Vigilance committee
Encyclopedia
A vigilance committee was a group formed of private citizens to administer law and order where they considered governmental structures to be inadequate. The term is commonly associated with the frontier areas of the American West in the mid-19th century, where groups attacked cattle rustlers and gangs, and people at gold mining
claims. As such groups operated outside the law, they sometimes took excessive actions and killed innocent people. In the years prior to the Civil War, groups worked to free slaves and transport them to freedom.http://www.post-gazette.com/blackhistorymonth/19990222arthur.asp
where governmental law enforcement was inadequate. In the newly settled areas, vigilance committees provided security, and mediated land disputes. In ranching areas, they ruled on ranch boundaries, registered brands, and protected cattle and horses. In the mining districts, they protected claims, settled claim disputes, and attempted to protect miners and other residents. In California
, some residents formed vigilance committees to take control from officials whom they considered to be corrupt.
In the West, the speed of the vigilance committees and lack of safeguards sometimes led to the innocent being hanged or to their just disappearing. A few committees were taken over by fraudulent individuals seeking profit or political office.
Gold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...
claims. As such groups operated outside the law, they sometimes took excessive actions and killed innocent people. In the years prior to the Civil War, groups worked to free slaves and transport them to freedom.http://www.post-gazette.com/blackhistorymonth/19990222arthur.asp
In the West
In the western United States, both before and after the Civil War, the primary purpose of these committees was to maintain law and order and administer summary justiceSummary justice
Summary justice refers to the trial and punishment of suspected offenders without recourse to a more formal and protracted trial under the legal system...
where governmental law enforcement was inadequate. In the newly settled areas, vigilance committees provided security, and mediated land disputes. In ranching areas, they ruled on ranch boundaries, registered brands, and protected cattle and horses. In the mining districts, they protected claims, settled claim disputes, and attempted to protect miners and other residents. In California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, some residents formed vigilance committees to take control from officials whom they considered to be corrupt.
Disbandment
Vigilance committees were generally abandoned when the conditions favoring their creation ceased to exist. In the west, as governmental jurisdiction increased to the degree that courts could dispense justice, residents abandoned the committees.Nature
Vigilance committees, by their nature, lacked an outside set of checks and balances, leaving them open for excesses and abuse.In the West, the speed of the vigilance committees and lack of safeguards sometimes led to the innocent being hanged or to their just disappearing. A few committees were taken over by fraudulent individuals seeking profit or political office.
The South
- Know-Nothing RiotKnow-Nothing RiotThe term "Know-Nothing Riot" has been used to refer to several political uprisings in United States of America during the latter half of the 19th century. These included riots in St. Louis in 1854, Washington, D.C. in 1857, and New Orleans in 1858....
; 1850s, New Orleans, Louisiana - Jackson County, IndianaJackson County, IndianaJackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 42,376. The county seat is Brownstown.-History:...
Vigilance Committee (aka Scarlet Mask Society or Southern Indiana Vigilance Committee), 1868 - captured and hung 10 members of the Reno GangReno GangThe Reno Brothers Gang, also known as the Reno Gang and The Jackson Thieves, were a group of criminals that operated in the Midwestern United States during and just after the American Civil War. Though short-lived, they carried out the first three peacetime train robberies in U.S. history...
The West
- Committee of VigilanceSan Francisco Vigilance MovementThe San Francisco Committee of Vigilance was a popular ad hoc organization formed in 1851 and revived in 1856. Their purpose was to rein in rampant crime and government corruption. They were among the most successful organizations in the vigilante tradition of the American Old West.These militias...
; 1851 & 1856, San Francisco, California - 3-7-773-7-773-7-77 was the infamous symbol of the Montana Vigilantes in Virginia City, Montana. People who had the mysterious set of numbers '3-7-77' painted on their tent or cabin knew that they had better leave the area or be on the receiving end of vigilante justice...
Vigilance Committee; 1860s-1870s, Virginia City, MontanaVirginia City, MontanaVirginia City is a town in and the county seat of Madison County, Montana, United States. In 1961, the town and the surrounding area was designated a National Historic Landmark District, the Virginia City Historic District... - Anti Horse Thief AssociationAnti Horse Thief AssociationThe Anti Horse Thief Association was a vigilance committee, organized at Fort Scott, Kansas, in 1859 to provide protection against marauders thriving on border warfare. It resembled other vigilance societies in organization and methods, though did not share some of the shadier tactics of some other...
; 1860s, organized at Fort Scott, KansasFort Scott, KansasFort Scott is a city in and the county seat of Bourbon County, Kansas, United States, south of Kansas City, on the Marmaton River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,087. It is the home of the Fort Scott National Historic Site and the Fort Scott National... - Baldknobbers; 1880s, Taney, Christian and Greene Counties, Missouri
Other nations and times
- Biddulph Peace SocietyBlack DonnellysThe Black Donnellys is the common nickname of the Donnelly family who emigrated from County Tipperary, Ireland, to Canada in about 1845–1846, and who participated in a notorious feud in Biddulph Township in Middlesex County, Ontario, which culminated in a massacre in which five family members were...
; 1876, Biddulph, Ontario, Canada - Whitechapel Vigilance CommitteeWhitechapel Vigilance CommitteeThe Whitechapel Vigilance Committee was a group of local volunteers who patrolled the streets of London's Whitechapel District during the period of the Whitechapel murders of 1888. The volunteers patrolled mainly at night in the search for the murderer. The committee was set up by local businessmen...
; 1888, London, UK - founded to capture Jack the RipperJack the Ripper"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
. - The Black Panther Party; 1960s, formed against police brutality and oppression.
In film and media
- The Ox-Bow IncidentThe Ox-Bow IncidentThe Ox-Bow Incident is a 1943 American western film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Mary Beth Hughes, Anthony Quinn, William Eythe, Harry Morgan and Jane Darwell...
(1943) is a movie directed by William A. WellmanWilliam A. WellmanWilliam Augustus Wellman was an American film director. Although Wellman began his film career as an actor, he worked on over 80 films, as director, producer and consultant but most often as a director, notable for his work in crime, adventure and action genre films, often focusing on aviation...
, based on the novel of the same name written by Walter Van Tilburg ClarkWalter Van Tilburg ClarkWalter Van Tilburg Clark was an American novelist, short story writer, and educator. He ranks as one of Nevada's most distinguished literary figures of the 20th century and is known primarily for his novels, his one volume of stories, as well as his uncollected short stories...
(19xx). The story tells of a group of men pursuing cattle rustlers, capturing and hanging them, and the moral consequences.
Other uses of the term
- Vigilance Committee is also a term used by some interest groups who monitor the actions of others.