aug 1, 1908 - Springfield Race Riot 1908

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The Springfield Race Riot, (August 1908), in U.S. history, was a brutal two-day assault by several thousand white citizens on the black community of Springfield, Ill. Triggered by the transfer of a black prisoner charged with rape (an accusation later withdrawn), the riot was symptomatic of fears of racial equality in North and South alike. Almost the entire Illinois state militia was required to quell the frenzy of the mob, which shot innocent people, burned homes, looted stores, and mutilated and lynched two elderly blacks

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