question the Pueblo Indian Josephe, 1681	p. 57
Don Carlos de Siguenza y Gongora Describes the Reconquest of New Mexico, 1692	p. 58
The Salem Witchcraft Trials
Thomas Brattle's Account of Witchcraft, 1692	p. 62
The Paxton Boys
Benjamin Franklin's Narrative of the Massacres, 1763	p. 66
Revolutionary Violence	p. 71
The North Carolina Regulators
The Petition from the Inhabitants of Orange County, North Carolina, 1770	p. 75
Judge Richard Henderson Confronts a Riot in Hillsborough, North Carolina, 1770	p. 76
The Virginia Gazette Reports on the Battle of Alamance, 1771	p. 79
The Boston Massacre
The Town of Boston Presents Its Version of the Massacre, 1770	p. 80
The American Revolution Begins
Reverend Jonas Clark Describes the Encounter at Lexington, 1775	p. 85
Ensign Henry De Bernicre Offers the British View of Lexington and Concord	p. 87
Revolutionary Institutions
Major General Steuben on the Opportunities of War, 1779	p. 91
Colonel George Rogers Clark on the Conquest of the West, 1779	p. 93
General Nathanael Greene on the Difficulties of Sustaining the War, 1781	p. 95
Battling Dissent
Rivington's Gazette on the Harassment of Loyalists, 1775	p. 99
Wm. Christian, Col. William Preston, Capt. Patrick Lockhart, and Col. Charles Lynch on the Revolutionary Origins of Lynching, 1779-1780	p. 102
Shays's Rebellion
General William Shephard on the Confrontation at Springfield, Massachusetts, 1787	p. 104
The Town of Coleraine Petitions for Mercy for the Shaysites, 1787	p. 106
General Benjamin Lincoln Crushes Shays's Rebellion, 1787	p. 107
Thomas Jefferson on the Need for the Occasional Revolution, 1787	p. 109
Slavery	p. 113
Slave Law
Colonial Virginia Slave Laws	p. 115
Mississippi's Slave Code, 1848	p. 116
North Carolina's Supreme Court Considers the Murder Conviction of the Slave Caesar, 1849	p. 118
Slave Revolt in Virginia
Nat Turner Describes His Rebellion, 1831	p. 124
A Slave Insurrection in Mississippi
The Vigilantes of Madison County, Mississippi, Justify Their Actions, 1835	p. 128
Dueling
White Mississippians Debate Dueling, 1844	p. 133
The Daily Experience of Cruelty
Frederick Douglass Searches for the Meaning of Violence in a Slave Regime, 1855	p. 135
The Civil War	p. 143
Harpers Ferry
The National Intelligencer Describes Events at Harpers Ferry, 1859	p. 148
The Experience of Battle
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. on the Nature of Warfare, 1861, 1862, 1864	p. 152
The Battle of Gettysburg
The British Officer James A. L. Fremantle Observes the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863	p. 157
The New York City Draft Riots
David M. Barnes Records the Violence of the New York City Riots, 1863	p. 161
Andersonville
Excerpts from the Diary of POW John L. Ransom, 1864	p. 165
The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Thomas M. Harris Documents the Conspiracy to Assassinate Lincoln, 1865	p. 167
The New South	p. 171
Black Codes
Mississippi's Black Code, 1865	p. 173
New Orleans Race Riot
J. D. O'Connell's Testimony before the House of Representatives, 1866	p. 175
The KU Klux Klan
Henry Lowther's Testimony before a Congressional Committee, 1871	p. 177
The Vicksburg Massacre
James M. Batchelor Describes the Massacre, 1874	p. 180
Testimony of Andrew Owen before the House of Representatives, 1874	p. 181
James M. Batchelor Writes of the Thrill of Violence, 1875	p. 183
Calls for a Black Defense Force
Timothy Thomas Fortune's Speech Calling for Self-Defense, 1884	p. 185
The Carrollton Massacre
James K. Vardaman Justifies the Carrollton Tragedy, 1886	p. 186
Lynching
Ida B. Wells Documents the Violence against Black Americans, 1895	p. 189
Wilmington Race Riots
Colonel Alfred M. Waddell Justifies a Race Riot, 1898	p. 194
White Opposition to Mob Violence
John Gordon Cashman Warns of the Danger of Lawlessness, 1902, 1904	p. 198
The Tulsa Race Riots
The Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 Seeks Reparations, 2001	p. 200
The Wild West in Myth and Reality	p. 207
The Mexican War
A Group of Mexican Editors Blame U.S. Aggression for an Unnecessary War, 1850	p. 216
The Little Bighorn Massacre
The Chicago Tribune Reports Custer's Defeat, 1876	p. 221
Hamlin Garland Records the Cheyenne Two Moon's Version of the Battle, 1876	p. 223
Billy the Kid
Pat Garrett's Version of the Lincoln County War, 1877	p. 227
Popular Tribunals
Hubert Howe Bancroft Defends Vigilance Committees, 1887	p. 231
The Virginian
Owen Wister Creates the Standard Image of the Wild West, 1902	p. 235
Wounded Knee
James Mooney Documents the Ghost Dance Religion and Its Consequence, 1890	p. 239
The Industrialization of Violence	p. 245
The Strike of 1877
Allan Pinkerton on Putting Down the Great Strike of 1877	p. 254
The Haymarket Trials
Michael J. Schaack Remembers "the Red Terror" in Chicago, 1886	p. 262
Class War in Coeur D'Alene
The Spokane Weekly Review Reports on the Violence in Coeur d'Alene, 1892	p. 265
The Assassination of Frank Steunenberg
Harry Orchard on Making a Bomb, 1905	p. 268
The Ludlow Massacre
The United States Commission on Industrial Relations Charges the Colorado National Guard with Inciting Violence, 1913	p. 271
The Hawk's Nest Tunnel
Philippa Allen, Arthur Peyton, Rush Dew Holt, and John W. Finch Testify before the House of Representatives on America's Worst Industrial Disaster, 1936	p. 276
Violence As a Means of Crime Control	p. 283
The Problem with Due Process
Justice David J. Brewer Downplays the Importance of Due Process, 1903	p. 286
The Problem of Class
The Final Statements of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti to the Court Sentencing Them to Death, 1927	p. 288
The Problem with the Police
The Wickersham Commission Documents Police Brutality, 1931	p. 293
The Problem of Organized Crime
Testimony of Claude A. Follmer before a Congressional Committee, 1950	p. 299
The Problem of Race
The California Governor's Commission Looks for the Causes of the Watts Riot of 1965	p. 303
The Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department Looks for the Causes of the Los Angeles Riot of 1992	p. 307
The Death Penalty
The Supreme Court Considers the Electrocution of Convicted Criminals, In re Kemmler, 1890	p. 310
The Supreme Court Considers the Death Penalty in Furman v. Georgia, 1972	p. 313
Civil Rights	p. 319
A Law Against Lynching
Walter White Meets with Attorney General Homer Cummings, 1936	p. 322
Walter White Appeals to Eleanor Roosevelt, 1936	p. 324
Victor Rotnem Argues for a Civil Right "Not to Be Lynched," 1943	p. 326
Justice Frank Murphy's Notes on the Supreme Court Debate over a Right Not to Be Lynched, 1944	p. 328
Emmett Till
William Bradford Huie Describes "The Shocking Story of Approved Killing in Mississippi," 1956	p. 330
Freedom Rides
James Farmer Leads the Freedom Riders, 1961	p. 332
FBI Informant Gary Thomas Rowe Jr. Participates in Klan Violence, 1961	p. 335
Confrontation at Ole Miss
The Mississippi National Guard Confronts Rioters at the University of Mississippi, 1962	p. 339
Jail As a Temple of Freedom
Aaron Henry's Testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, 1963	p. 343
A President Speaks in Favor of Civil Rights
President Lyndon B. Johnson Calls for an End to Racist Violence, 1965	p. 350
The Supreme Court Places Civil Rights Above States' Rights
The Supreme Court on the Murder of Michael Schwerner, James Goodman, and James Chaney, in United States v. Price, et al., 1966	p. 352
Lost to History	p. 355
Living with Domestic Violence
Abigail Bailey Describes Her Husband's Violent Ways, 1767-1789	p. 367
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Harriet Jacobs, a Slave, Is Raped by Her Owner, 1861	p. 376
The Rights of the Victim
Marla Hanson's Testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, 1990	p. 384
Index	p. 389
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