Tom Robinson's Trial Research Paper

These girls went on like nothing happens after ruining these boys’ lives like it was nothing. There was tons of these cases and this is just one of the many which were decided biasedly. What happened to these boys was not right, but it is not fair to have someone cause a huge problem with his neighborhood and family, to defend them. It was practically a lost cause. Tom Robinson was so confident in him getting proven guilty, (although he knew he was innocent) that he risked his life

Tom Robinson is an innocent man who was accused of rape because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Firstly, Tom is a kind man who has positive intentions. When Tom was accused, he was at the Ewell place chopping a chiffarobe for Mayella Ewell. Mayella called Tom over to help her with her task and he gladly accepted and went inside the fence. Tom continued to help Mayella complete her tasks almost every time he passed by, only when she called him over to help.

Scottsboro argumentative response Ignorance and prejudice seems to plague the Southerners and this idea of ignorance and prejudice is exemplified in this case. In 1931, Haywood Patterson and eight other African American teenagers were falsely charged for rape and all the boys also received the death sentence after accommodating a train with the victims Ruby Bates and Victoria Price. Haywood Patterson is innocent due to three reasons, no evidence of rape from the doctor’s notes, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates were prostitutes, and Ruby Bates claimed that Victoria and her were lying the whole time. Admittedly, Haywood Patterson is guilty.

Before we can explain the trials, we need to understand what racism is. Routledge states, “...people sometimes use prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behavior to boost their own self-esteem.” An example of this at Scottsboro is during the trial, where all the black boys were tried together at the same time. Normally, only one person would

Racism and Segregation in the South During the 1930’s, the Great Depression caused poverty throughout the United States. People all over the country went to extreme measures to earn money and survive. Several people hopped on trains illegally to travel and try to start new lives for themselves. Some women resorted to prostitution around these hobo camps to earn their living. Two such women were Ruby Bates and Victoria Price.

Although it would affect the younger members of the group, their incompetent lawyers were willing for the court to try all of the boys together. The two white women who accused them of rape, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, were questioned quickly before the all-white Alabama Jury

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.”

Looking back on the trial in chapters 17-20, you will notice that out of all the witnesses Tom Robinson was the only one with a different story compared to everyone else. Everyone that was there like Bob and Mayella Ewell has a different story. Mayella Ewell was attracted and harmed, even the sheriff himself saw the bruises on her face and neck, how much could one lie about being beaten? Believe what you want that those injuries were real. The final reason I was to bring to your attention was that Tom Robinson was ruled out as guilty.

"The Scottsboro Boys" By Jessica McBirney explains the prejudge towards African-Americans during the mid 1900's. The author separates her ideas by piecing them in different sections of her writing using headings. However, she mentions the main idea of her informative writing throughout the different paragraphs. The main idea of her short writing was that the Scottsboro Boys' trials showed an enormous degree of racial inequality that existed in the United States' criminal justice system and most of the Southern United States. The Scottsboro Boys' trial sparked African-American protestors and activists to push the government to improve the racial equality in justice systems.

They say everyone has a voice and should be heard but when an innocent African-American male is up against a young American female nobody listens to him anymore. In the novel To Kill A Mocking by Harper Lee, an African-American male is called to court for assaulting a young white woman, Mayella Ewell. Atticus Finch is his lawyer and will need to do what he can for Tom as this case will not settle well with the Town of Maycomb. Mayella Ewell did not grow up rich as she was in a lower class than others. She has 7 siblings and a father who drinks all the time.

In 1931 nine african american from Alabama were accused of the rape of Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. The youngest boy was 12 and the oldest was 17. The boys were apprehended in Paint Rock, Alabama while hoboing on a train shortly after an altercation with a group of white boys traveling from Chattanooga to Memphis, Tennessee. These 9 boys were wrongly convicted of the rape of Victoria Price and Ruby Bates.

In the 1930s, African American men were believed to have strong sexual desires towards white women so extreme that they couldn’t even control themselves, that whenever they saw white women they would rape them right then and there. The Tragedy of the nine Scottsboro Boys was rumored as “Negros are going to beat up the whites”. When the train got to Jackson County on March 25, 1931, dozens of armed white men rounded up with ropes and weapons in order to beat the nine black youths, and during the time of this chaos, two white women raised their voices, claiming that they had been raped by the nine scottsborro boys. At that time in Alabama, whenever black people saw a group of white men, they feared and knew they were in a lot of trouble due to the fact that Alabama was one of the most aggressive and violent states towards African Americans.

Injustice The Scottsboro Case shed light on the racial practices expressed in law that made a great impact on the legal system today. The actual victims of the Case did not receive a fair trial due to the color of their skin. The ones who played the victims planned the crime, and their stories made no sense. But like many of the trials during the time it wasn’t based on the actual evidence that was found,or even the defendants ' stories.

The Tom Robinson trial has many similarities and numerous differences to the Scottsboro trial. In both cases, black men were falsely accused of rape by white people. Also in both trials, there was no physical evidence of rape, the only evidence of rape was the ‘victims’ of the crime. Next, in both trials, the defendants were convicted only because they were black and the jury had racial prejudice against them. Several differences between the two cases were Tom being the only defendant in the Tom Robinson Trial case, meanwhile, there were nine teens in the Scottsboro Trial case.

“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”. In harper lee's novel to kill a mockingbird, The author uses literary elements of external conflict, tone, and setting to show how racism was affecting people with different skin color, these dark days of pre civil rights had innocent people being mistreated and demoralized for no reason due to their appearance For instance, The night before the Tom Robinson's trial, A group of men attempted to kill Tom robinson in the maycomb jail but atticus was protecting his advocate by telling the men to leave and wait for the court in the morning. Tom felt that there was no reason to try to win, Scout then says “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.” Tom Robinson was taken to court in a tragic turn of events in which the african american was accused of rape and battery towards mayella ewell. No matter what truly happened mayella ewell's word is the only thing that mattered