Scottsboro Boys Research Paper

Ian Cabarcas Mrs. Teuscher English 10 October 19 2014 Mississippi Trial: 1955 The author, Chris Crowe, wrote a historical fiction novel titled, Mississippi Trial 1955, which took place in Greenwood, MISS. In the story, Hiram Hilburn goes to spend summer vacation with his Grandfather in Greenwood, Mississippi. The main story of the book is the murder of Emmett Till, and the trial that occurs after. Father and son relationships are a huge theme in this book.

Scottsboro Trial Two young women is all it takes to create one of the most tragic epoch's of African-American history after the abolishment of slavery. When Victoria Price, and Ruby Bates decide to ride the rails to look for some incentive in their lives, they witness an opportunity to ruin nine young black boy's life. A fight broke out after a gang of white boys agitated, and tried to force a gang of black boys to jump off a train.

The Scottsboro trials was heard of everywhere. Everyone knew about it, so the people of the south couldn't do their version of justice without everyone everywhere getting extremely upset. If it had been up to just the south the nine boys would have been found guilty in the first trial and sentenced to death, but because it was so public they couldn't just sentence them to death. For example one of the trials had to be re done because the nine boys didn't have proper defense. So they brought in a guy from the north named Samuel Leibowitz.

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.

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.

In the early 1930s, a group of African American boys were accused of raping two women aboard a train in southern Alabama being called the “Scottsboro Boys.” The boys were not given a fair trial because of the racial injustice in the south during this time. The trial was even brought to the supreme court which would help overturn the verdicts in favor of the boys. This trial was extremely significant because it really brought to light the racial injustice and inequality present during this time, especially in the legal system, as well as being a kind of spark for the civil rights movement in America.

The Scottsboro Trials and To Kill a Mockingbird In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the famous father named Atticus says “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it (Judith 2).  This quote is said during a time of intense racism. “Not long after Obama took office, the National Urban League released its 2009 State of Black America report. The findings showed that racial inequities continued in employment, housing, health care, education, criminal justice, and other areas” (Buckley 1).  This essay will primarily focus on the criminal justice area of this when discussing the Scottsboro trials and comparing the trials to the famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird.

The forefathers of the United States built this country on the ideals of freedom and equality for all people. Unfortunately, the fight for equality and freedom did not end with the revolutionary war. The fight has continued throughout the decades. Many of these issues were fought in the courtroom. Auburn University created an online Alabama Encyclopedia, there, the following quote stated, “Scottsboro became an international cause celebre that dramatically encapsulated the American south troubled post reconstruction history of legal and extralegal racial violence, the social and political upheaval of the great depression, and the lingering cultural divide between the north and south.”

The Scottsboro trial and the Tom Robinson trials are so complicated because of all the false evidence and lying involved. Harper Lee made the book To Kill a Mockingbird from the real world events like Scottsboro trial with the Tom Robinson trial. Two girls that were ¨raped¨ falsely accused nine black men, Ruby Bates and Victoria Price said they were raped when they were prostitutes, they were illegally going across the state to get money, knowing that prostitution that was illegal in Alabama. The Tom Robinson Trial only had Mayella Ewell that accused Tom falsely, Mayella stating ¨she was on the porch when Tom Robinson came by, she asked him to chop up an old piece of furniture for kindling, and when she went inside to get a nickel to pay him he attacked her from behind.¨(Lee, chapter 18)

The novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, as well as empirical research, prove that the Scottsboro Trials positively impacted the Civil Rights movement. According to an article titled, “Scottsboro Trials”, the Scottsboro Trials of the 1930s left a lasting impact on Civil Rights in America. In April of 1935, the United States Supreme Court declared that the

Johnson County, nestled between the Arkansas River and the foothills of the Ozark Mountains in Northwest Arkansas, is a quiet and sparsely populated region known largely for its scenic vistas and peaches. However, the county has a history of violence and hardship. Clarksville, the county seat of Johnson County, is a sleepy and peaceful city, best known for the annual Peach Festival. But, in the 1870s the city was known nationally as “Bloody Clarksville” because of the numerous outlaws, gunfights, and hangings.

On March 25, Alabama police arrested nine black men who were charged with raping two white women. Their names were Olen Montgomery, Clarence Norris, Haywood Patterson, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Charlie Weems, Eugene Williams, and Andrew Wright. All nine of these men are said to have raped two women on a train going through Jackson County in northeastern Alabama. During their trial, they got the name the, “Scottsboro boys”. The men all denied ever seeing the two women on the train, but an all-white jury found them guilty and eight of the nine boys were sentenced to death.

Therefore, if one was colored the trial wouldn’t be in their favor. The trials either would end in the conviction of death or the least likely, time in prison. In the Scottsboro Case and the book To Kill a Mockingbird the victims lived hard lives and were influenced by others. Aside from that the physical evidence was weak as well as the testimonies. The Scottsboro Case was the only crime in American History to produce many trials, convictions, and retrials as the alleged rape of two white girls by nine black teenagers on March 25, 1931 (Linder).

Black people were treated as less than because of their race and often had low paying jobs working for white people. Racism was especially bad in the south in states like Mississippi, where The Help takes place. The Civil Rights movement also started during this time so racial tensions were even higher during this

This was a huge deal and everyone was going to watch it. The trial was such a massive deal because it was extremely rare to see a white man defending an African American man in court. Also, the fact that the case was local made it even bigger because it affected many people in Maycomb. Scout shows the importance of the verdict when she says, "Guilty... guilty... guilty... guilty... I peeked at Jem: his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each guilty was a separate stab between them."