Race, Class, and the Death Penalty

Jerome M. Clubb, Howard W. Allen

Description

In Race, Class, and the Death Penalty, Howard W. Allen and Jerome M. Clubb examine historical trends in the use of capital punishment in the United States. Employing empirical data, the authors explore how frequently the death penalty has been used and how its frequency of use has changed, where the death penalty was used most often, the offenses charged, and the characteristics of the executed. Not surprisingly, their findings indicate that minority groups—particularly African Americans and those of lower social and economic status in general—have been executed in disproportionate numbers. The authors conclude that while the use of the death penalty has progressively declined, and the range of capital offenses has narrowed, disparities in the use of capital punishment between social groups and regions that appeared in the colonial period have persisted into the twenty-first century.

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. The Death Penalty in National Perspective

2. The Colonial and Revolutionary Eras

3. The Early Republic, 1786-1865

4. The South and the Border, 1866-1945

5. The Northeast, 1866-1945

6. The Western Regions, 1836-1945

7. Social Perspectives

8. The Death Penalty after 1945

9. The Death Penalty in American History

Appendix
Notes
Index

Sujets

• USA
• United States of America
• History of the Americas
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791478349
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Race, Class, and
the Death PenaltyRace, Class, and
the Death Penalty
Capital Punishment in
American History
Howard W. Allen
and
Jerome M. Clubb
with assistance from
Vincent A. Lacey
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESSPublished by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2008 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a
retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including
electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production by Diane Ganeles
Marketing by Michael Campochiaro
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Allen, Howard W., 1931–
Race, class, and the death penalty: capital punishment in American
history / Howard W. Allen, Jerome M. Clubb.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7914-7437-2 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Capital punishment—United States—History. 2. Discrimination in
capital punishment—United States—History. 3.
criminal justice administration—United States—History. I. Clubb,
Jerome M., 1928– II. Title.
HV8699.U5A725 2008
364.660973—dc22 2007033225
10 98 76 54 321For our wives, Lorie and VeraContents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 The Death Penalty in National Perspective 9
Chapter 2 The Colonial and Revolutionary Eras 27
Chapter 3 The Early Republic, 1786–1865 47
Chapter 4 The South and the Border, 1866–1945 67
Chapter 5 The Northeast, 1866–1945 93
Chapter 6 The Western Regions, 1836–1945 119
Chapter 7 Social Perspectives 147
Chapter 8 The Death Penalty after 1945 167
Chapter 9 The Death Penalty in American History 183
Appendix 191
Notes 205
Index 229Illustrations
FIGURES
1.1 Average annual number of executions per year by ten-year
period, 1606–1945 11
1.2 Average annual rates of execution of African American
and white per 100,000 population combined by ten-year
period, 1636–1945 17
1.3 A
and white per 100,000 population by ten-year period,
1636–1945 20
1.4 Ratio of African American to white rates of execution,
1606–1945 22
1.5 African American and white executions for known
nonlethal crimes as a percentage of total executions,
1606–1945 24
4.1 Average annual rates of execution of African American
and white population: The South, 1866–1945 71
4.2 African American and white executions for nonlethal
and unknown offenses as a percentage of total
executions: The South, 1866–1945 73
4.3 A
and white population: The Border, 1866–1945 78
4.4 African American and white executions for nonlethal
executions: The Border, 1866–1945 80
4.5 Average annual rates of lynchings and of lynchings and
executions of African Americans and whites: The South,
1886–1925 86
ixx Illustrations
4.6 Average annual rates of lynchings and of lynchings and
executions per 100,000 population for African
Americans and whites: The Border, 1886–1925 87
5.1 Average annual rates of execution of African Americans
and whites and proportional increase in African
American population: New England, 1866–1945 99
5.2 A
American population: Middle Atlantic, 1866–1945 103
5.3 A
American population: East North Central, 1866–1945 107
5.4 Rates of lynchings and of lynchings and executions of
African American and white population: East North
Central, 1886–1925 109
TABLES
1.1 Annual number of executions by ten-year period and
ethnic group, 1606–1945 13
2.1 Number of executions by region and ethnic group,
1606–1695 30
2.2 Average annual rates of execution per 100,000
African American and white population by region,
1606–1695 32
2.3
1696–1785 34
2.4 Average annual rates of execution of African American
and white population by region, 1696–1785 37
2.5 Ratio of African American to white rates of execution by
region, 1636–1785 44
3.1 Number of executions by region and ethnic group:
The Northeast, 1786–1865 50
3.2 Number of executions by region and racial and ethnic
groups: The South and Border, 1786–1865 53
3.3 Rates of execution per 100,000 of African American
and white population by region, 1786–1865 56
3.4 Ratios of African American to white rates of execution
per 100,000 population by region, 1786–1865 57Illustrations xi
3.5 Percentage of African Americans and whites executed
for nonlethal and unknown crimes: New England,
Mid-Atlantic, South, and Border, 1786–1855 61
4.1 Number of executions by racial and ethnic groups:
The South, 1866–1945 70
4.2
The Border, 1866–1945 76
4.3 Number of lynchings and legal executions by racial
and ethnic groups: The South and Border, 1886–1925 84
4.4 Number and rate of lynchings of African Americans and
whites per 100,000 population: Kentucky, 1866–1925 89
5.1
New England, 1866–1945 97
5.2 Number of executions by racial and ethnic groups:
The Middle Atlantic, 1866–1945 101
5.3
The East North Central, 1866–1945 105
5.4 Rates of execution of Italian Americans compared to
African Americans and native-born whites of native-born
parents in seven Northeastern states, 1906–1935 113
5.5 Ratio of rates of execution in the Northeast to rates of
execution in the South and Border, 1866–1945 115
5.6 Ratio of rates of executions and lynchings per 100,000
population in Middle Atlantic and East North Central
to rates of executions and lynchings in the South and
Border, 1886–1925 117
6.1 Number of executions by regions and racial and ethnic
groups: The West, 1836–1945 121
6.2 Rates of executions by racial and ethnic groups:
The West, 1836–1945 124
6.3 Rates of executions of Asians, Mexicans, Native
Americans, and whites by state and ethnic groups:
The West, 1856–1945 127
6.4 Number of lynchings by racial and ethnic groups:
The West, 1886–1925 133
6.5 Rates of lynching and rates of lynching and executions
of African Americans, Asians, and whites: The West,
1886–1925 134xii Illustrations
6.6 Ratio of African American and Asian American to
white rates of execution per 100,000 population
by region, 1866–1945 139
6.7 Ratio of rates of executed and lynched African Americans
and whites in the Western, Southern, and Border regions,
1886–1925 141
6.8 Ratio of rates of African Americans and whites
executed in the West to rates executed in the South
and Middle Atlantic, 1866–1945 143
7.1 Percentage of African Americans and whites ages 15–34
executed, percentage of African Americans and whites
ages 15–34 of total population, and percentage
of African Americans and whites of unknown age,
1896–1945 154
7.2 Comparison of execution rates in 1880, 1920, and 1940
in the ten largest cities in 1900 with rates excluding the
cities in the states where they were located 159
8.1 Number executed by region, race, and ethnicity,
January 17, 1977–December 31, 2005 172
8.2 Number on death row, July 1, 2005, by region, race,
and ethnicity 174
8.3 Ratio of the percentage of racial and ethnic groups among
those executed between 1996 and 2005 and the death row
population that each group represented in the regional
populations in 2000 175
8.4 Rates of executions of African Americans and whites by
region and by selected ten-year periods 177
A.1 The summary file as a percentage of total known
executions by region, 1606–1945 193Illustrations xiii
Acknowledgments
No scholarly effort is ever conducted without heavy indebtedness to
others. This is particularly true of efforts that rest as heavily as this one
does upon data collection efforts carried out by others. Our largest debt
is, of course, to M. Watt Espy. Without his continuing effort, this study
would have been impossible. We are profoundly grateful to him and
hope that our efforts prove to be a credit to his work. We are indebted
as well to the National Science Foundation for providing the support
required to make the initial version of the collection available for
general use. We also are grateful to John Ortiz Smykla for his work in
preparing the collection for use. We are pleased to once again express
our indebtedness to the Inter-university Consortium for Political and
Social Research for maintaining and providing access to the
computerreadable version of the collection and to the collection of historical
census data. Victoria Schneider contributed to the preparation of the
data collection for use and first brought it to the attention of one of us.
Although she decided not to participate in the effort reported here, her
early assistance was of considerable value. We are grateful a