historical violence database
Homicide in Florida, 1821-1861
James M. Denham
The data on homicide in Florida, 1821-1861, were gathered by James M. Denham. Denham finds that Florida was an extremely homicidal place, especially for whites, and especially during periods of warfare or political upheaval. The homicide rate for white adults were probably between 40 and 80 per 100,000 per year--which would have made Florida as homicidal as Texas or California on the eve of the Civil War. The sources for the data--and his interpretations--appear in:
- Denham, James M. (1997) "A Rogue's Paradise": Crime and Punishment in Antebellum Florida, 1821-1861.
- Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.
- Denham, James M. and Randolph Roth (forthcoming 2008) "Homicide in Florida, 1821-1861: A Quantitative Analysis." Florida Historical Quarterly.
The following files are available:
Graphs of estimated homicide rates (in WORD)
- Florida homicide graphs (from Denham and Roth 2008)
Worksheets (in WORD)
- Florida homicide worksheets (by county) (ZIP file)
Spreadsheet (in CSV file)