Assault in the Seattle Star, 1900 & 1920

The crime of assault is the umbrella legal term used to define any act that physically harms another. Assault is usually categorized by the severity of the resulting injury, and is most often based on the offender’s intent (to kill vs injure) or the means of inflicting violence. In The Seattle Star, noted ways of perpetuating assault from 1900 to 1920 were via shooting (7 cases), bludgeoning with a blunt object (6 cases), stabbing and cutting (3 cases each), as well as biting, punching, and hitting (14 cases). Common weapons such as guns and knives were used frequently, but one-off weapons of opportunity such as pitchforks and rubber hoses were used as well. The intent of the offender also played a role in assault cases, with assault with the intent to kill (2 cases) being the most serious offense. Further reasons for assault included jealousy (2 cases), fights (6 cases), self-defense (2 cases), and being in conjunction with robbery (2 cases). It is also possible for assault to be a group crime, as nine cases had more than one alleged perpetrator identified. Three cases also featured assault sprees, where one person injured multiple people in a short amount of time. 

Assault crimes reported in The Seattle Star tend to fit the historical patterns of assault that researchers have found in other urban locations around this period such as New York City and Kansas City. Out of 40 assault cases, none were between a husband and wife, confirming the conclusion that domestic abuse was not legally interfered with at this time. None of the 40 assault cases documented by The Seattle Star were between a husband and wife, confirming the historical conclusion that domestic assault was not considered assault at this time (Reva Siegel, “‘The Rule of Love’: Wife Beating as Prerogative and Privacy.” Faculty Scholarship Series, 1996). However, Seattle is unique in assault prosecuting of child abuse. Assault of one’s children in other locations was typically deemed a private matter (similar to how domestic abuse was treated), however, the Seattle judicial system was willing to prosecute child abuse cases under the label of assault. In the dataset, there are two examples of parents beating their own children and being charged with assault, one from 1901 and one from 1920. One of these cases is included below (“INHUMAN CHILD BEATERS RECEIVE JUST SENTENCES,” 1901).