Lynching postcard
Many lynchings had a racist background. White racists used them as propaganda. Lynchings were most common between the 1880s and the 1940s. At first, they were used to intimidate African Americans, who had more rights after the civil war. Later they were also used to intimidate voters and civil rights workers, independently of their race. The common practice was that a mob would force them out of their homes, or from prison cells, and then murder them. This happened without a trial.