The Killing Fields of the Deep South: The Market for Cotton and the Lynching of Blacks, 1882-1930

TLDR

The study investigates how economic conditions influenced lynchings of blacks in the Deep South between 1882 and 1930. Using time series analysis, the authors examine the relationship between cotton prices, inflation, and lynching rates. Lynchings were more frequent when cotton prices fell and inflation rose, and were positively associated with the black population size; these effects were strongest before 1900, reflecting shifts in agriculture, Jim Crow disenfranchisement, and migration.

Abstract

We reconsider the relationship between economic conditions and the lynching of blacks in the Deep South from 1882 to 1930 using time series analysis. Net of other factors, lynchings were more frequent in years when the constant dollar price of cotton was declining and inflationary pressure was increasing. Relative size of the black population was also positively related to lynching. We conclude that mob violence against southern blacks responded to economic conditions affecting the financial fortunes of southern whites especially marginal white farmers. These effects were significantly more important in the decades before 1900, possibly because of the declining importance of agriculture, the Jim Crow disenfranchisement of blacks, and the increasing outmigration of blacks and whites from the Deep South.