To Kill A Mockingbird

1. To Kill A Mockingbird Background PowerPoint and Notes

2. The Great Depression Overspending in the 1920�s Stock Market crash of 1929 President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal World War II

3. 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

4. Plessy vs. Ferguson Strengthened the already popular Jim Crow Laws In 1892, 30-year-old Homer Plessy was 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.�

5. 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.�

7. 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.

9. 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

11. 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.

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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.

15. 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.