Postcards

The death penalty has been around for centuries. This article discusses how it is portrayed to the public. The part that shocked me the most was how people used to take pictures of the "lynchings" and send them around on postcards. A question I might ask is why do you think they sent them around on postcards? Why didn't they put them in the papers? This is appalling to me that people could be so cruel and then boast about their actions by displaying them on postcards as if its a norm. Another questions would be why are their pictures of the death penalty? Are they supposed to evoke feelings of justice being served or pity for the unknown of whethere the person was innocent? Are these pictures supposed victimize the person being killed or make them seem like a hero?