in 1870, this was the period of the most lynchings of African Americans throughout the South. Harrison County had a total of 14 such lynchings. Most were committed in the early 20th century, particularly in the 1910s when the county suffered economic hard times. Whites "did not lynch in lieu of ineffective courts, but instead demonstrated to the black majority that legal protection and rights were inaccessible to blacks". Blacks accused of violence against law enforcement or who were from outside the county were particularly at risk.