Was the “Old West” violent? Scholars have established that it was not as violent as most movies and novels would suggest. Murder was not a daily, weekly, or even monthly occurrence in most small towns or farming, ranching, or mining communities. Still, homicide rates in the West were extraordinarily high by today’s standards and by the standards of the rest of the United States and the Western world in the nineteenth century, except for parts of the American South during the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Historical research indicates that, despite their reputation, murder rates in some frontier towns like Dodge City were lower than in certain modern American cities.Data comparing these time periods is complex, as modern homicide reporting is much more standardized than in the 19th-century.
While some specific cities are highly overrepresented in modern crime statistics, national murder rates have fluctuated significantly over the last 60 years.
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I just wish we'd go back to hanging the bad guys.
ReplyDeleteThe Chicago murder rate was lower during the gang wars of Prohibition than it is now
ReplyDeleteMark in PA