When [the vigilantes] controlled the press, they wrote their own history, and the world usually credits them with cleansing San Francisco of hooligans and bullies; But their success has given great impetus to a dangerous principle which would justify at any moment the mob seizing all the power of government; And who is to say that the vigilance committee should not be composed of the worst elements rather than the best elements of a community? In fact, in San Francisco, as soon as it was proven that real power had passed from City Hall to the committee chamber, the same bailiffs, policemen and hooligans who had infested City Hall were found employing the “vigilantes.” [17] It had 700 members and claimed to work in parallel and in defiance of the duly constituted municipal government.[17] Committee members used its headquarters to interrogate and detain suspects who had not been afforded due process. The committee dealt with policing, investigated unsavory pensions and ships, deported immigrants, and paraded its militias. Four people were hanged by the committee; one of them was whipped (a common punishment at the time); fourteen were deported to Australia; fourteen were informally asked to leave California; fifteen were handed over to the authorities; And forty-one were released. The 1851 Vigilance Committee was dissolved in the September election, but its executive members met until 1853. [7] A total of four were executed: John Jenkins, an Australian from Sydney who was charged with burglary and hanged on June 10, 1851; James Stuart, also from Sydney, was charged with murder on July 11. He was hanged in July 1851. and Samuel Whittaker and Robert McKenzie, employees of Stuart, charged with “various heinous crimes” and hanged on 24 Aug. 1851. The lynching of Whittaker and McKenzie came three days after a confrontation between the committee and fledgling police trying to protect the prisoners. The committee caught Whittaker and McKenzie after storming the jail during Sunday services. [8] The 1851 Vigilance Committee was inaugurated on June 9 with the promulgation of a written doctrine explaining its objectives[4] and hanged John Jenkins of Sydney, Australia, on June 10 after being convicted of stealing a safe from an office during a trial organized by the committee: aggravated robbery was then punishable by death under California law. [5] The Daily Alta California of 13. June printed this statement: The 1856 committee was also much larger than the 1851 committee, claiming 6,000 in its ranks.

The committee worked closely with the official government in San Francisco. The chairman of the Vigilance Committee, William T. Coleman, was a close friend of Governor J. Neely Johnson, and the two men met several times to work toward the common goal of stabilizing the city. [11] Another important figure at this time, who would later make a name for himself in the Civil War, was William T. Sherman. Sherman was running a bank when Governor Johnson asked him to become commander of the San Francisco branch of the state militia. Sherman accepted the position two days before King was assassinated by Casey. [12] WHEREAS it has become clear to the citizens of San Francisco that there is no security for life and property, either under the rules of society as it currently exists or under the law as it is currently administered; Therefore, the citizens whose names are linked here come together in an association to preserve the peace and good order of society and the lives and property of the citizens of San Francisco, and we undertake to do and perform any other lawful act for the maintenance of law and order.

and enforce laws when they are applied faithfully and correctly; But we are determined that no thief, burglar, arsonist or murderer can escape punishment, whether through the sophistication of the law or the insecurity of prisons. the negligence or corruption of the police or the negligence of those who purport to administer justice. [6] Political power in San Francisco was transferred to a new justiciary-founded political party, the People`s Party, which governed until 1867 and eventually merged with the Republican Party. The militias had thus achieved their goal of taking power from the machine of the Democratic Party, which until then had dominated citizen politics in the city. Notable people included William Tell Coleman, Martin J. Burke, San Francisco Mayor Henry F. Teschemacher, and San Francisco`s first Chief of Police, James F. Curtis.[13] King had also denounced the corruption of city officials, who he said had let Cora get away with Richardson`s murder: Cora`s first trial ended with a hanged jury, and there were rumors that the jury had been bribed. Casey`s friends took him to jail because they feared he would be hanged. This execution could have been a reaction of frustrated citizens to ineffective prosecutions or the belief that due process would lead to acquittals. Popular history has accepted the earlier view: that the illegality and brutality of the vigilantes were justified by the need to establish law and order in the city. [ref.

needed] The 1856 committee was also concerned with policing, investigations, and secret trials, but it far surpassed its predecessor in boldness and rebellion. Most notably, he seized three shipments of weapons destined for the state militia and tried the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. However, the committee`s authority was strengthened by nearly every militia unit in the city, including the California Guards.[7] [7] The Vigilance Committee was reorganized on May 14, 1856 by many leaders of the former and adopted an amended version of the 1851 Constitution. [7] Unlike the previous committee and the tradition of the militia in general, the 1856 committee dealt not only with civil crimes, but also with politics and political corruption. [7] The triggering element of the committee was an assassination under the guise of a political duel in which James P.