An estimated crowd of 10,000

The photo is of the lynching of Henry Smith, where thousands gathered in Paris, Texas in 1893, found at mindfully.org.

On June 13, 2005, senators of the 109th Congressional Session adopted Resolution 39, apologizing for failing to enact legislation against lynching, a practice that occurred throughout the United States but, overwhelmingly occurred in the Southern states of the U.S., one hundred five years after the first anti lynching legislation was proposed.

When anti lynching legislation had been introduced, senators from Southern states argued that to enact such legislation would infringe on individual states rights, with still others arguing the brutal custom to be a necessary tool to assure control of the Negro.

As of the date of the adoption of Resolution 39, 19 Republicans and one Democrat refused to co-sponsor the anti lynching resolution.

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