Looking for a study.

[The abyss]

I am looking for a study that compared homicide statistics against one of the western frontier towns against a similarly populated town on the eastern seaboard. The comparison was based around a commonality of population numbers and covered the years of 1880 – 1900.

I have never posted an open query in this forum, I am assuming this is allowed?

Anyone recall reading a study that did this comparison?

[Katya Mullethov]

1. Meda

Aqui

http://www.guncite.com/wild_west_myth.html

[The abyss]

2. Thanks.

This is not the reference I was looking for.

Although the “conclusion” on this article is similar.

Someone, I think, actually compared recorded homicide statistics between (unknown city Kansas/Texas/Arizona) to (unknown city Massachusetts/Vermont/New York.

The conclusion I am attempting to document is that statistically there were fewer homicides in the open frontier town where basically everyone was armed.

Thanks for the link!

[shadowrider]

4. Actually I remember

Reading an article that said, per capita, Tombstone, Arizona was safer than some city/cities on the east coast. I'll dig for it but it was a while ago.

[happyslug]

3. It is going to be hard to find such statistics, remember most people lived in RURAL areas then

Till the 1920 Census, most Americans lived in Rural areas. The 1920 Census is the first Census where more people lived in Urban Areas then Rural areas. This will screw any figures if you just want to compare towns.

Furthermore, prior to the 1960s every US city had lower then average Murder rates. The reason for this was the extremely high murder rate in the Rural South. That high murder rate was first noted in Colonial times (and believed tied in with Slavery i.e. the easy killing of another Human Being just because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time, characteristic of the Rural South during the time Slavery was the law. Whites were required to do a "patrol" once a month and during that "Patrol" could kill any black man with impunity just be saying the black was going about setting up a slave revolt).

The South Rural High Murder Rate survives to this day. The High Murder rates of the inner cities of the 1960s are believe to be tied in with the movement of former rural southern blacks to such cities (and bring with them the rural south tradition of high murder rates) and the subsequent drop in inner city murder rares in such cities the reflection of the children and grandchildren (and great grandchildren) of sch former rural southern blacks slowly adopting the Northern Norm of much lower rates of Murder (True even in the Rural North).

Much of the Gun culture of the old west came from the Rural South. You did NOT see it in areas where Northerns (or Europeans) moved to, but you did see it where Southern Whites moved to (And the quick decline in such Murder rates may be tied in with the Rural Southerns quickly being replaced by Northerns as the west settle down).


High Southern Rural Crime rates:
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/26/weekinreview/ideas-trends-southern-curse-why-america-s-murder-rate-is-so-high.html?pagewanted=1
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/drugfree/v1donner.htm
http://books.google.com/books?id=K90Vsdr2YZsC&pg=PA81&lpg=PA81&dq=High+South+Rural+Murder+Rate&source=bl&ots=HMVk1cWWGU&sig=IZQAYlkDA3yoozQ4qLbNnAUjY9U&hl=en&ei=YYqQS4GzIJ2H8QbWh6yoBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CD4Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=High%20South%20Rural%20Murder%20Rate&f=false

Some other comments on the North-South difference:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/04/11/23_war.html
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-beast/200904/is-southern-violence-due-culture-honor
http://www.ag.auburn.edu/auxiliary/srsa/pages/Articles/SRS%202008%2023%202%20157-170.pdf
http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/jquart6&div=47&id=&page=
http://www.epjournal.net/filestore/ep03381391.pdf

A 1996 experiment to test the tendency for violence among Southern White Males compared to Northern White Males:
http://chiron.valdosta.edu/mawhatley/9710/honor.htm

Another study on the same subject:
http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-07022006-123237/unrestricted/Hayes_dis.pdf

Alcohol and Suicide:
http://www.physorg.com/news172513898.html

[The abyss]

5. Thanks for the feedback and all the links!

I am probably recalling this (and consequently relating it wrong).

I agree that true statistics would not be a proper comparable as noted due to lack of standardized data.

I am wondering if what I remember reading was not something so simple as a listing of capital court cases involving one city/town against another? Not so sure that there was actually a “study” but perhaps rather a comparison done by an author.

It was an obscure question and a big thanks to all for the links and feedback