Paper Summary:

This paper reviews Suzanne Lebsock's book 'A Murder in Virginia'. According to the paper, the book is a fascinating historical account of a horrendous murder committed in Virginia in 1895. The paper discusses how, with a combination of story-telling skills and extensive research, Lebsock recounts not only the facts of the murder and its aftermath but also the culture of the community in which the murder took place. In the process, she provides a believable and three-dimensional picture of what rural Southern life was really like following the Reconstruction from both the Black and Caucasian points of view.

From the Paper:

"As Lebsock says on p. 18, "Time and time again in the Lunenburg case, people acted bravely and against type." She gives remarkable examples. Marable was quickly found guilty and sentenced to hang. His execution was delayed only so he could testify against the three women he said had helped him kill Lucy Pollard. Soldiers guarded Marable and the three accused women. Who had been escorted out of town under cover of darkness while a local politician spoke at length, delaying any mob action (p. 54). The very real risk of lynching continued for some time. A substantial number of people believed that lynching was sometimes an appropriate response to a court system that sometimes failed to convict obviously guilty people and sometimes did not mete out harsh enough penalties (p. 177). In fact, the first convictions of the three women initially implicated by Marable were overturned, and the state was going to have to try them again, just the kind of event that fueled those who saw lynching as ever appropriate. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Lebsock, Suzanne. A Murder in Virginia. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2003.

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