To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill A Mockingbird Background PowerPoint and Notes

The Great Depression • Overspending in the 1920’s • Stock Market crash of 1929 • President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal • World War II Just like Of Mice and Men and the situation presented in Cinderella Man, people in Alabama suffered because of America’s economy.

Racial Segregation • January 1, 1863: Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared freedom for all slaves. • Intended to weaken the South’s power during the U.S. Civil War • Although slaves were “free,” black people were affected by state laws that prevented equality • These laws were known as the Jim Crow Laws

Plessy vs. Ferguson • Strengthened the already popular Jim Crow Laws • In 1892, 30-year-old Homer Plessywas jailed for sitting in a “white” section of a railroad car • Plessy was 1/8th black, but under Louisiana law, he was considered “colored” and was supposed to ride in the “colored car.” • Plessy argued that his arrest was a violation of the Constitution • Ferguson, the judge, found Plessy GUILTY of refusing the leave the “white car.”

Plessy vs. Ferguson • After an appeal, the case went to the Supreme Court, which upheld the decision and perpetuated the concept of “separate but equal.” • This enabled schools, courthouses, libraries, hotels, theaters, restaurants, public transportation, etc., to segregate “coloreds” from “whites.”

Jim Crow Laws • The term Jim Crow comes from the minstrel show song “Jump Jim Crow” written in 1828 and performed by Thomas Dartmouth “Daddy” Rice, a white English migrant to the U.S. and the first popularizer of blackface performance. • A caricature of a shabbily dressed rural black named “Jim Crow” became a standard character in minstrel shows.

Jim Crow Lyrics Come, listen, all you girls and boys, I'm just from Tuckahoe; I'm going to sing aWheel about, and turn about, and do just so;Every time I wheel about, I jump Jim Crow. little song, My name's Jim Crow. I went down to the river, I didn't mean to stay, But there I saw so many girls, I couldn't get away. I'm roaring on the fiddle, and down in old Virginia, They say I play the scientific, like master Paganini, I cut so many monkey shines, I dance the galoppade; And when I'm done, I rest my head, on shovel, hoe or spade. I met Miss Dub one day, I give her such a buss [kiss]; And then she turn and slap my face, and make a mighty fuss. The other girls they begin to fight, I told them wait a bit; I'd have them all, just one by one, as I thought fit. I whip the lion of the west, I eat the alligator; I put more water in my mouth, then boil ten loads of potatoes. The way they bake the hoe cake, Virginia never tire; They put the dough upon the foot, and stick them in the fire. Jim Crow Song

Jim Crow Laws • With a partner, look over the Jim Crow Laws and put three of them into your own words. • Share them with the class (in your own words). • Answer numbers 8 through 10 on your worksheet.

etiquette • Blacks were expected to refer to whites with titles of superiority like BOSS, SIR, CAPTIAN, MISS, or MRS. • Whites referred to blacks using derogatory terms like BOY, LADY, GIRL and the N word. • Blacks were expected to lets whites walk of the sidewalk and signs reading things like “Negroes and Dogs Not Allowed” were common

Harper Lee • Born Nelle Harper Lee, April 28, 1926 • Grew up during the Great Depression • Grew up in Monroeville, Alabama, in the heart of the South, where racial tension was high • Dad was a lawyer • Mother’s maiden name was Finch

The Scottsboro Trials • In 1931, a fight between white and black teen boys occurred on a train between Tennessee and Alabama. • Two girls on a train, one well-known prostitute and one minor, were accused of violating the Mann Act (crossing state lines for prostitution). • They immediately accused all nine black men of rape.

The Scottsboro Trials • Eight of the nine boys were sentenced to death despite the fact that they were not even all in the same rail car. • Appeals continued for years and only two were acquitted.

To Kill A Mockingbird