Henry Smith Case Analysis

Throughout history America has struggled with finding effective and ethical ways of punishing people for their wrong doings. Between the years of 1882 and 1968 the act of lynching was widely used to execute criminals and this time period was known as the lynching era. One newspaper article published by the Fort Worth gazette informs about the events of a crime and how lynching was used to punish the accused criminal. The second article consists of letters that were exchanged between the governor of Texas and the police sheriff, in which they discussed the legal action that was to be done to the criminal. This paper focuses on the shaping of America’s criminal justice system and how crime cases such as the Henry Smith case helped do just that. On January 28, 1893 an article was published about the rape and murder of 4-year-old Myrtle Vance which resulted in the execution of her attacker, Henry Smith. According to the Fort Worth gazette, Smith committed the crime on the night of January 26, 1893. At the time of the crime Smith was able to escape from law enforcement and his fate was put into the hands of the citizens. A city wide search was formulated without the interference of the government and the group’s subordinate goal was to punish Smith by lynching.

The letters spoke about how the governor was not in favor of allowing the citizens to lynch Smith and instead wanted the situation to be handled legally. Governor Hogg continued to assert his orders to sheriff Hammond to catch Smith and bring him for a proper trial. Sheriff Hammond’s response was “Henry Smith has arrived and is in charge of from five to ten thousand enraged citizens. I am utterly helpless to protect him.” This statement makes it seems as if Sheriff Hammond supported the idea of lynching and put no effort in following Hogg’s