Whitecapping
Encyclopedia
Whitecapping is a violent lawless movement among farmers that occurred specifically in America
during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was originally a ritualized form of enforcing community standards, appropriate behavior and traditional rights. However, as it spread throughout the poorest areas of the rural South it took on a distinct anti-black characteristic.
around 1873, as white males began forming secret societies in order to attempt to deliver justice independent from the state. These groups were known as the 'White Caps'. The first White Cap encounters were generally aimed at those who went against a community’s values. Men who neglected or abused their family, people who showed excessive laziness and women who had children out of wedlock are all prime examples of possible targets. As whitecapping spread into the Southern states during the 1890s, the targets became drastically different. In the South, White Cap societies were generally made up of white dirt farmers that intended to control black laborers and prevent merchants from acquiring more land. These societies in the South made it their task to attempt to force a person to abandon his home or property. This racial character of whitecapping in the South is thought to have been ignited by the agricultural depression that occurred around the same time. With all of the attention centered on producing cotton, the South’s economy became very unbalanced. Many farmers went into debt and lost their lands to merchants through mortgage foreclosures. The merchants and their black laborers became quick targets for the dirt farmers who seemed to be losing everything. Racism
contributed to the problem as well, prosperous black men in the South always faced resentment that could be expressed violently.
(KKK), and always attacked at night. Physical attacks could include such things as whipping, drowning, firing shots into houses, arson and other brutalities. The White Caps also used non-violent means of intimidation in order to get certain residents to abandon their homes. These include posting signs on doors of blacks' and merchants' homes, as well as cornering a target and verbally threatening them. The victims of these attacks had little support from the legal authorities until 1893, when the threat of whitecapping began to be taken more seriously. However, even when the courts got involved it took time to completely clear the jury of any White Cap members or sympathizers. Many White Cap societies had become dormant by 1894 and members were punished with fines. However, there were still active members of the White Caps who were found and punished in the early 1900s.
Over many years, whitecapping not only affected individual people, but also the communities and counties as a whole. In the South, whitecapping discouraged many merchants and industrialists from doing business in the counties; it also threatened to drive away all of the black laborers.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was originally a ritualized form of enforcing community standards, appropriate behavior and traditional rights. However, as it spread throughout the poorest areas of the rural South it took on a distinct anti-black characteristic.
History
The Whitecapping movement started in IndianaIndiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
around 1873, as white males began forming secret societies in order to attempt to deliver justice independent from the state. These groups were known as the 'White Caps'. The first White Cap encounters were generally aimed at those who went against a community’s values. Men who neglected or abused their family, people who showed excessive laziness and women who had children out of wedlock are all prime examples of possible targets. As whitecapping spread into the Southern states during the 1890s, the targets became drastically different. In the South, White Cap societies were generally made up of white dirt farmers that intended to control black laborers and prevent merchants from acquiring more land. These societies in the South made it their task to attempt to force a person to abandon his home or property. This racial character of whitecapping in the South is thought to have been ignited by the agricultural depression that occurred around the same time. With all of the attention centered on producing cotton, the South’s economy became very unbalanced. Many farmers went into debt and lost their lands to merchants through mortgage foreclosures. The merchants and their black laborers became quick targets for the dirt farmers who seemed to be losing everything. Racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
contributed to the problem as well, prosperous black men in the South always faced resentment that could be expressed violently.
Methodology
Despite the different whitecapping targets, the methods used by the White Caps remained somewhat constant. Generally, the members of this society were disguised in a way that somewhat resembled that of the Ku Klux KlanKu Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
(KKK), and always attacked at night. Physical attacks could include such things as whipping, drowning, firing shots into houses, arson and other brutalities. The White Caps also used non-violent means of intimidation in order to get certain residents to abandon their homes. These include posting signs on doors of blacks' and merchants' homes, as well as cornering a target and verbally threatening them. The victims of these attacks had little support from the legal authorities until 1893, when the threat of whitecapping began to be taken more seriously. However, even when the courts got involved it took time to completely clear the jury of any White Cap members or sympathizers. Many White Cap societies had become dormant by 1894 and members were punished with fines. However, there were still active members of the White Caps who were found and punished in the early 1900s.
Over many years, whitecapping not only affected individual people, but also the communities and counties as a whole. In the South, whitecapping discouraged many merchants and industrialists from doing business in the counties; it also threatened to drive away all of the black laborers.
External links
- "Whitecapping in Mississippi: Agrarian Violence in the Populist Era." Mid-America 1973 55(2): 134-148. Mississippi bibliography
- SEC. 97-3-87. Threats and intimidation; whitecapping MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, As Amended
- Whitecapping: Agrarian Violence in Mississippi, 1902-1906 JSTOR scholarly journals
- FOR WHITECAPPING NEGRESS.; Fourteen White Men Indicted in a Mississippi Court. The New York Times, 1903-11-10