Similarities Between Scottsboro Trial And To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird was a book written in 1960 by Harper Lee, the novel commented on and exhibited the social injustices of the early 20th century. More specifically speaking, the horrid displays of prejudice and racism in the Scottsboro Trials of 1931. The Scottsboro Case involved two white women accusing nine African-American teenagers of raping them in the back of a dark train car. The trial occurred in southern Alabama and held an all-white jury. Although the boys were very clearly innocent they were still convicted and given the death sentence. However, the boys’ supporters from the north continuously appealed the verdict and after their fourth appearance in court, the boys were released on parole. These boys were discriminated against

In Tom Robinson’s story, a mob of angry white men tries to break into the jailhouse where he is being held and kill him. Tom is fortunate that his lawyer Atticus Finch was there to stop these men from entering and completing their mission. The novel says “You know what we want,” another man said, “Get aside from the door Mr. Finch (Lee 153).”This is similar to what happens to the Scottsboro Boys. Once news of what these boys supposedly did spread around, people became enraged. The jailhouse where the boys were being held came under siege by a mob armed with knives, guns, and nooses. Police officers had to stand guard at the door and stifle the mob's requests to kill the boys. In both of these stories the defendants are met at their jail cells with threats of violence and terror for a crime they did not commit (Scottsboro American Tragedy). This leads people to question, what would drive a mob of people with no relation to this crime, who have no evidence that the crime occurred, to try and kill these men? This is why Lee includes the mob of angry men. She includes it to show that even if those boys were to be freed, they would not have actually been

In Lee’s book, it is shown through the innocence of a child that Tom Robinson is not guilty, and that the jury convicted him for no reason other than their own prejudiced values and pressure from other prejudiced townspeople. After the outcome of the trial a young boy named Jem questions “How could they, how could they do it?” and his father answers. “I don't know but they did, they’ve done it before tonight, and they will probably do it again.”(Lee 215). In the Scottsboro trials after the first retrial, the case was appealed because the jury violated the 6th amendment and the court did not allow due process. The jury book for the town of Scottsboro did not even have the name of an african-american male on it so the jury was very clearly biased before it was even picked (Scottsboro American Tragedy). In both trials, the defendants were set up for conviction by a jury that put aside the evidence and convicted them because of the color of their