Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

On December 26, 1862 the largest mass execution in the history of the United States occurred in Mankato, Minnesota. Thirty-eight Dakota men were hanged as war criminals, instead of as prisoners of war. Thousands of white Minnesotans watched this execution.

It is curious to observe today the furor, controversy, and extensive debate occurring among U.S. society on whether or not it is appropriate for anybody, especially the survivors and relatives of those killed to watch the execution of Timothy McVeigh, the convicted bomber. My wondering is why there is so much debate.

In my mind, violence is a white American tradition, from the genocide of the native peoples of the U.S. to the slavery and lynching of black people, from the violence against women to the current gun violence and gun-toting mentality in schools and in the streets.

On December 26, 1862 in Mankato, Minnesota, 1,400 soldiers were on hand to keep order among the thousands of white Minnesotans who eagerly gathered to see the killing of the thirty-eight Dakota men. According to one account, "Many curious citizens (white, my addition) crowded the streets for a glimpse of the condemned and more onlookers stared from roof tops and windows (Carley, The Sioux Uprising of 1862, p, 73-75). As the platform fell, "There was one, not loud, but prolonged cheer from the soldiery and citizens" (Carley, p. 75), thus satisfying the blood-lust of the white Minnesotans. These same white Minnesotans, many of them good Christians, no doubt, were singing "Silent Night" and celebrating the birth of their Savior the day before and killing Dakota men the next.

This mass execution was one of the culminating events of a series of events such as bounties, warfare, forced removal, genocide, and concentration camps (Mankato & Ft. Snelling) in an atmosphere of "extermination or removal," a savage and blood-thirsty cry uttered by white Minnesotans from the top, Governor Ramsey and other state officials, to the bottom, the thousands of whites who gathered to observe this mass execution.

Roy Meyer in his book, The History of the Santee Sioux, (1967, 1993), refers to this execution of the thirty-eight Dakota, this act of violence, as "legalized murder" (p. 138). Gary Anderson in his book, Little Crow (1986), refers to "the white citizenry of Minnesota" who "flocked into Mankato days before the mass execution" (p. 165). This was an event not to be missed by the white Minnesotans. Anderson talks about "the vast crowd of spectators rose up in one long, protracted cheer at the scene" (p.165) as the hanging was over. William W. Folwell in his book, A History of Minnesota (1924, 1961, 1978), describes the mass execution of 38 Dakota men thusly, "the spectacle was witnessed by a great crowd" (p. 210).

The United States is a violent nation. As Vine Deloria, Jr. says, "The country was founded in violence. It worships violence and it will continue to live violently" (Custer Died for Your Sins, 1969, 1988, P. 255). HBO put out a special program titled "Violence, an American Tradition."

Thus, it is somewhat puzzling to me why there is all this fuss whether or not people should observe the execution of Timothy McVeigh. There should be no discussion. Follow the example of the white Minnesotans of 1862 in Mankato, Minnesota. Carry on the tradition of violence, which is as much a part of the white American tradition as apple pie, baseball and motherhood.