In the era of the Jim Crow Laws and the great depression, night riders prowled the south in the cover of darkness, inflicting acts of violence on targeted groups of people. In Roll of Thunder, night riders were a constant threat to the main characters. These vigilantes were constantly attacking people that angered them or or stepped out of their lines. Night riding was frequent in the first half of the 20th century and did not cease to be a threat until the late 1970s.
The night rider movement started in the 1900s, cotton prices were dropping and it was becoming harder and harder to continue making a living selling cotton. When cotton prices became as low as 10 cents per pound, poorer responded with vicious retaliation. A group of masked,
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In these raids they would dynamite farm machinery, burn barns, attack cotton buyers, and killed livestock. They also carried out smaller raids. This includes lynching, destruction of property, assault, and intimidation. The Night Riders aimed to raise prices, and were willing to commit to violence and fear in order to do so.
Night riders were only at large in the Southern states and had a racial overtone. They aimed to reduce the labor pool for plantations by driving off all of the african workers. They frequently attacked african americans who were working on these plantations. More prosperous africans were attacked as well
In Roll of Thunder, this movement makes constant appearances. They attack Mr. Berry for flirting with a white woman. Later in the book, night riders tar and feather another man for having a feud with a white shop owner. The community in this book referred their actions as “riding”, which references to night riders. In the end of the book, they attack the Avery’s and almost lynch T.J along with Mr. Morrison and Mr.
…show more content…
In Roll of Thunder, night riders were a constant threat to the main characters. These vigilantes were constantly attacking people that angered them or or stepped out of their lines. Night riding was frequent in the first half of the 20th century and did not cease to be a threat until the late 1970s.
The night rider movement started in the 1900s, cotton prices were dropping and it was becoming harder and harder to continue making a living selling cotton. When cotton prices became as low as 10 cents per pound, poorer responded with vicious retaliation. A group of masked, armed men rode from town to town on horseback, burning cotton wagons and intimidating farmers to hold their cotton at the higher price of 35 to 40 cents per pound.
Night riders were notorious for their large nighttime raids. In these raids they would dynamite farm machinery, burn barns, attack cotton buyers, and killed livestock. They also carried out smaller raids. This includes lynching, destruction of property, assault, and intimidation. The Night Riders aimed to raise prices, and were willing to commit to violence and fear in order to do