1893

On February 1, 1893, Henry Smith was burned alive before an estimated crowd of 10,000 in Paris, Texas. His execution was advertised in advance over the Associated Press wire; special excursion trains brought spectators from across the region. Smith was tortured with hot irons for nearly an hour before being set alight. It was the first large-scale public burning lynching in documented U.S. history, establishing a horrific template.

Henry Smith, accused of murdering a white child in Paris, Texas, is seized, paraded through the city on a carnival float, and tortured on a scaffold before an estimated crowd of 10,000. His torturers apply red-hot irons to his body for approximately 50 minutes before he dies and his corpse is burned. The spectacle is advertised in advance; special trains bring spectators from surrounding counties. Photographs are sold as souvenirs.

Wells makes her first speaking tour of Britain in 1893, addressing audiences across England and Scotland about American lynching. British reformers and religious organizations pass resolutions condemning American mob violence. Wells deliberately targets the international reputation of Southern white Christians, arguing that British pressure can accomplish what American courts refuse to do. She returns for a second tour in 1894.

Beyond convict leasing, debt peonage enslaves Black agricultural workers through company stores, crop lien systems, and contract enforcement. Workers who try to leave before their debts are paid are arrested under enticement laws and returned — or converted into convict laborers. In some Alabama and Mississippi counties, virtually no Black farm family is free of enforced debt to a white landowner. Federal prosecution of peonage is rare and typically unsuccessful.

Beyond convict leasing, debt peonage enslaves Black farmers through company stores and crop lien systems. Workers who try to leave before debts are paid are arrested under enticement laws and returned — or converted into convict laborers. In some Alabama and Mississippi counties, virtually no Black farm family is free of enforced debt to a white landowner.

Ida B. Wells made two speaking tours of Britain in 1893 and 1894, building international pressure against American lynching. British audiences were shocked by her documented evidence. The tours generated newspaper editorials in London condemning the United States and prompted formation of British anti-lynching committees. Southern newspapers attacked Wells viciously in response, reflecting the effectiveness of international shaming.

C.J. Miller, a Black man who consistently maintained his innocence and whose guilt was doubted even by some white witnesses, was burned alive by a mob in Bardwell, Kentucky, on July 7, 1893. His charred bones were later divided as souvenirs. Ida B. Wells investigated and documented the case in her anti-lynching writings as evidence that lynching was divorced from any actual determination of guilt.

Bishop Henry McNeal Turner of the AME Church declared the American flag 'a dirty and contemptible rag' after the Civil Rights Cases and organized two emigration expeditions to Liberia. Though few emigrated, Turner's advocacy articulated radical rejection of American racial hierarchy decades before Marcus Garvey.

Bishop Henry McNeal Turner of the AME Church, despairing of justice in America after the collapse of Reconstruction, mounted a sustained campaign in the 1890s for Black emigration to Africa. He declared the American flag 'a dirty and contemptible rag' after the Civil Rights Cases ruling and organized two emigration expeditions to Liberia. Though few Black Americans emigrated, Turner's advocacy articulated a radical rejection of American racial hierarchy decades before Marcus Garvey.