To Kill a Mockingbird

Slides
Alyssa Jacobsen
Harper Lee - author of To Kill a
Mockingbird
Nelle Harper Lee, better known by her pen name Harper Lee, was
born on April 28th, 1926 in the town of Monroeville, AL

She died recently on February 19th, 2016, in the same town of

Monroeville, AL

Her parents were Francis Cunningham Finch

And Amasa Coleman Lee

She died in her sleep at the age of 89

Harper Lee
Born a brunet, youngest of four, Nelle had the name of her
grandmother spelled backwards (Ellen)

To Kill a Mockingbird was the only book Lee had ever written,
however, when published Nelle one the Presidential Medal of
Freedom

She is also known for helping her childhood best friend, Truman
Capote, write his novel In Cold Blood

Capote is now the inspiration for Dill in Lees novel

Truman Capote (Right)

Harper Lee
Nelles father, Francis Cunningham Finch, was an American politician
and lawyer

Finchs lawyer knowledge may have influenced some of the political

content Harper uses in her book

Francis is also used as the model for the kind Atticus Finch in her
novel (last names stay the same for both Atticus and Francis)

Left, Atticus

Right, Francis
Harper Lee
To Kill a Mockingbird became one of Harpers best selling books
when it was published in 1960, and was chosen immediately by the
Book of the Month Club

The story hit home with many people of the time who were facing
prejudice and discrimination by showing a black man getting
assisted by Atticus to get a fair trial

This has also been turned into a movie in which Harper Lee came into
filming one day and did a lot of interviews

Lees determination and skill is the reason this book/movie is popular

today
Civil Right Movement: Its Prominence in
Her Storyin the 1930s was very prominent
Segregation

Many court cases were based on if a black man or woman was using a
white persons bathroom or other establishments

A lot of black citizens tried to lie about their ancestors by saying they
were native american instead of african american so they could
have the same rights as white people

If other races used black accommodated establishments, they were

considered black themselves

Many court case verdicts were based on which segregated church or

bathroom they used, and ultimately, their race
Civil Rights Movement
Anyone with black ancestry considered black

Anyone using black schools or churches considered black even if did

not appear black

Not just black people, hispanic, Chinese, and Japanese were

discriminated against and ridiculed against

Several young black children charged for the rape of two white
women

-although evidence slim, found guilty and sentenced to death

Civil Rights Movement
Whites were able to help black people without threats of harming
white supremacy

They began segregated libraries to assist in the blacks learning

The NAACP was an anti-lynching campaign that spread unfairness and

risks of lynching

1938- lynching decreased steeply

NAACP also dismantled aspects of black education

Civil Rights Movement
In To Kill a Mockingbird segregation and discrimination cases were
at their peak

In the book, it states many problems during this unfair time, including
black segregation located in Alabama

The storyline goes straight through the civil rights movement as in

Alabama and shows how it changed the way things were from a
perspective of someone actually living through it
The Stock Market Crash-1929: How people
were affected
Began on October 24, 1929 also known as Black Tuesday

Signaled the beginning of the Great Depression which was a ten year
economic downturn

After the stock market crash, Wall street panicked and investors
started to pull out rapidly

Prosperous Business had led to a volatile stock market

Bad strategies to protect investments

Both led to the massive stock market crash of 1929

Stock Market Crash-1929
Accelerated the global economic collapse

Unemployment rates reached 30% unemployment in 1933

People forced to sell businesses and find enough money to pay off
debts/margins

Brokers called in loans when they saw the decline

The biggest side effect was the Great Depression, which devastated
the economy and forced many people into an overwhelming state of
poverty

Everyone panicked and couldnt fund anything so the economy

plummeted to a state of depression
Stock Market Crash-1929
The depression lasted a century longer than the nation as whole
(1940s)

Era reshaped Alabamas political, social, and economic traditions

It changed Alabamas entire state of government so much that it took

them longer to overcome them than the entire nation

Persuaded both black and whites to push for basic civil rights

1880s-cotton prices in Alabama got to an all time low

1929-industries declined do to the inability of farmers to continue

buying and producing goods
Stock Market Crash
Many people found themselves out of a job during the time after the
crash

Children, if they could attend school, were met with changes in

education

Many families moved elsewhere

Middle class had to deal with no money

Malnutrition became especially prominent amongst children and

adults alike

Children were unable to fight off disease due to weak immune

systems
Political Climate: what it was during the
depression
When the Depression began, Herbert Hoover held office until 1933,
when Franklin D. Roosevelt won presidency, and held office for the
rest of the Depression

Roosevelt became the 32nd president at the worst of the Depression

and formed many forces to take it down

Roosevelt assisted the American people to regain strength in

themselves

Brought banks back to life and assisted many of the 13,000,000

unemployed find good paying jobs
Political Climate
Many American people looked up to Roosevelt as a leader and found
comfort in his famous words The only thing we have to fear, is fear
itself

Consistently prepared, Franklin kept his country out of war in order to

aid in its healing

He spent much of his time building the United Nations, in hope it

would assist in the future relations between Russia and the U.S.

Said to have helped more in the white house than any of his
predecessors

The people took faith in him, his words, and, in turn, themselves
Political Climate
Roosevelt did not claim his heros title by what he did, but how he
reacted to others

Born on January 30th, 1882, Roosevelt always looked up to his 5th

cousin, Theodore Roosevelt and was always was a proud member of
the Democratic party

Shortly after inauguration, Roosevelt passed a New Deals measure,

which is a series of programs such as social security that included
laws and executive orders that lessened the Great Depressions
wrath

He also started Fireside Chats which were radio broadcasts from

Roosevelt himself that spoke of the banking crisis and gave people
hope and comfort(took their sights of the decreasing economy)
Political Climate
Roosevelt also signed multiple acts that assisted the people below
him and the lessening economy in this harsh time

He recognized the Soviet Union right away and made sure the U.S.
still in its horrid state, didnt act on the war happening in Europe

Reportedly stating I hate war at one of his speeches shows how

desperate he was to keep the U.S. out of any conflict

Overall, Roosevelt assisted in the faith and growth of the citizens and
economy throughout one of the toughest points in history
The Jim Crow Laws: What they did to the
country
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws that enforced segregation
in the southern U.S.

They were created by in 1877

They stated that black people could not say white people were lying,
never dishonor white people, suggest white people were of a lesser
class, say they were smart, curse white people, laugh at white
people, or say something about a white females appearance

These rules are all from a published book by Stetson Kennedy entitled
Jim Crow Guide

These laws controlled peoples way of life

Jim Crow Laws
Expectedly, black people resisted the laws but were sentenced to
prison or death if found guilty

After slavery was made illegal (1865) the southern people got angry,
so they passed the Jim Crow Laws to have some discriminatory
control back in their hands

The southerners were satisfied after the laws were passed and made
it very known by the segregational behavior
Jim Crow Laws
Segregation started slowly in different southern states by different
train cars and eventually became most of the south and bigger
needs were segregated (schools, bathrooms)

It started with the fear of blacks taking white jobs, so they took away
the blacks right to do anything that was normal for whites

Newspapers over exaggerated black crimes to feed this fear

Blacks werent allowed to sit/work in the same room, walk through the
same door, or even look out the same window without punishment

The whites controlled black people once more

Jim Crow Laws
Jim Crow Laws finally ended by the passing of the Civil Rights Act of
1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965

The end brought discrimination and segregation to a minimum but did

not completely eliminate it, and brought rights back into the lives of
black citizens

In To Kill a Mockingbird, much of the story is based off of black

discrimination in the state of Alabama, so these subjects will most
definitely come up more than once in the book
Citations
Amasa Coleman Lee retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amasa_Coleman_Lee

Harper Lee retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harper_Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird retrieved from

http://www.biography.com/people/harper-lee-9377021#work-with-truma
n-capote
Harper Lees Father, Inspiration for Atticus Finch, Changed his Views on
Segregation
http://www.wsj.com/articles/harper-lees-father-the-inspiration-for-atticu
s-finch-changed-his-seg
regation-views-1436670661

Harper Lee retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harper_Lee

 Segregation, Jim Crow retrieved from
http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1248

Civil Rights Chronology

http://www.civilrights.org/resources/civilrights101/chronology.html?referrer=
https://www.google.com/
Great Depression in Alabama retrieve from
http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3608

Life During the Great Depression retrieved from

http://academic.mu.edu/meissnerd/depression.htm

African-American Resistance to Jim Crow in the South retrieved from

https://www.solidarity-us.org/node/2470

A Brief History of Jim Crow retrieved from

http://www.crf-usa.org/black-history-month/a-brief-history-of-jim-crow
Timeline: Key Moment in Black History retrieved from
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmtimeline.html

Civil Rights Movement: 1919-1960s retrieved from

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/freedom/1917beyond/essays/crm.
htm
Wall Street Crash of 1929 retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_Crash_of_1929

The Great Depression retrieved from

http://www.history.com/topics/great-depression

The Stock Market Crash of 1929 retrieved from

http://www.history.com/topics/1929-stock-market-crash

Stock Market Crash of 1929 Facts, Causes, and Impact

https://www.thebalance.com/stock-market-crash-of-1929-causes-effects-and-
Whos was the President During the Great Depression retrieved from
https://www.reference.com/history/president-during-great-depression-9af9
d7c52e059498#
]

Franklin D. Roosevelt retrieved from

https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/franklindroosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt: Impact and Legacy retrieved from

http://millercenter.org/president/biography/fdroosevelt-impact-and-legacy

FDR Timeline retrieved from

http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/archives/resources/timeline.html

New Deal retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal

Jim Crow Laws retrieved fromhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws

Jim crow Museum retrieved fromhttp://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm