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Historical background to kill a mockingbird
Jim Crow laws and their effects
The Jim Crow laws
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The first connection to America's actual history is the presents of Jim crow Laws in To Kill a Mockingbird. The Jim Crow laws were the laws separating black people from white people. The objective of the Jim Crow laws were mostly to keep whites in a more powerful position than any other race, so they tried to make the black people less than the white people. According to “Pilgrim” the most common punishment of breaking a Jim Crow law is lynching even though it is not part of the legal system. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird there are many cases of the Jim Crow laws in effect. In the book there are not any black kids in Scouts class and Toms kids do not go to school. On page 219 when the kids go to the trial they sit up in the black section
In the novel, ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee some characters suffer in the hands of justice and fairness more than others. Many characters in the novel are discriminated against such as Calpurnia, Dolphus Raymond, Helen Robinson, Burris Ewell and more. However I will be focusing on the discrimination against Tom Robinson for his race, Walter Cunningham for his low socioeconomic status and Boo Radley for the rumors and supposed mental instability he holds. I chose those three because they are the most prominent and I will discuss how the discrimination against the characters therefore leads to their injustice or unfairness.
...howing the true race relations throughout the south during that period. Jim Crow laws might not have been in effect and might have been though unnecessary by a portion of southerners, but it would be interesting to find out how many African Americans were lynched during the period before Jim Crow laws became prominent for ‘offenses’ which would later be illegal under Jim Crow. Just as Woodward quoted President Eisenhower as saying “you cannot change people’s hearts merely by law”(163), so the lack of Jim Crow legislation does not necessarily mean that some southerners wanted it and lived as though it existed.
The first influence on Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is the Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow laws are laws that took place in between 1877 to the mid 1960s (Pilgrim). These laws are of segregation between blacks and whites to give blacks fewer rights. Christians and Ministers believed that Whites were the chosen people; Blacks were lesser people and only suppose to be servants, and that God Supported Ra
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has become a mainstay in American high-schools. This is a classic novel that has inspired many people of all ages. It had a big impact on how people viewed and treated each other. This is a story that teaches everyone about the value of honesty, love, friendship and trust. Every word written in this book has a truly deep meaning to it. The time period that the book was written in was during the Great Depression in the 1930’s. This setting was in a small town in Maycomb, Alabama with people who did not get along. During this time there was a lot of segregation within America and different races. To Kill a Mockingbird is about a family who believes in doing the right thing and being honest. There was a court case that had gone viral about a black man who raped a white woman. A white lawyer named Atticus Finch gave his all to defend a black man named Tom Robinson. There was no evidence that showed that Tom raped Mayella Ewell and he was convicted guilty because of his color. When a black folk was accused of something they are immediately accused guilty. To Kill a Mockingbird should be taught in American high-schools because it teaches students about segregation/racism, right from wrong, and courage.
Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” takes place during the 1930’s in the fictional and quiet town of Maycomb, located in Maycomb County, Alabama. The town of Maycomb is described as a tired old town that moves very slowly and its residents have nothing to fear but fear itself. Being in set in the South during the 1930’s the story does tackle racism and inequality for African Americans as racism was becoming more and more prominent in the 1930’s. The fact that the story takes place in a backwater county in Alabama makes the the injustice even more prevalent. The story goes through the early years of the main characters Jem and Scout so the exact time is always changing, however, the more important and intense parts of the story takes place
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, illustrates the early twentieth century’s historical realities through the case between Tom Robinson and Bob Ewell. This certain case comes off as a no brainer for most of the townspeople, discerning a black man’s testimony against a white man’s. This is because of the majority of the town still in withholding of Jim Crow ideals. Nonetheless, hope was still had by Atticus Finch, who was the defenders attorney, and his family for victory seeming the plaintiff is a half crazy middle aged man, whom most of the town would rather not associate with. As Mr. Ewell had his testimony, on the other side of the hall Tom Robinson had his counterclaim ready to go against the odds. Jim Crow laws and the depression only
“Jim Crow was more than a series of rigid anti-black laws. It was a way of life.” (“What was Jim Crow?”). The laws created a divided America and made the United States a cruel place for over 70 years. The Jim Crow Laws caused segregation in the education system, social segregation, and limited job opportunities for African Americans.
In the early twentieth century, the United States was undergoing a dramatic social change. Slavery had been abolished decades before, but the southern states were still attempting to restrict social interaction among people of different races. In particular, blacks were subject to special Jim Crow laws which restricted their rights and attempted to keep the race inferior to whites. Even beyond these laws, however, blacks were feeling the pressure of prejudice. In the legal system, blacks were not judged by a group of their peers; rather, they were judged by a group of twelve white men. In serious court cases involving capital offenses, the outcome always proved to be a guilty verdict. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the plot revolves around a Depression-era court case of a black man accused of raping a white woman. The defendant Tom Robinson is presumed guilty because of one thing alone: the color of his skin.
Within today’s world and all the way through history, everyone is either defined as a girl or boy. A simple concept known as a person’s sex or gender. Gender has established roles for each of the different sexes in which people are pushed in a guideline. As society advances there so often comes up with outliers, challengers, or rebels that propose against society’s gender rules. Harper Lee or the author of How to Kill a Mockingbird mentions the topic of gender and how people discriminate on it frequently. Even in times people push their children or even peers to being what they don’t personally feel like they are, as some transgender parents often due. Harper Lee wants to inferences that gender is a defining society rule.
What is the first thing you think of when you think of cruelty? Prejudice, Criticism, Horrible person, Slaves, Abusive Physically and Mentally, how people treat people, Animal Abuse, Child Abuse, Satanic, Mean, Red, Math, Torture, Hurtful, Hateful. These are the answer I got when I ask what people what their opinion was. It seems as though these are all correct, as everything on this list has some sort of cruelty. There is no wrong answer to this question. To Kill a Mockingbird is an eccentric book that takes place in the 1930’s explaining how the blacks are treated against the whites. In basis a form of cruelty
The part of the book that involves the most American history is the court case where Tom Robinson is found guilty just because he is black. There have been many similar cases to the Tom Robinson trial during this time in history. Most black men would have a very slim chance of being found innocent just because of their race, and the white majority. Another good example of American history in To Kill a Mockingbird, is the way the churches were run. The white people would go to their church every Sunday and worship much like the people do today.
Think back to a time when you have felt utterly powerless. That was the same feeling that many African Americans felt in the first half of the twentieth century. The time period was filled with hate and ignorance towards minorities, especially in the American South. This is the setting of Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Characters like Tom Robinson are subjected to the community’s hate and arrogance and end up in situations with little or no control of their fate. The central theme, racism, in To Kill a Mockingbird shows that African Americans were not accepted as equals in Maycomb County, the geographical location the story occurs, children like Jem and Scout Finch who were left perplexed by inequality and prejudice, and the citizens of the county who accepted racism and did nothing to better the situation for African Americans.
Jim Crow laws are laws which were meant to segregate whites from blacks and to prohibit blacks from obtaining the same social status as whites. Jim Crow laws were in effect for nearly a century, from around 1875 to approximately 1964. These laws were primarily used in South but were also loosely used in the North. These laws came from the post war South where racial stresses were still high. With the passing of these laws came violence and aggression for those, for and against these laws. The South was hard to change, as is the world.
“I’m tired of you [people] pushing [us] around.” Rosa Parks said this because of Jim Crow Laws in the 1960’s. What were the Jim Crow laws? The Jim Crow laws were the South’s way of avoiding blacks’ rights. Some specific ways included were by; segregation, poll taxes, literacy tests, by busses and transportation.
Nearly 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, African Americans in southern states lived and unequal world by taking the right from them, segregation and other types of abuse. Thanks to Jim Crow laws blacks were not allowed to go to classrooms, bathrooms, theaters, train cars, juries, legislatures and much more. In 1954, the U.S Supreme Court struck down the “separate but equal” by drawing signs that said “colored” and “white”. Then in the destructive decade and a half, civil rights activists used nonviolent protest and civil riot for change. So therefore, the civil rights movement was the catalyst for definite change for minorities and the poor.