tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1206982072987423771.post1959573704491477611..comments2024-01-28T13:32:47.733-05:00Comments on Port Tobacco Archaeological Project: Execution in Port TobaccoApril M. Beisawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07019923628257305222noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1206982072987423771.post-21459600499777783002008-02-07T07:06:00.000-05:002008-02-07T07:06:00.000-05:00The confessions are an important part of the story...The confessions are an important part of the story; however, where the rights of the accused are unprotected, confessions should be treated with skepticism and coercion suspected.<BR/><BR/>I think you are right about Northerners ridiculing Southern culture. What I don't understand--and, admittedly, I've made no effort to study the problem--is why? Is it purely a post-war phenomena, a form of continued aggression?<BR/><BR/>It might be interesting to contrast local stories as told in local papers with those reported in the Northern press.Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16395015722370190000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1206982072987423771.post-41944147802155263322008-02-06T16:29:00.000-05:002008-02-06T16:29:00.000-05:00One thing I neglected to mention in the article is...One thing I neglected to mention in the article is that both men confessed to the crime after their capture.<BR/><BR/>One thought about the NYT covering these events is perhaps a way of ridiculing Southern culture. Most of the events about Port Tobacco found in the NYT covers troop movement during the Civil War, the Cocking lynching, and the execution. Little else is mentioned.Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09087353167913289589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1206982072987423771.post-75529003809330048962008-02-06T15:14:00.000-05:002008-02-06T15:14:00.000-05:00Scott's posting suggests several questions that be...Scott's posting suggests several questions that bear research:<BR/>1. Why did the New York Times, presumably long before they published different editions for different areas, carry stories about Charles County, and did they carry only certain kinds of stories?<BR/>2. If only certain kinds of stories, were the editors making some sort of statement about the area and the attitudes or practices of its people, and to whom might those statements have been made?<BR/>3. In a professedly Christian nation, and at a time when much was made of religion, why did people all around the country regard executions as entertainment? Surely there were those who decried public executions and executions in general. It would be interesting to hear from them.<BR/>4. Regarding the trial itself, what was the evidence against the two men, Charles Henry Simpson and Martin Henry? Were they guilty of the crime, or were they scapegoats?<BR/>5. The allusion to the race of at least one, if not both, of the convicts strikes the modern mind as irrelevant to the case. Obviously, the editor didn't think so, which brings me back to question #4.Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16395015722370190000noreply@blogger.com