This Day in History - Dec. 26, 1862: 38 Dakota Men Executed by Order of Abraham Lincoln

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/this-day-in-history-dec-26-1862-38-dakota-men-executed-by-order-of-abraham-lincoln

On the day after Christmas, on Dec. 26, 1862, 38 Dakota men were hanged in the largest mass-hanging in U.S. history. The executions were ordered by President Abraham Lincoln. In a separate historic order, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which granted his administration to free the slaves, went into effect six days later on Jan. 1, 1863.

(snip)

The trials of the Dakota were conducted unfairly in a variety of ways. The evidence was sparse, the tribunal was biased, the defendants were unrepresented in unfamiliar proceedings conducted in a foreign language, and authority for convening the tribunal was lacking. More fundamentally, neither the Military Commission nor the reviewing authorities recognized that they were dealing with the aftermath of a war fought with a sovereign nation and that the men who surrendered were entitled to treatment in accordance with that status.” (Carol Chomsky)

Because these were military trials, the executions had to be ordered by the President Abraham Lincoln.

Three hundred and three deaths seemed too genocidal for President Lincoln. But he didn’t order retrials, even though it has been argued that the trials which took place were a legal sham. Instead he simply modified the criteria of what charges warranted a death sentence. Under his new criteria, only 2 of the Dakota warriors were sentenced to die. That small number seemed too lenient, and President Lincoln was concerned about an uprising by his white American settlers in that area. So for a second time, instead of ordering retrials he merely changed the criteria of what warranted a death sentence. Ultimately, 39 Dakota men were sentenced to die.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. They were buried in a shallow grave, and the day after, their bodies were dug up for use as medical

cadavers. William Mayo, who later founded what is now the Mayo Clinic, dug up victim Marpiya Okinajin's body to dissect. Mayo kept the bones in his house as conversation pieces.

[MagickMuffin]

6. I never knew much about Mayo, wiki mentions it in passing in his entry

White supremacist in action, by golly.

[Buckeyeblue]

2. Humans are so wonderful. Tell me why this world is worth saving?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. The government built special scaffolds so all 38 could be hung at once. White people came from

miles around to watch and cheer; Lakota women and children were forced to watch.

[Bayard]

4. Peace on Earth,

Good will to men.

[Solly Mack]

5. K&R

[moondust]

7. Hanging at Mankato, Minnesota

Noted in picture at link.