1. Understanding the Historical Context of the Novel
To Kill a Mockingbird
Understanding the Historical Context of the Novel

2. The Great Depression

3. The Roaring 20’s The new concept of “credit” People were buying:
Automobiles
Appliances
Clothes
Fun times reigned
Dancing
Flappers
Drinking

4. Why was this bad? Credit system WWI
People didn’t really have the money they were spending
WWI
The U.S. was a major credit loaner to other nations in need
Many of these nations could not pay us back

5. Many found being broke humiliating.
Stock market crash
Didn’t realize the effect it would have
No money to replenish what was borrowed
Many found being broke humiliating.

6. President Hoover Herbert Hoover was president at the start
Philosophy: We’ll make it!
What He Did: Nothing
The poor were looking for help and no ideas on how to correct or help were coming

7. What about the people? Farmers were already feeling the effects
Prices of crops went down
Many farms foreclosed
People could not afford luxuries
Factories shut down
Businesses went out
Banks could not pay out money
People could not pay their taxes
Schools shut down due to lack of funds
Many families became homeless and had to live in shanties

9. Many waited in unemployment lines hoping for a job.

10. People in cities would wait in line for bread to bring to their family.

11. Some families were forced to relocate because they had no money.

12. A drought in the South lead to dust storms that destroyed crops.
“The Dust Bowl”

13. The South Was Buried Crops turned to dust=No food to be sent out
Homes buried
Fields blown away
South in state of emergency
Dust Bowl the #1 weather crisis of the 20th century

15. Two Families During the Depression

16. A Farm Foreclosure

17. Some families tried to make money by selling useful crafts like baskets.

18. *FDR* When he was inaugurated unemployment had increased by 7 million
Poor sections (like Harlem) had 50% of the population unemployed
Instated the “New Deal”-began to bring the economy back

19. To Kill a
Mockingbird

20. Major Historical Happenings...
Jim Crow Laws
Scottsboro Trials
Recovering from the Great Depression
Racial Injustice
Poor South

21. Jim Crow Laws
After the American Civil War most states in the South passed anti-African American legislation. These became known as Jim Crow laws.
These laws included segregation in…
Schools -- Hospitals
Theaters -- Water fountains
Restaurants
Hotels
Public transportation
Some states forbid inter-racial marriages

22. These laws were instituted in 1896 and were not abolished until the late 1950’s (even then still not completely).

23. Scottsboro Boys Trial
9 young African-American men (13-20) accused of raping 2 white girls in 1931
Immediately sentenced to death
Trials went on for nearly 15 years before all the men were dismissed

24. Started on a train bound for Memphis
Several white men boarded and picked a fight with the black men
Whites were forced off train by the 12 black men. The white men reported the the black men had raped two white girls on the train to authorities
They were immediately arrested and tried in front of an all-white jury.

25. The trials caused a huge uproar amongst the black community.

26. Harper Lee

27. Wrote To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960
Based the story on her life growing up in Monroeville, Alabama—the events of the 50s had a major impact on Lee’s life and was the influence for the novel
TKAM was the only novel she ever wrote

28. The character of “Dill,” Scout and Jem’s playmate in the novel was based upon Lee’s actual neighbor, Truman Capote
Capote is famous for amongst other things, In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

29. In 1962 the novel was turned into a film starring Gregory Peck.
It received a humanitarian award and several Academy Award nominations

30. The End