Historical Background of Slavery in America

 Slavery
 a. It was in 1526. It began when the Spaniards brought in African slaves to Southern Carolina to help them work.
b.They were from the different countries in continent of Africa.
c.The Spanish in America bought and owned slaves.
d. Yes, there were.Slaves could not leave their master,could not demand anything from them, had no freedom and rights of their own,and had to be subservient to them,meaning that they have to obey their masters and could not refuse to work.


The Civil War
a. They include :
South Carolina
Mississippi
Florida
Alabama
Georgia
Louisiana
Texas
Virginia
Arkansas
Tennessee
North Carolina
b. He was President Abraham Lincoln.
c. The North which consisted of free states wanted to call an end to slavery and liberate the slaves in the South.
d. It was fought between 1861 to 1865.
e.The South lost the war and most of the slaves were emancipated by fleeing northwards.
f. Both the Civil War and the novel "To Kill An Mockingbird" have their similarities. Both talk about the struggles of upright and just people fighting for basic human rights for the African-Americans and against apartheid, and also the liberal perspective that runs contrary to the ignorance and prejudice of the other whites. In the case of the Civil War, the Union waged war against the Confederacy to stop slavery in America , while in the novel, Atticus Finch defend for Tom Robinson,a Negro, in court against the accusation of a rape by a White, despite criticisms from people.


Jim Crow's Laws
a. Jim Crow initially refers to a crippled African slave . His songs and dance, which aimed to mock at African-Americans, inspired white comedian Thomas Dartmouth Rice who popularized and performed it black-face  .However, "Jim Crow" had become a pejorative adjective implying African-Americans. Thus, from his name, the" Jim Crow's Law" was derived.
b. They were laws implemented  in America from 1876 to 1965, which states that African-Americans should be segregated with the Whites and supposes that they share equal status as the Whites. This led to the inferiority of the Blacks in terms of treatments etc. , and social,economic and educational disadvantages.
c.They resisted against the oppression from the Whites through retaliatory violence, Northward migration and non-violent protests. Some Blacks armed themselves,fought back and also lynched Whites. Protesters on the other hand advocated anti-lynching.
d.Yes, we do. It is shown through the failure of Tom Robinson's lawsuit even though he is innocent and blatantly accused of rape. This is because the jury which were mostly White discriminated against the African-Americans and decided to condemn Tom.


The Civil Rights Movement
a It began in 1955.
b.It was the movements supporting the outlawing of racial discrimination in the USA and to reinstate franchise
in the Southern states of USA.
c.The first is the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama, which opposes the racial segregation of its transit system. Next comes the Greensboro sit-ins, a series of peaceful protests bringing about the reverse of racial segregation in the Woolworth departmental store in Southern USA. Lastly, there was the Selma to Montgomery marches emerging from the voting rights movements in Selma,Alabama.
d.President Lyndon B.Johnson did so.
e.The bill for restoring voting rights in the southern states was passed.
f. The novel is entitled "To Kill A Mockingbird", and the entire title clearly depicts what has happened during the Civil Rights movement. It basically evokes the suppression of the African-Americans during that period. Atticus viewed "killing a mockingbird" as a sin, as they "sing their hearts out for us" and contribute to the society. Thus, the novel supports the aim of the Civil Rights movement and its concern addresses apartheid and social justice, which is what preached in the movement. Some of the settings of the novel is also based on the true events of the Civil Rights Movement.



Montgomery Bus Boycott and Scottsboro Trials
a. i) Scottsboro Trials- They were legal cases concerning the Scottsboro boys , a group of nine black teenage boys who were alleged to have raped two white women in Alabama on 25 March 1931 on a train.However,the two woman, Ruby Bates and Victoria Price, was actually trying to flout the Mann Act, which prohibited taking a minor across state for prostitution. Though some of them were convicted life sentence of nearly a decade or nearly a decade of life sentence, ultimately, after many rounds of sensational trials,mitigation and appeals of this cause celebre, none of them was condemned. Some were released for good,paroled, but some remained in prison.
b) Montgomery Bus Boycott- The boycott of travelling by bus in Alabama,namely the Montgomery Bus Boycott, was triggered by Rosa Parks, when she refused to surrender her seat to a White on 1 December 1955 and was tried.Martin Luther King then proposed a fixed dividing in the bus to separate the Blacks and Whites from one another, but also meant that Blacks need not remit their seat to the Whites even though the latter's section is full.Supporting the boycott, many Blacks did not utilize public transport and traveled either on foot, bicycles or their own cars on 3 December 1955.Tension mounted and ultimately,on 4th June 1956,the district court ruled that segregation of the buses were unconstitutional. The boycotters were still dissatisfied with the verdict and wanted the full integration of the buses. The Supreme Court took over the ruling and gave in, thus allowing black passengers to have full access to all seats in the buses.
b. The core and climax of the novel is based on the true story of the Scottsboros trials in Alabama in the 1930s and are both epitomes of false accusations made by White women against Black men of raping them.In TKAM,white attorney Atticus defends for the Negro Tom Robinson who was alleged to have raped Mayella Ewell,a white girl. In the Scottsboro trials, the boys were likewise defended by Samuel Leibowitz, similarly also a White, and were slandered by two prostitutes Ruby Bates and Victoria Price who flouted the Mann Act by taking a minor across state lines for prostitution.
c. Both trials took place in the 1930s in Alabama and was started by White women charging Black men of raping them. Both have a protagonist upholding equality, the lawyer defending his Black clients, in the case of TKAM, that is Atticus and  in the Scottsboro trials, Samuel Leiboswitz, who defied the public's wishes to defend for the African-Americans. Both also showcased the evident prejudice of the jury who convicted the innocent African-American though there was sufficient evidence to verify their innocence.


Trials of a True Southern Belle and Southern Gentleman
a. A Southern Belle must know how to cook, do needle work and have ballroom dancing skills. A Southen gentleman must have distinct virtues such as kindness and honesty and must respect a lady.
b. As the Southern Belles were extremely religious, they often visited the nearby churches to worship and at the same time, gather and chat together. They also spent most of their time in their home, weaving clothes and practising their culinary skills.
c.

d. To be the true embodiment of a Southern Belle in the novel would undoubtedly be Calpurnia.She had exquisite culinary skills and paid great respect to his master, Atticus.She was also very devoted to her religion,

Christianity by visiting the church frequently, which is what a Southern Belle should do, that is to be religious.

The Southern Gentleman would then be Atticus. He treated  ladies like Calpurnia and Aunt Alexandra with great dignity and gentlemanly. He was also a honest and upright man who treats his fellow African-American compatriots with justice, kindness,humanity and paid basic respect for the human rights of the African-Americans without any prejudice.On the other hand, Bob Ewell was not a Southern Gentleman and instead, he was on the other end of the spectrum as being a unscrupulous and despicable man. He abused his own daughter, Mayella Ewell and to avoid prosecutions, he compelled his daughter to make false statements in court and to shove all the blame to Tom Robinson who was then nearby to take the rap for him.He was also a racist and despised the blacks. He also wanted to wreak revenge on Atticus' family for the lawsuit against him by attempting to kill Atticus' son Jim.

Harper Lee

a.Nelle Harper Lee, known as Harper Lee was an female American author renowned for her novel against racism.She was noted as a tomboy but avid reader in her childhood. After graduating from Monroe County High School, she studied for a uncompleted law degree, during which she worked as a editor and clerk. Her zeal in literature made her choose to pursue the career of a writer ultimately. After meeting an agent in 1956, she was granted one year to publish whatever she wanted, during which the novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" became her brainchild.

b. Harper Lee was born on April 28 1926,in Monroeville,Alabama to parents Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Cunningham Finch Lee. She is still alive right now and lives up to the ripe old age of 84.

c. The only novel completed and published by Harper Lee was "To Kill A Mockingbird". Other than that, she wrote an incomplete novel called "The Long Goodbye" ,a non-fiction book on an Alabama serial murder and some others.

d.Harper Lee had been conferred on the1960 Pulitzer Prize with "To Kill A Mockingbird". It also earned her the Presidential Medal of Freedom award in 2007 for the same novel, in recognition and tribute of her contribution to the society and also the literary world. Above that, she also received some other accolades such as the ATTY award and Los Angeles Public Library award.

e.It greatly raised her profile as it still remains as a bestseller till today. It was also a significant achievement in her life as she finally fulfilled her dreams as a writer.