Saving lives one bale at a time: cotton production’s connection to lynchings in the U.S. South during the early Twentieth Century

Abstract

ABSTRACT The extralegal lynching of innocent individuals from discriminated groups remains a dark, lasting mark on the United States’ history. Following the conclusion of the Civil War, former slaves and their descendants were frequent targets for this form of violence. A significant existing literature finds various contributing factors to the pattern of violence. However, the current paper is the first to document a relationship between the weather and the lynching of African Americans in the U.S. South during the early twentieth century. Within affected communities, we find heavy May rains reduced cotton yields which raises the probability of a lynching during the subsequent year.