Leo Frank Essay
The Story of Leo Frank
The story of Leo Frank and Mary Phagan is a very sad story that will told over and over for many different reasons. The most strinking reason is that Leo Frank was led out of his jail cell and lynched by a mob after a trial that had shown no real motivation in proving the case but only to prove Leo Frank quilty. At the time of the trial the south was just ending the period of reconstruction but still had a deep resentment for any encrochment on the southern lifestyle by outsiders. Racism and the fear of the outsiders was prevelant during this time. As stated by C.P. Connolly, "There is but one reason, aside from the peculiarly atrocious murder of Mary Phagan, which made possible the injustice done Frank. Atlanta …show more content…
One such case was the New York Times article in which Mrs. Nina Formby "...called The Times and asked that she be permitted to make a public denial of the statements she made against Frank only after she had been unduly influenced to do so by the Atlanta detectives".(3) After all of the facts about forced testimony, Leo Frank could not get a retrial. The only ally that Frank had in his corner was that of Governor Slaton. Governor Slaton commuted Leo Frank's sentence to life imprionment on June 30th, 1915. The Syracuse Herald reported that Governor Slaton said "I would be a murderer if I let this man hang".(4) As stated in Trial by Prjudice "Thereupon the cry of the crowd was: "We want John H. Slaton, King of the Jews and Traitor Governor of Georgia", The Governor was driven out of office". (5) Any one who stood up for justice in the case against Leo Frank found themselves against southern public opinion and even worse against the southern beuracracy. On August 17, 1915 a group of between twenty five and seventy armed men drove to the Georgia state prison farm and kidnapped Leo Frank. They took him on a hundred mile ride to Mary Phagans birthplace and lynched him. It is said that a seond mob arrived at the scene and mutilated Frank's
The story of Leo Frank and Mary Phagan is a very sad story that will told over and over for many different reasons. The most strinking reason is that Leo Frank was led out of his jail cell and lynched by a mob after a trial that had shown no real motivation in proving the case but only to prove Leo Frank quilty. At the time of the trial the south was just ending the period of reconstruction but still had a deep resentment for any encrochment on the southern lifestyle by outsiders. Racism and the fear of the outsiders was prevelant during this time. As stated by C.P. Connolly, "There is but one reason, aside from the peculiarly atrocious murder of Mary Phagan, which made possible the injustice done Frank. Atlanta …show more content…
One such case was the New York Times article in which Mrs. Nina Formby "...called The Times and asked that she be permitted to make a public denial of the statements she made against Frank only after she had been unduly influenced to do so by the Atlanta detectives".(3) After all of the facts about forced testimony, Leo Frank could not get a retrial. The only ally that Frank had in his corner was that of Governor Slaton. Governor Slaton commuted Leo Frank's sentence to life imprionment on June 30th, 1915. The Syracuse Herald reported that Governor Slaton said "I would be a murderer if I let this man hang".(4) As stated in Trial by Prjudice "Thereupon the cry of the crowd was: "We want John H. Slaton, King of the Jews and Traitor Governor of Georgia", The Governor was driven out of office". (5) Any one who stood up for justice in the case against Leo Frank found themselves against southern public opinion and even worse against the southern beuracracy. On August 17, 1915 a group of between twenty five and seventy armed men drove to the Georgia state prison farm and kidnapped Leo Frank. They took him on a hundred mile ride to Mary Phagans birthplace and lynched him. It is said that a seond mob arrived at the scene and mutilated Frank's