During the Postbellum and Reconstruction period, lynching by groups of whites became a way to spread fear and maintain the socioeconomic and political disparities between the races and control the racial order. African American men, women and children were the majority of victims who were lynched and in the South, lynching was commonplace. The image of an angry white mob stringing a black man up a tree was a popular in newspapers and often announced to ensure it would become large public event. People would arrive from miles around to view the spectacle, which would have a carnival atmosphere, with souvenir sellers, picnic lunches and many white observers would pose for pictures next to the victim which would be generated into postcards to