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Historical Context for Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird

Historical Context for Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. The Great Depression. 1929-1939. Stock market crash Didn’t realize the effect it would have No money to replenish what was borrowed. Many found being broke humiliating. The Roaring 20 s. The new concept of “credit”

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Historical Context for Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird

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  1. Historical Context for Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird

  2. The Great Depression

  3. 1929-1939 • Stock market crash • Didn’t realize the effect it would have • No money to replenish what was borrowed Many found being broke humiliating.

  4. The Roaring 20s • The new concept of “credit” • People were buying: • Automobiles • Appliances • Clothes • Fun times reigned • Dancing • Flappers • Drinking

  5. Why was this bad? • Credit system • People didn’t really have the money they were spending • WWI • The U.S. was a major credit loaner to other nations in need • Many of these nations could not pay us back

  6. The Stock Market • People bought stocks on margins • If a stock is $100 you can pay $10 now and the rest later when the stock rose • Stocks fall • Now the person has less than $100 and no money to pay back

  7. And then…. • With people panicking about their money investors tried to sell their stocks • This leads to a huge decline in stocks • Stocks were worthless now • People who bought on “margins” now could not pay • Investors were average people that were now broke

  8. President Hoover • Herbert Hoover was president at the start • Philosophy: We’ll make it! • What He Did: Nothing • The poor were looking for help and no ideas on how to correct or help were coming

  9. What about the people? • Farmers were already feeling the effects • Prices of crops went down • Many farms foreclosed • People could not afford luxuries • Factories shut down • Businesses went out • Banks could not pay out money • People could not pay their taxes • Schools shut down due to lack of funds • Many families became homeless and had to live in shanties

  10. Many waited in unemployment lines hoping for a job.

  11. People in cities would wait in line for bread to bring to their family.

  12. Some families were forced to relocate because they had no money.

  13. “Hooverville” • Some families were forced to live in shanty towns • A grouping of shacks and tents in vacant lots • They were referred to as “Hooverville” because of President Hoover’s lack of help during the depression.

  14. Hooverville

  15. Out of the Dust: The South and the Dust Bowl

  16. A drought in the South lead to dust storms that destroyed crops. “The Dust Bowl”

  17. The South Was Buried • Crops turned to dust=No food to be sent out • Homes buried • Fields blown away • South in state of emergency • Dust Bowl the #1 weather crisis of the 20th century

  18. Two Families During the Depression

  19. A Farm Foreclosure

  20. Some families tried to make money by selling useful crafts like baskets.

  21. *FDR* • When he was inaugurated unemployment had increased by 7 million. • Poor sections (like Harlem) had 50% of the pop. unemployed • Instated the “New Deal” • Yea! Frankie!

  22. People everywhere were effected by the depression • It wasn’t till President Roosevelt took over and tried to put the economy back together that people even saw a glimmer of hope

  23. To Kill a Mockingbird

  24. Major Historical Happenings... • Jim Crow Laws • Scottsboro Trials • Recovering from the Great Depression • Racial Injustice • Poor South

  25. Jim Crow Laws • After the American Civil War most states in the South passed anti-African American legislation. These became known as Jim Crow laws. • These laws included segregation in… • Schools -- Hospitals • Theaters -- Water fountains • Restaurants • Hotels • Public transportation • Some states forbid inter-racial marriages

  26. These laws were instituted in 1896 and were not abolished till the late 1950s (even then still not completely).

  27. Scottsboro Boys Trial • 9 young African-American men (ages 13-20) accused of raping 2 white girls in 1931 • Immediately sentenced to death • Trials went on for nearly 15 years before all the men were dismissed

  28. Started on a train bound for Memphis • Several white men boarded and picked a fight with the black men • Whites were forced off train by the 12 black men. The white men reported the the black men had raped two white girls on the train to authorities • They were immediately arrested and tried in front of an all-white jury.

  29. The trials caused a huge uproar amongst the black community.

  30. Harper Lee

  31. Wrote To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960 • Based the story on her life growing up in Monroeville, Alabama • TKAM was the only novel she ever wrote

  32. The character of “Dill,” Scout and Jem’s playmate in the novel was based upon Lee’s actual neighbor, Truman Capote • Capote is famous for amongst other things, In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. • It has been said that he gave Lee Mockingbird as a gift.

  33. In 1962 the novel was turned into a film starring Gregory Peck. • It received a humanitarian award and several Academy Award nominations

  34. The End

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