The novel also depicts the Jim Crow era, a period from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s when state and local laws enforced racial segregation and discrimination in the South. Black people were denied equal rights and opportunities in education, employment, voting, housing, transportation, and public facilities.
They were also subjected to violence, intimidation, and lynching by white supremacists. The novel shows how the Jim Crow laws affected the lives and relationships of the characters in Maycomb. For example, Tom Robinson is falsely accused of raping a white woman and is denied a fair trial by a biased jury.
Calpurnia is treated as an inferior servant by some white people and is not allowed to enter their churches or schools. Scout and Jem are ostracized by some of their peers and relatives for befriending black people or defending their rights.
The 1950s and 1960s: The Civil Rights Movement and Nazi Germany
The novel was written and published in the late 1950s and early 1960s, a time of social change and political turmoil in the United States and around the world.
One of the major events of this period was the civil rights movement, a mass movement that fought for racial equality and justice for black people.
The movement used various strategies such as protests, boycotts, sit-ins, marches, speeches, lawsuits, and legislation to challenge the Jim Crow laws and practices.
Some of the leaders and icons of the movement were Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Thurgood Marshall, and John F. Kennedy. The novel was influenced by and influenced the civil rights movement in several ways.
For example, Harper Lee based some of her characters on real-life figures who were involved in or affected by racial cases or incidents. Atticus Finch was inspired by Lee’s father, who defended two black men accused of murder in Alabama.
Tom Robinson’s trial was influenced by the Scottsboro case, in which nine black teenagers were accused of raping two white women on a train in Alabama.
