To Kill A Mockingbird:
The trial in the book To Kill a Mockingbird is very similar to the historical case of the Scottsboro Boys. Both cases are about the blacks being wrongfully accused of rape. People at this time were very racist. "The thought of all blacks were liars, and all blacks are wrongdoers, was a major part of all of these trails." A white person's word was automatically more credible than that of a black person. This type of thinking played a major role in the outcome of these trials. These two trials are almost identical except for a few differences. Even a few of the characters in the trails are similar, such as Atticus and Judge Horton. Tom Robinson and some of the defendants are also comparable and Mayella is like the women in the historical trial. The author of the story, Harper Lee, was only a child at the time of these trails but it had a great influence on her. "The Scottsboro case left a deep impression on the young Lee, who would use it later as the rough basis for the events in To Kill a Mockingbird."On March 25 1931, nine young black men were on a train from their hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Later that day they were forced off the train by police and accused of raping two young white women, Ruby Bates and Victori
a Price. These young men, ages 13 to 21, became known as the Scottsboro Boys after the Alabama town where they were tried for the first time. The two women were known prostitutes in the area but their stories were believed, instead of those of the black men. The trial took place twelve days later. There was absolutely no proof that these women had been raped, but even the accused men knew that if they were accused by white women and tried by a white jury there was no hope for them. "I was scared before, but it wasn't nothing to how I felt now. I knew if a white woman accused a black man of rape, he was as good as dead." --Clarence Norris (one of the accused men) There was, however, much of evidence supporting the men's innocence. Two of the men were crippled and incapable of the crime they were accused of and medical testimony proved that the women had not been raped. Despite these facts on April 9, 1931 eight of the nine men were sentenced to death by electric chair. Following the verdict, demonstrations took place all around the world and petitions were signed and sent in. The supporters were even joined by one of the alleged victims Ruby Bates, who admitted that she had not been raped. Finally the judge set new trials for all the men for March 1933. The trails lasted for seven years. Five of the men had the charges dropped. The other four were retried and convicted, three were later paroled and the last man escaped. "I am speaking with feeling, and I know it, because I am feeling it. I absolutely have no patience with the mob spirit, and that spirit that would charge the guilt or innocence of any being without knowing of their guilt or innocence." --Judge James Horton addressing court after hearing reports of plans for a lynching. There are many similarities between the
Some common words found in the essay are:
Tom Robinson, Scottsboro Boys, Boys Alabama, Kill Mockingbird, Tom Robinson's, Judge Horton, Harper Lee, Mayella Scottsboro, Ruby Bates, Despite April, kill mockingbird, tom robinson, scottsboro boys, accused raping white, accused rape, accused raping, harper lee, scottsboro trial, white women, ruby bates, judge horton, trial tom robinson, trial scottsboro boys, raping white women, bates victoria price,
Approximate Word count = 1212
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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