"The United States of Lyncherdom" is an essay by
Mark Twain written in 1901.[1] He wrote it in response to the mass
lynchings in
Pierce City, Missouri, of Will Godley, his grandfather French Godley, and Eugene Carter (also known as Barrett). The three African Americans were accused in the rape and murder there of Gazelle Wild (or Casselle Wilds) on August 19, 1901.[2] Twain blamed
lynching in the United States on the
herd mentality that prevails among
Americans.[1] Twain decided that the country was not ready for the essay, and shelved it.[1]
A redacted version was published in 1923, when Twain's literary executor,
Albert Bigelow Paine, slipped it into a posthumous collection, Europe and Elsewhere.[1] In his essay, Twain noted two law enforcement officials who had intervened and prevented lynchings in early 20th-century America. They were Sheriff
Joseph Merrill of
Carroll County, Georgia,[3] and Sheriff
Thomas Beloat of
Gibson County, Indiana.[3]
References
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abcdBlount Jr., Roy (2008-07-03). "America's Original Superstar". Time Magazine.