Understanding historical events related to To Kill a Mockingbird U.S.A. Timeline Understanding historical events related to To Kill a Mockingbird

1850s 1852 – Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe is published. Focused national attention on the cruelties of slavery. 1857 – Supreme Court ruled on the Dred Scott case. African-Americans could not be citizens of the U.S.A. 1859 – The last slave ship arrives in Mobile Bay, Alabama

1860s Abraham Lincoln elected President. Civil War 1860-1865 1863 The Emancipation Proclamation – frees slaves in all areas of the U.S.A. 1865 – 13th Amendment – Outlaws slavery 1866 – Ku Klux Klan is founded in Memphis 1867 – Reconstruction begins 1868 – 14th Amendment ratified – Grants citizenship to any person born or naturalized into the U.S.A.

1870s 1870 – 15th Amendment – Guaranteed black male Americans the right to vote. 1877 – End of Reconstruction – Federal troops withdraw from the South and end federal efforts to protect the civil rights of African- Americans

1880s 1881 – Public transportation is segregated in the South. 1882 – Lynching begins. 460 Black Americans are lynched in the 1880s.

1890s Literacy tests and understanding tests keep black Americans from voting in the South. Lynching continues – 1111 black Americans are lynched in the 1890s. 1896 – Plessy vs Ferguson – “Separate but Equal” facilities are legal, known as Jim Crow Laws.

1900 - 1910 1901 - Booker T. Washington dines with President Roosevelt at the White House causing white Americans to become furious over this casual act. 1909 NAACP is formed. 627 black Americans lynched 1900-1910

1910 - 1919 1913 – Federal segregation begins in work places, rest rooms, and lunch rooms. 1914-1918 – World War I 467 black Americans lynched from 1910 -1919

1920s 19th Amendment gives women the right to vote. First radio broadcast. Anti-Lynching bill fails in the U.S. Senate – Lynching continues. 3,436 black Americans are lynched between 1882-1950. Harlem Renaissance begins – creativity in black writers, poets, and artists.

1920s Continued 1929 – Herbert Hoover becomes President. October 29th Black Tuesday – Stock Market crash. Hoovervilles and Hoboes become common in the U.S.A.

1930s 3.2 million Americans are out of work. 1931- Scottsboro Trial begins. Nine black teenagers charged with rape of two white girls despite lack of evidence. 1932 – F.D.R. – Franklin Delano Roosevelt becomes President pledging a New Deal for America.

1930s Cont. 1932 - 1933– Worst years of the Great Depression. Over 10,000 banks fail. 1934 – Dust Bowl hurts American farmers. 1935 – FDR creates jobs through programs like the WPA

Prices in the 1930s Milk 41 cents and Bread 7 cents. Gas 10 cents and a car $550. House $5,759 Average Salary $1,368 Unemployment 25 percent

Harper Lee’s Life Grew up in the 1930s in a small southern Alabama town. Father (Amasa) an attorney and Alabama legislator Playmates – older brother and neighbor Truman Capote Passionate reader Scottsboro trials covered by local news when Lee was 6 years old.