Similarities Between Tom Robinson And Scottsboro Trial

There are many similarities between the Scottsboro trial and the trial of Tom Robinson in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. “No crime in American history—let alone a crime that never occurred—produced as many trials, convictions, reversals, and retrials as did an alleged gang rape of two white girls by nine black teenagers on a Southern railroad freight run on March 25, 1931” (Linder 1). The author of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, was a young girl during the Scottsboro trial and based the trial of Tom Robinson in her novel off of the Scottsboro trial of 1931. The three main similarities between the Scottsboro trial and the trial of Tom Robinson are the geographic settings, the portrayal of racism, and the specifics of the court

April 6, 1931, the trials for the Scottsboro boys begin(Uschan 16). The boys were represented by Milo C. Moody and Stephen Roddy who were only given twelve days to prepare for the trials. Stephen was and unpaid, unprepared real estate attorney, and Milo was a forgetful seventy year old local attorney who hadn’t tried a case in a long time (“San Marcos” line 13). The trails were completely unorganized and false information was stated throughout the whole thing. The cross examination of Victoria Price lasted minutes and the defense offered very little information to the judge. Six out of the nine boys ended up denying the rape while 3 admitted to it. Even though the three men didn’t rape the women, because of beatings and threats, they admitted to the gang rape. By the time the trail had ended 8 out of the 9 boys were convicted and sentenced to death. Since one of the Scottsboro boys was only thirteen, he was considered too young to be tried as an adult (“UMKC” par. 6-7).

On March 25, 1931, With the Great Depression gripping the nation after the stock-market crash of 1929, people jumped on to freight trains to travel from one city to another city in hope to search for work. A group of whites and a group of blacks who are later called the ‘Scottsboro boys’ got in a fight on a train. The Scottsboro boys were defending themselves and they kicked the white group off in Jackson County. Then, two women who were on the train were trying to avoid arrest therefore falsely accused the nine black youths (who range from the age of thirteen to nineteen years old) of raping them. The Scottsboro boys were then arrested with assault and rape charges added against all nine of them after the allegations were made by Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. It was a rousing allegation in the Jim-Crow South, where many whites were attempting to maintain power just 66 years after the end of the Civil War.

The Scottsboro trials happened in the 1931 and dragged on for years. These cases were solely based on the prejudice surrounding blacks and gender. The cases presented in the Scottsboro Film represented the fight for justice. Nine boys were wrongfully arrested and imprisoned for years while society used these young black mens oppression to further its own agenda.These cases ruined the life of nine young men but they also helped make dramatic, vital changes in the criminal justice system and the constitution. The misfortune of the nine men tried and convicted during this time opened the eyes of so many blind to the injustice that african americans suffer from still to this day. The Scottsboro trials greatly defined the future of the criminal

Scottsboro case was at first led on March 25, 1931, in Scottsboro Alabama. The case included dark young people who later ended up noticeably celebrated as Scottsboro Boys. Young men included Clarence Norris, Olen Montgomery, Andy Wright, Willie Robertson, Ozie Powell, Eugene Williams, Charlie Weems, Roy Wright and Haywood Patterson. The named dark young people were dishonestly charged to have posse assaulted two white ladies. This case wound up plainly a standout amongst the most disputable and confounded cases in the historical backdrop of United States of America.

The boys of the Scottsboro trials were never treated fairly from the beginning. The whole journey was filled with misconception. The journey began on the freight train, there was nine African Americans on a train car and with them, was a group of Caucasian men. It all started with one of the white males stepping on the hand of one of the blacks. Not too long after, the white males threatened the nine boys to leave the train car (Doc). After the nine black males refused their threat, a fight broke out between all of them. All of the members of the white group were thrown off the train, all, but one. The one that was left on the train went and reported the fight to the train conductor.

When Harper Lee was writing about the trial of Tom Robinson in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” she had a very real case to look to for inspiration. The trial of the Scottsboro Boys was a world renowned case in the 1930’s in which nine black youths were accused of raping to white girls in Alabama. Lee’s novel took this case and created the fictional case of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a lower class white girl in a small town in Alabama during the Depression-era. The Scottsboro trials were the main source of inspiration for Lee’s novel, and although the circumstances of the novel differed from the real-life scandal, the similarities between the two cases are quite abundant.

The Scottsboro Trials of Alabama, started in 1931. Nine African American boys were accused of raping two girls on board a train near Scottsboro, Alabama.(A Tragedy of the American South) A fight broke out between white and black groups of youths. Victoria Price and Ruby Bates accused the boys of rape.(A Tragedy of the American South) Instead of the two girls getting charged with vagrancy and prostitution, they blamed the black boys of raping them..(A Tragedy of the American South) Rape was a politically explosive charge in the south.(A Tragedy of the American South) The case went to the US Supreme court in 1937, where Clarence Norris called the girls liars and was then struck by a bayonet.(A Tragedy of the American South) After going to court the boys spent two years between their first trials and second round. (Tragedy of the American South) One

The Scottsboro Trials were the trials against nine young African American men who were falsely accused of the rape of two white women in Scottsboro, Alabama. The men were Charlie Weems, Ozie Powell, Clarence Norris, Olen Montgomery, Willie Roberson, Haywood Patterson, Eugene Williams, Andrew Wright, and Leroy Wright. On a freight train, March 25, 1931, a fight began between a group of people of white and black race. After the altercation the train made a stop in Scottsboro to turn some of the people involved in the fight into police custody. During this stop two prostitutes (Victoria Price and Ruby Bates) were found and were about to face prostitution charges. Several sources claim that police officials forced the women to lie and others say

The Scottsboro Trial was about nine young black men who were falsely accused of raping two

Charlie Weems, Ozie Powell, Clarence Norris, Olen Montgomery, Willie Roberson, Haywood Patterson, Eugene Williams, and Andrew and Leroy Wright were the nine, black, young men known as the Scottsboro boys. These boys were sadly accused of raping two white women on a train. It was near Scottsboro, Alabama, in 1931. Not only were these poor boys accused, but eight out of the nine were sentenced to death.

The crime of rape allegedly committed by nine black teenagers in the early spring of 1931 tested the American legal system for both justice and racism. All nine—later known as the Scottsboro Boys—were falsely accused of raping two white women—Ruby Bates and Victoria Price. The nine young teenagers—Andy Wright, Willie Roberson, Charles Weems, Ozie Powell, Olen Montgomery, Eugene Williams, Haywood Patterson, Clarence Norris and Leroy Wright—were given guilty verdicts and tried for their lives. All of the men endured long stays in prison until that case made its way through the legal system (Salter; Linder).

America was going through a time of racist turmoil because of the economic conditions. The economic plunder led to a battle between the blacks and whites for jobs. Hate for each other grew and grew and both of the trials were examples of the frustration of the white people and their hate for the blacks. The characters in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird can relate directly to the people that were involved with the Scottsboro case. Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson's lawyer, and Judge Horton, were alike each other in many senses. Both of them fought for the equality between the blacks and whites even though it went against the wishes of the townspeople. Judge Horton lost an election the fall because of his support of the blacks. Judge Horton addressed the jury much alike Atticus addressed his children in the book, they each knew that the people of the town were racist and were fighting to change the judicial system. Lynch mobs held a major role in both trials, before they were the judge, jury, and executioner and both men did what they could to change this. Another parallel of both trials was the

Unfortunately sometimes a disastrous situation must occur for changed to take place. The Scottsboro trials can be a great example of just that. On March 25, 1931 nine young black men ranging in ages from twelve to twenty were arrested and were convicted of allegedly raping two women on a freight train traveling from Alabama to Tennessee. Accused by two white women Victoria Price and Ruby Bates the men were brought to trial. The trials lasted up to almost six years and were named The Scottsboro Trials. It can be said that the trials were prominent and necessary to take place to shape the future lives for the African American people.

In the year 1931, all nine of the Scottsboro boys Haywood Patterson, Charles Weems, Clarence Norris, Andy Wright, Ozzie Powell, Olen Montgomery, Eugene Williams, Willie Roberson, and Roy Wright are arrested and tried on charges of assault from fighting white boys on a train. Along with accusations made by Victoria Price and Ruby Bates that the boys raped them. Their trial begins April 6, 1931. All of the boys except for Roy Wright are tired and convicted, with the result of the death sentence, Roy Wright’s trial ends in a mistrial. Later the NAACP and International Labor Defense, fight to represent the boys. Even though there was no proof that the boys committed these crimes they