Great Depression, racial injustice, woman rights, all of this was going on during the time period that To Kill a Mockingbird time frame was based on. So much was going wrong with the United States during that time frame, it was a miracle we were able to dig ourselves out of that kind of hole. The worst part of the 1930s was the racial injustice. Mobs would kill innocent black men, jurors sent them on death role for crimes they didn 't commit, blacks were scared to walk alone for the fear of being killed because of their skin color. "Based upon fears that “lynch law” would be invoked after news of Mr. Gunn’s confession spread, he was taken to jail in a neighboring county for protection. Because of attempted mob attacks, Mr. Gunn was transported to another prison with reinforcement from firemen and a tank company of the Missouri National Guard." (“Black Residents Flee Maryville, Missouri, After Lynching”). This is just one example of what went on in the 1930s to black men, this is also shown in the book To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus set up camp outside Tom 's jail cell to make sure no one came and hurt Tom Robinson before the trail. A mob came to Tom and Atticus, and was luckily broken up by Scout before anyone got hurt. "In March, nine African-American young men are accused of raping two white women. Their case begins on April 6 and they are quickly convicted of the crimes. However, the case of the Scottsboro Boys soon receives national attention
Leading up to the Civil Rights Movement, the black community was in a constant battle against law enforcement treating them unfair compared to the white community. The Scottsboro Boys and Emmett Till’s cases were one of the many times that the legal system showed to be unfair to blacks. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, the law enforcement and community were very racist against blacks and believed all blacks were criminals. In the story, Atticus Finch, who is a lawyer gets put into a very difficult situation and decides to defend a black man, who went by the name of Tom Robinson.
The 1900’s was a significant era for blacks, while a lot of laws were reformed and our rights were instated with distinct clarity, much loss was suffered to accomplish this. Two examples of such loss are the trial of Tom Robinson in the novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, and the trial of Scottsboro Boy. One a tale and one a tragedy, but both depict the inequity that was that justice system of the 1900s. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson, is being tried for the rape of Mayella Ewell, daughter of Bob Ewell. In the trial of the Scottsboro boys, nine young black man were wrongfully incarcerated.
Black men are six times as likely as white men to be incarcerated in federal prisons and local jails. This kind of injustice is the reason why cases like The Scottsboro Boys case, where nine boys were falsely accused of rape, exist. This is also why books like To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee are made. In both of these trials, they highlight the injustice of blacks during the 1930’s.
Comparing and Contrasting the Trials of To Kill a Mockingbird and The Scottsboro Boys The Great Depression of the 1930s affected every race living in the United States but no race was hit harder than the African Americans. Africans Americans were usually the victims of injustices by the hands of white people. In courtrooms race was valued more than evidence when giving a verdict for an African America. This is similar to the fictional trial of Tom Robinson in Harper Lee’s
To Kill a Mockingbird can relate to this because Tom Robinson’s trial was very racist because of the time period that it took place. In eighteen sixty six the Ku Klux Klan was born. Its main goal was to bring back white supremacy and to scare african american people. The years 1929-1947 were filled with horrifying lynches and other racially triggered violence especially in the south from the KKK.
In Tom Robinson’s story, a mob of angry white men tries to break into the jailhouse where he is being held and kill him. Tom is fortunate that his lawyer Atticus Finch was there to stop these men from entering and completing their mission. The novel says “You know what we want,” another man said, “Get aside from the door Mr. Finch (Lee 153).”This is similar to what happens to the Scottsboro Boys. Once news of what these boys supposedly did spread around, people became enraged.
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the story is set in the 1900’s, Maycomb, Alabama. During this time there was racism in the south and segregation which separated the whites and blacks from everything. There was also the Great Depression, the whole country was poor and people living in the country had to trade and do other jobs for people to either pay them off or to buy something from them. The trial in this book is about Mayella and Bob Ewell, two white people, claiming and arguing that Tom Robinson, a black person, raped Mayella Ewell. This trial is really important because at that time in the south, white people took advantage of black people and their kindness and thought they would take that or shut up just because they were black.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell claimed she was raped after requesting Tom Robinson's help. Her dad ran in after the alleged rape; they told the sheriff, and Tom Robinson was put in jail. In the Scottsboro trials and in To Kill A Mocking, the African American men were taken from jail to
To Kill a Mockingbird Argumentative Essay Racial equality and discrimination is a founding issue that has been spread throughout every part of the world, To Kill A Mockingbird was written and published by Harper Lee in 1960, this time was dominated by civil rights protests and some of the first hippie movements following the crushing reality of the Vietnam War, the 60s also saw the struggle against segregation and racial equality. It is no surprise that the extreme political conflict affecting her life and world would greatly impact her writing and influence how she perceived the world during the writing of To Kill a Mockingbird. the influence of the fight for racial inequality is shown greatly in her book as she depicts the everyday life
The 1930s was a very challenging time for america, it was the peak of the the Great Depression and the social oppression of women. The fictional novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is centered around the political issues america faced. The novel takes place in the fictional town of Maycomb Alabama where we look at the case of Tom Robinson against Mayella and Bob Ewell. The story goes that Tom Robinson went into the Ewell household and took advantage of Mayella and beat her. Although Mayella was actually the perpetrator, she won the case and Tom Robinson was sentenced to prison.
The novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” was written in 1960 by Harper Lee in the point of view of a young innocent girl named Scout. One of the main messages that Lee has (need a new word than – indicated or set out) is racism, it plays an important role which strongly impacts many character’s lives unfairly and changes the relationship between two. Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” shows that it is wrong to hurt someone who does no harm to you, for example, black people are innocent but no way did they have as many rights as white people did. Black people lived hard lives because society was judgemental, irrational and most importantly, racist. As Scout and Jem grow older they learn to cope, take responsibility and are introduced to new aspects of life, one of which is racism.
Tom was accused of raping a white woman who was Mayella Ewell, Mayella said he raped her while he was helping her with chores. She later on tells the readers that it was false allegations. The reason why she didn 't tell the truth at her first trial was because, Mayella was afraid of being embarrassed because she kissed a black male. She rather have an innocent man get charged with a crime than that. “However, Robinson was transferred from the state prison to Maycomb 's county jail on Saturday, two days before he stood trial on Monday, and Atticus had to defend him against a lynch mob”.
Most of black people of Maycomb in the 1930swere terrorized of committing some crime because they could be lynched for a crime they did not commit or do. One example of the book in chapter 18 was the start of the trial of Tom Robinson who was accused of rape and was in fear of being lynched for a crime he did not do. The main meaning of to Kill a Mocking Bird is to show how black people were being thought of as non-human simply because of their skin color. Tom Robinson’s trial began at chapter 18 and he feared of being lynched. He was accused by Bob Ewell because his daughter told him the Tom Robinson was the one who raped her.
What if the world was still the same as it was back during the great depression. What if this was the truth. In To Kill a Mockingbird readers can see how prejudice affected people of color back then, and how it’s not so different from today. In the novel readers will find unfairness in court, hate crimes, and segregation. Today readers can still find these same issues, but in different forms.
How did the time period of the novel (30’s) affect how black people were treated? One of the main themes in To Kill a Mockingbird is racial discrimination. Examples of racism and prejudice against black people can be seen throughout the novel. There are several reasons as to why people segregate dark people and they are mostly the important events happening in the 30’s. The time period of which the book was written is the 1930’s