This essay will be about two injustices the Scottsboro trial and Tom Robinson’s trial. A few similarities are that they were treated unfairly and they were all accused of a repulsive crime, raping a white woman. In the Scottsboro trial though, two women were supposedly raped. Both trials happened in the same time period, while also noting that the women in both trials came from poor backgrounds. Atticus gave his all to his case while the nine young men’s lawyer also tried his best. Overall these innocent men deserved more than what they recieved, an unfair treatment in and out of the courtroom. Both cases had African American men that were judged by a jury of all white people and because they raped a woman. If they lost this case it meant they would receive the death penalty. This was always going to be an unfair trial. In To kill a Mockingbird it is said that “A jury never looks at a defendant it has convicted, …show more content…
In to kill a mockingbird the Maycomb trial was practically a “gala occasion” (pg 173) The scottsboro trial got international recognition. Tom Robinson’s case was only known to his small town. Harper Lee definitely uses facts about the trial when she says that when they announced the verdicts of the guilty, people ran out. Another instance is when she used the example of a group of people trying to get to the boys so that they could harm them. They had the sheriff protecting them. Another piece of evidence is when Harper Lee writes that Mayella did not want to cooperate even though she eventually has to answer Atticus’s question. (pg 205) Victoria from the Scottsboro trial also didn’t want to answer some questions and she was kind of shady like Mayella was. Another strong piece of evidence is that they are both accused of rape in both instances; the difference is that in To Kill a Mockingbird there is only one accused man. Clearly she used this case as the foundation for Tom’s case in her
THE INTRODUCTION Good morning, my name is Braden Hoheisel, and it is my pleasure to represent the State of Maycomb and to serve as prosecutor in this life-changing case. On August 26, 1936 Mr. Gilmer harassed and disrespected Tom Robison in his court trial. He made false statements about stuff not related to the case and called Tom names. At the conclusion of this case, we hope that after you have heard all the evidence that you will choose the verdict of guilty on this case and the charges of harassment and lying.
Throughout history, there have been many “witch hunts” that have created mass hysteria. Two of which were called the Salem Witch Trials and the Scottsboro Case. The two trials have many similarities to each other and so have many other trials. The Scottsboro Trials, in summary, was about nine young black men being accused of raping two young white women.
Annotated Bibliography Altman, Susan. “Scottsboro Trial.” Encyclopedia of African-American Heritage, Second Edition, Facts On File, 2000. African-American History.
Ladies and gentelmen, the State will review the evidence against Sherrif Heck Tate who let his ignorance influence his decision to conduct a poor investigation of a crime scene. The defendant was called out to the Ewell’s home, and he was supposed to seek medical attention for the victim, and investigate the crime scene. Instead all he did was listen to Mr. Ewell, the father of the victim, and Mayella Ewell, the victims, accounts of the event, where they accused Tom Robinson of assulting and raping Mayella. Tom
“‘ I have nothing, but pity in my heart for the chief witness for the state, but my pity does not extend so far so to her putting a man’s life at stake , which she has done in an effort to get rid of her own guilt… I say ladies and gentlemen that it was guilt that motivated her’” p271. In this quote, Atticus reveals that the evidence presented suggest that it is Mayella who is at fault rather than Tom. Tom was a compassionate man who felt pity for her, and her selfish natures had causes her to rape him. Additionally, he proves that Mayella-in an attempt to hide her interactions with Tom from the public-has put his life in danger. One could argue that Mayella had done these actions in an effort to protect herself from going to jail.
The Scottsboro tragedy showed the world and the North of the U.S how bad the racism problem was in the South. That was all these trials were based on. Alabama wanted to kill these men just because of the color of their skin, no real evidence. These trials revealed that injustice and caused the civil rights movement to become more supported. Although this incident was a sad time for the U.S, it helped uncover a lot of problems in the South and helped our judicial system change to be more
During the second trial of Haywood Patterson in March 1933, Victoria Price was again questioned as a witness, but her testimony was slightly different than in the original trial; she reacted to the questioning and accusations against her with “angry defiance” (1). Price’s testimony was further weakened after Ruby Bates testified. She denied that any of the Scottsboro boys had attacked or raped them at all, explaining that Price told her to make up a story to avoid charges being put against them (7). However, her testimony was not considered by the jury, and Patterson was sentenced to death, like in the original trial. In June 1933, a few months after Patterson’s second trial, Judge James Horton ordered a new trial for the case.
There have been many rivalries over the years between Blacks and Whites. With white people acting as if they were superior to black people simply because of their skin color, and with white people treating black people as animals rather than human. They could have just used the zombie drug, it worked just fine. Humans in general have a tendency to segregate themselves from each other, whether it be skin color, the type of music they like to listen to, intelligence, or anything else, there is no excusable reason to force people to segregate. The Scottsboro trials challenged every known thought of black men and boys back in that time, and the impact it left was legendary.
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the story is set in the 1900’s, Maycomb, Alabama. During this time there was racism in the south and segregation which separated the whites and blacks from everything. There was also the Great Depression, the whole country was poor and people living in the country had to trade and do other jobs for people to either pay them off or to buy something from them. The trial in this book is about Mayella and Bob Ewell, two white people, claiming and arguing that Tom Robinson, a black person, raped Mayella Ewell. This trial is really important because at that time in the south, white people took advantage of black people and their kindness and thought they would take that or shut up just because they were black.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell claimed she was raped after requesting Tom Robinson's help. Her dad ran in after the alleged rape; they told the sheriff, and Tom Robinson was put in jail. In the Scottsboro trials and in To Kill A Mocking, the African American men were taken from jail to
Rabina Mainali Sign 111 Dr. Dulan 3 November, 2015 Witnesses of the Scottsboro trials The Scottsboro trials came about during the year 1931 when Great Depression had hit the South hard. In search of work several individuals boarded a freight train from Chattanooga to Memphis, Tennessee not knowing their future ahead wasn’t so bright. While in the train a white man stepped on a black man’s hand, later identified as belonging to Haywood Patterson. A fight between the white youths and Patterson’s
Tom Robinson was a kind and compassionate being. The only thing Tom was guilty of was that he “felt right sorry for [Mayella]” (264). Atticus stated, in the courtroom, that Mr. Robinson’s “case should have never come to trial” (271). Even all the evidence clearly shows that Tom Robinson is innocent, for example, Mayella Ewell was beaten on the right side of her face. Therefore, Mayella was “beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left hand” (272).
The Scottsboro Boys Case and To Kill a Mockingbird were cases of the injustice of black men. Harper Lee was trying to point out that a person 's skin color or race does not justify the actions they done, that anyone who practices prejudice is foolish. That prejudice is an actual reality that a person experiences first hand and hurts others in the process. Like Harper Lee with her father being a lawyer she must’ve experienced it first hand. These stories teach us that you shouldn’t judge a person by their race.
As can be seen, Lee’s usage of Tom Robinson’s trial and the racial discrimination and prejudice seen throughout it helps reinforce the theme of social injustice throughout To Kill A Mockingbird. Another encounter that the
Even though Scout displayed innocence but still was excluded from games with Dill and Jem because of her gender, Harper Lee did not intend for her to be perceived as a Mockingbird. On the contrary, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are portrayed as mockingbirds, birds recognized for their innocence but also targeted. Body Paragraph #1 Topic Sentence #1: Tom Robinson, a black man convicted of rape, was an example of à Mockingbird because he was targeted even though he was innocent. Integrated Evidence #1: After the town of Maycomb found out about the tragic killing of Tom Robinson, “[Mr. Underwood] likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children”(Lee 323) in an editorial. Analysis 1: Tom Robinson was wrongfully accused of raping Mayella Ewell.