SAN FRANCISCO COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE SIGN - 1851, 1856
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SAN FRANCISCO "COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE" SIGN 1851 – 1856 The San Francisco Committee of Vigilance was a popular ad hoc organization formed in 1851 and revived in 1856. Their purpose was to rein in rampant crime and government corruption. They were among the most successful organizations in the vigilante tradition of the American Old West. These militias hanged eight people and forced several elected officials to resign. Each Committee of Vigilance formally relinquished power after three months. The 1851 Committee of Vigilance was inaugurated on June 9 with the promulgation of a written doctrine declaring its aims and on June 10, followed up with the hanging of John Jenkins, from Sydney, convicted in a trial organized by the committee of stealing a safe from an office (grand larceny was punishable by death under California law at the time). It boasted a membership of 700 and operated parallel to, and in defiance of, the duly constituted city government. Committee members used its headquarters for the interrogation and incarceration of suspects, who were denied the benefits of due process. The Committee engaged in policing, investigating disreputable boarding houses and vessels, deporting immigrants, and parading its militia. In total, four people were hanged by the Committee; one was whipped (a common punishment at that time);
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