August 26 is the anniversary of The Trenton Massacre in 1874, where hundreds of white men kidnapped 16 black men from the Gibson Country Jail, and lynched them.

The men were in jail for events a few days before. A group of white men had refused to pay full price for barbecue purchased from a black man at a local event, and an altercation ensued. That night, two white men reported that they had been shot at by a large group of black men in the woods outside of town. A posse rounded up men from the group. After torturing confessions, the picture emerged that they were attempting to defend the barbecue salesman from possible retaliation by the Ku Klux Klan. The two white men who had reported being fired upon were Klan members who had come to the woods that night to lynch the salesman. The white people were very upset and worried about this, as it was evidence that they were in danger. 16 black men were arrested for shooting with intent to kill and rioting.

On August 26, a group of hundreds of white men broke them out of jail, then executed them. The lynching resulted in a great deal of panic in the white community. They feared black reprisal, and they feared federal intervention. The police forcibly confiscated the weapons of all black residents. The Tennessee media was also in a state of panic. They went from calling them “black scoundrels” initially to “unfortunate prisoners” almost immediately. The state quickly got to work on putting on a show of prosecuting the white men in order to avoid federal oversight. It didn’t work.

Dozens of men were indicted by the state, and several more by the federal government (which was an action denounced by the white community). In the end, over 50 men were indicted and stood trial. All were acquitted.