The case of Lizzie Borden is still one of the most talked about mysteries ever. The crime happened during the 1800s and to this day no one has ever been convicted for the murders of Lizzie’s father and stepmother. There have been many theories to what happened on that day. Lizzie Borden was the obvious suspect, but was never charged with murder. The Lizzie Borden case may remain a mystery forever.
Lizzie Andrew Borden was born on July 19, 1860 in Fall River, Massachusetts (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Lizzie had an older sister named Alice that died. Lizzie also had an older sister named Emma (Carlisle). Andrew Borden, Lizzie’s father, was a bank president and real estate mogul (Brothers). Andrew was supposedly stubborn and mean (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Sarah Borden, Andrew Borden’s first wife, suffered from uterine congestion (Carlisle). Tragically, Mrs. Borden passed away from the uterine congestion (Brothers). She passed away in 1862 when Lizzie was just two years old. Andrew remarried in 1865 (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Abby Borden was the name of Andrew’s second wife (Carlisle). Lizzie was popular growing up and was involved in charity work. Lizzie and Emma often fought with their parents, usually over financial matters (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Lizzie even refused to call Abby Borden mother (Aiuto).
Abby and Andrew Borden were killed on August 4, 1892 (Filetti). Lizzie found the bodies not long after 11:00 A.M. (Carlisle). Abby Borden had taken 18 blows. Andrew Borden had taken 11 blows. Lizzie was 32 at the time of her parents’ death (Brothers). Lizzie had visited with a friend Alice Russell who said Lizzie was worried over someone threatening to her father
(Aiuto). The Borden sisters offered a 5,000 dollar reward...
... middle of paper ...
...2014. .
“Borden, Lizzie.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 2013. Web. 28 Jan. 2013. .
Brothers, Brown. ”The Murder of Lizzie Borden’s Parents.” n. d. n. page. Print.
Carlisle, Marcia R., and Lee Savage. “What Made Lizzie Borden Kill?.” American Heritage 43.4(1992):66. History Reference Center. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. .
Filetti, Jean S.”From lizzie borden to lorena bobbitt: violent women and gendered justice.” Journal of American Studies 35.3(2001):471-484. .
Katrandjian, O..N.p.. Web. 12 Mar. 2014 .
The first reason that Lizzie Borden is guilty is that Lizzie Borden switched up her story many times. In the inquest testimony Lizzie says “I was in the kitchen” (3). She was asked if she was sure about that and then she changed her story. She said she couldn’t remember if she was in there or in the dining room (3). Lizzie then changes her answer again
Imagine being wrongfully trialled for the murders of your father and stepmother. Well, this was Lizzie Borden’s reality in the notorious 19th century case. In August, 1892, the gruesome murders of Andrew and Abby Borden took place in a small town named Fall River. Because Lizzie Borden was believed to have a lot to gain with the murders of her parents, she was the only one accused of being the murder. With this case, I believe the council was right for pleading Lizzie as innocent. The public and police tried to use theories against her in court to prove she was guilty. With the whole public against her, Lizzie still stood strong and was proven innocent for the murders.
... 5, 1893 15 days later the jury returns a verdict of “Not Guilty” (“Lizzie Borden”).
	In history Rebecca Nurse was hanged on July 19, John Proctor on August 19, and Martha Corey on September 22.
The evidence between witnesses seeing Lizzie buy poison, washing a brown stained dress, her inconsistencies in the alibis, and her lacking of emotion all pointed to Lizzie Borden’s guilt. Jacob applied society’s outlook on an 1800’s American women as frail, feeble-minded, morally driven individuals who are incapable of a planned murder, to support her argument that Lizzie, no matter how guilty she may have been, would not be convicted of murder. Convicting Lizzie of murder meant opposing the established woman stereotypes which endangered the cohesive mindset of
Charles Manson and the Manson family committed gruesome crimes that shocked Los Angeles in 1969. The actress Sharon Tate and four others were ritualistically slaughtered in her Hollywoods Hills home. The murderers had left cryptic messages on the walls in the victims blood, and law enforcement were stumped by the multiple stab wounds found on the victims. The next day a married couple, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, who were successful shop owners, were found in their Las Feliz home murdered in the same way as Sharon Tate and her friends.
Savagery versus civility, gender roles, and revenge are all timeless themes that are still applicable to today’s society and students. Savage war and hate crimes are both examples of modern day savagery. Gender roles are being bent now more than ever with the transgender and queer movements; revenge will always be about retribution or greed. In Hannah Dustan’s case, particularly in Whittier’s version, she was as brave and strong as any man, protecting herself and avenging the death of her baby.
The notorious witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts occurred from June through September. It is a brief, but turbulent period in history and the causes of the trials have long been a source of discussion among historians. Many try to explain or rationalize the bizarre happenings of the witch hunts and the causes that contributed to them. To understand the trials and how they came to be, we must first examine the ideals and views of the people surrounding the events. Although religious beliefs were the most influential factor, socioeconomic tensions, and ergot poisoning are also strongly supported theories. A combination of motives seems the most rational explanation of the frenzy that followed the illness of the two girls. This paper looks closely at the some of the possible causes of one of the most notable occurrences in history.
One case that dominated the pages of The Revolution, the paper owned by Susan B. Anthony and edited by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Parker Pillsbury, was the sentencing of a young girl to hang for the death of her child. While not a case of abortion, the death was termed an infanticide and drew strong opinions from the public as well as both the editors. The unfortunate Hester Vaughan, an English girl living in Philadelphia, was discovered in a tiny tenement room devoid of furniture February 8, 1868, forty-eight hours after giving birth. Alone during labor, without food or heat, she was found frail and feverish with her baby dead beside her. She was immediately brought to the police and imprisoned, under the assumption that she had killed her child. For thirty dollars, she acquired the services of a lawyer by the name of Goforth and underwent a brief trial. Having never actually confessed to committing the crime, she was nonetheless sentenced to death by County Judge Ludlow, and placed in Moyamensing Prison until her execution.
The crowded courtroom was absolutely silent as the 12 all white and all men took their seats at the jury box. Chief Justice Albert Mason, one of the presiding judges in the murder case, asked Charles I. Richards, the foreman, to rise. Mr. Richards was asked to read the verdict. “Not guilty”, replied the foreman. Even though the circumstantial and physical evidence pointed to Lizzie Borden guilty of killing her step-mother and father, the all-male jury, men of some financial means, could not fathom that a woman who is well bred and a Sunday school teacher could possibly do such a heinous crime (Linder 7).
murdered him. A lynch mob gathered and drug her off and hanged her. Later on
Betty Owens was kidnapped on her way to a school formal, raped repeatedly by four white males, and worse might have happened it it had been for her friends getting help from a young white police officer (Lecture 4/13 ). Officer Joe D. Cooke Jr. was on duty when the friends of Betty Owens came running for his help, and instead of doing what many white policeman before had done, he ran to her aid (McGuire, p. 163). What is amazing about this case is the fact that not only were these men arrested and jailed by a white man but that they were threatened on the seen with being shot for their offenses against miss. Owens (McGuire, p. 163). The fact that the white boys were arrested on the spot and spent the days leading up to their trial in jail was also something that this case had happened that had never occurred prior in Southern states. This all being said Miss. Betty Owens was extremely lucky that officer Cooke was on duty and not the chief of police since it was common knowledge that the only reason why he stayed in power was by igniting race tensions (McGuire, p. 161). In Florida this case was the first of it’s kind in that it was the first all white jury to convict a white man, let alone four, of raping a Black woman, this was yet another important step in the Civil Rights Movement but more importantly a step in the right direction for the feminist movements. Rape of white women had always been such an outrage and meant death for the perpetrator, but with each of these very public cases the outrage against any man who committed violence against women, of any race grew, culminating with the Joan Little case which broke down the last of remnants of the Jim Crow law (Lecture
Reaction Paper 1: Iron Jawed Angels “Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity” (von Garnier, 2004, part 10) and that is exactly what courage was viewed as when the women’s suffrage movement erupted in the mid 1800’s and it was quite the uphill battle from there. Iron Jawed Angels captures the height of the women’s suffrage movement with Alice Paul, a liberal feminist, as the front woman in the battle against Congress. Paul’s determination to pass a constitutional amendment can be seen through her dauntless efforts to go against the societal norms of the time to fight for women’s rights. Through the first wave of the women’s suffrage movement seen in Iron Jawed Angels, the struggles women endured for equality have a lasting impact on American society.
Fawcett, Barbara, Brid Featherstone, Jeff Hearn, and Christine Toft. Violence and Gender Relations Theories and Interntions. London: Sage Publications, 1996. 12-13. Print.
Catherine Mackinnon’s radical feminism theory argues that societally is patriarchally dominated by males (MacKinnon 16). The legal system therefore has an inherent male bias. As seen in Susan Glaspell’s short story, “A Jury of Her Peers,” the male-dominated jury would not have acknowledged the psychological trauma of Mrs. Wright’s situation. The facts of the case would have proven her guilt, but the male-dominated legal system would not have accounted for the experiences of Mrs. Wright. As domestic women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters were able to identity with Mrs. Wright and understand her