Tarring and Feathering

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Tarring and feathering is a physical punishment, used to enforce formal justice. It was used in feudal Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, as well as the early American frontier, mostly as a type of mob vengeance. Today the act is considered a barbaric form of punishment. In a typical tar-and-feathers attack, the subject of a crowd's anger would be stripped to his waist. Hot tar was either poured or painted onto the person while he was immobilized. Then the victim either had feathers thrown on him or was rolled around on a pile of feathers so that they stuck to the tar. Often the victim was then paraded around town on a cart or a rail. The aim was to inflict pain and humiliation on a person enough to cause him to leave town or conform his behaviour.