Compare And Contrast Scottsboro Boys And Salem Witch Trials

Everyone wants to believe that they have the power to change the world, but how many of those people are willing enough to change themselves for the betterment of those around them in their communities? Too many times have men and women stood by and watched their neighbors fall to the vicious clutches of leaders with agendas, as much today as in 1692. The Salem Witch Trials can, in many ways, be compared to the Scottsboro Boys’ trials of the early 1930’s in that both scenarios relied on the false accusations and execution of innocents, simply by consequence of immoral and deceitful people.

The Salem Witch trials was a period of hysteria fueled by tensions created by mistrust and resentment between neighbors, as well as recent events such

On March 25, 1931, a group of nine black teenagers, ranging from ages 12 to 20, were on a train from Chattanooga to Memphis.2 At the height of the depression, it was typical for young men to hop aboard local railways, moving from one fruitless job to another. During this particular train ride, one white teen had stepped on one of the black teens, Haywood Patterson’s, hands and began a stone throwing fight, which quickly escalated to one between the nine blacks and a group of young white men.2 The group of nine successfully managed to throw all but one of their attackers from the train before it had reached a life endangering speed, at which point those men had alerted the local station master.2 The station called to have the train stopped and the boys arrived to a lynch mob in the town of Scottsboro, Alabama.2 Local authorities and state police held the crowd back and escorted the boys to the local jailhouse to await questioning and certain imprisonment.2 Also arriving to Scottsboro were two women, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, one of which gave testament to which she claimed the two had been raped by a group of twelve black men with pistols and knives.2 While in the jail, Price identified six of the nine boys as the ones who had attacked her.2 The guard on duty had reportedly replied, “If those six had Miss

The first is a herd complex. Men and women refuse to look at any particular situation for themselves; they will blindly follow community leaders with political agendas with no intention to delve into the information for themselves simply because it is easier than fighting a larger entity than themselves. The second is fear. Human beings radiate fear as if it is one of the base elements in our physical makeup, whether it is to experience said fear, or to motivate it as a whole. Men need something to be afraid of. In both cases, there was never actually anything for these communities to be afraid of at all, and the idea of not knowing is what scared these people the most of all. Thus their leaders, whether intentionally or no, gave a face to the fear, be it black magic or black men. This fear turned to war fuel and publicity for their respective communities, unintentionally, yet generously, donating to their government pocketbooks. In both scenarios, a simple misunderstanding quickly sprouted a diplomatic agenda, and the situation snowballed into a pit far too deep to back out of, for sake of saving