To Kill a Mockingbird

1. To Kill a Mockingbird By: Harper Lee

2. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

3. Events in History at the Time the Novel Takes Place • The Great Depression • Overfarming of cotton had exhausted the soil • Southerners were reluctant to experiment with new techniques on crops such as rice or sugar cane • Cotton prices fell in 1930 and stayed low for several years; Southern economy worsened

4. Mob Violence • Hatred from mobs showed through the vicious punishment they exacted • Suspicion of rape gave the mob license to be exceptionally cruel • Economic hardships seem to cause more violence; the number of lynchings rose in direct relation to decrease in price of cotton

5. The Scottsboro Trials • There are many parallels between the trial of Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird and one of the most notorious series of trials in the nation's history ‚ the Scottsboro Trials.

6. On March 25, 1931, a freight train was stopped in Paint Rock, a tiny community in Northern Alabama, and nine young African American men who had been riding the rails were arrested. • As two white women - one underage - descended from the freight cars, they accused the men of raping them on the train.

7. A Woman’s Role • Southern society called for these “ladies” to be idle, well-mannered and skilled in the ways of hospitality • Raising of children was left to hard-working black “mammies” • Were not encouraged to exercise their right to vote

8. Small Town Life • Class structure was tied to income and achievements • The ability to read and write, the record of having voted in a number of elections, or a family heritage that included one-time ownership of a plantation were attributes that elevated one’s position in society.