Everything that happens today reflects the past. It can be modified and translated into
ways that everyone can understand. Harper Lee wrote the book To Kill A Mockingbird to help
teach historical events so everyone is aware of it and appreciates history. Writing the book on
the brink of the Civil Rights Movement, there was racism towards African Americans. Lee has
the eyes to see past the color of people’s skin in order to write this book and prove that the black
community should be treated with equal respect as the white community. Harper Lee used the
real life Scottsboro Boys Trial as well as other acts of racial prejudice by white people to inspire
the fictitious Tom Robinson Case when she created her book, To Kill a Mockingbird, set in the
1930s.
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Tom Robinson, the black defendant who is tried for allegedly
raping a white woman, is defended a white man, Atticus Finch (Wilson 27). Being black in the
1930s, it was clear that he would be convicted of this crime even if he were innocent because of
the racial prejudice. That means that he was only convicted because of the color of his skin. In
fact, Tom Robinson was innocent as shown through Mayella Ewell’s, the woman he allegedly
raped, testimony as well as her father’s (Wilson 27). The wealthy whites were highest on the
status quo and everyone who was not one of them was treated poorly (Wilson 30). And because
of this, Robinson was convicted as it was considered common sense at the time. As Charles E.
Wilson, Jr. noted, “From the black perspective, white females posed the more dangerous threat
because any accusation from a white woman would result in assured death for the black male”
(Wilson 29). This proves that blacks were without a doubt treated unfairly because even if they
were for a fact not guilty, they would be convicted because of the color of their skin. And
therefore, almost every black man put on trial would encounter serious consequences like Tom
Robinson.
Connecting this to real life events, the racism and prejudice in the 1930s was so excessive
that there was a trial similar to this: the Scottsboro Boys Trials. The Scottsboro Trials include
nine black youths—Olen Montgomery, Clarence Norris, Haywood Patterson, Ozie Powell,
Willie Roberson, Charles Weems, Andrew Wright, Roy Wright, and Eugene Williams—who
were tried for rape of two white women (Baughman 1). This whole accusation started because
of a young white man who was involved in a fight with a group of young black men on freight
train (Baughman 1). And the women that were supposedly the victims, Victoria Price and Ruby
Bates, were dressed as boys hiding on the train. On this train ride, they actually engaged in
sexual activity with a group of white men, and in order to not be recognized for this act, they
testified against the young black kids (Wormser 1). It was ordered by the police to arrest every
black man on the train (Baughman 1). “Nine black youths, all transients and ranging in age from
thirteen to twenty, were taken at gunpoint from the freight car in which they were found
arrested” (Baughman 1). The physical trials would begin twelve days after in an area in the
South where racial prejudice was so severe, their safety would only be promised if they had
guards with them (Baughman 1).
Similar to the Tom Robinson case in To Kill A Mockingbird, even though there was
evidence proving the innocence of the defendants, because of the color of their skin, “the allwhite jury convicted the nine, and all but the youngest, who was 12 years old, were sentenced to
death” (Wormser 1). Baughman writes, “the medical doctors who had examined the women
testified that they had found little physical evidence of rape, that they had observed only minor
bruises or lacerations on the body of Victoria Price and none on Ruby bates, and that neither of
the victims had displayed any sign of emotional trauma.” This is similar to the Tom Robinson
case because the only physical signs of damage on Mayella Ewell were marks on her right side
of her face. Scout narrates, “If her right eye was blacked and she was beaten mostly on the right
side of the face, it would tend to show that a left-handed person did it” (Lee 238). That means
that only a left-handed man, her father, could possibly have hit her and most certainly not Tom
Robinson because his left arm is damaged from an accident (Lee 237). This comes to show that
the color of one’s skin at the time had more weight than evidence.
As Lee creates this book reflecting the Scottsboro Trials, the Tom Robinson Case
centralizes mainly around the unequal placement of black defendants and the white jury. Tom
Robinson, tried for rape, was convicted and sent to prison even though there was strong evidence
supporting the innocence of him (Lee 282). Atticus tells Jem, “No jury in this part of the
world’s going to say, ‘We think you’re guilty, but not very,’ on a charge like that. It was either a
straight acquittal or nothing” (Lee 294). This supports the fact at the time that the defendant can
even be proven guilty or innocent—no in between—and Tom Robinson was in between since
there was proof supporting him but the color of his skin was stronger so the jury found him more
guilty than innocent. Furthermore, Mayella Ewell being the one advancing on Tom Robinson is
like the Scottsboro Trials because even though Victoria Price and Ruby Bates didn’t advance on
the nine convicted youths, they were the ones engaged in sexual activity (Lee 259). Robinson
testified, “Mr. Finch, I got down offa that chair an’ turned around an’ she sorta jumped on me”
(Lee 259). But because Mayella Ewell is white the jury believes her testimony rather than
truthful and supported Tom Robinson’s (Lee 282). In fact, Jem thought it was clear that Tom
Robinson would win (Lee 281). But what really impacted the jury’s verdict was the color of
Tom Robinson’s skin just like the nine black youths convicted the same way because the jury
was white.
Throughout the following years of the Scottsboro Boys Trials, some of the other youths
who were tried were retried but with no success, they were convicted again like Haywood
Patterson (Baughman 2). Later, Charles Weems and Ozie Powell were released as well as
Andrew Wright and Clarence Norris who were put on parole and Haywood Patterson escaped
prison (Baughman 3). Unfortunately, everyone else was executed. For Tom Robinson in the
novel, he was convicted and sentenced to death even though there was evidence to prove his
innocence (Lee 282). This overall is very important and what was an important influence from
the Scottsboro Boys Trials because it emphasizes the lack of power that evidence holds and how
racial prejudice impacts a verdict a lot more in that. In that time, once a black man was on trial
there was no chance that he would win only because of the racial prejudice.
In order to construct the fictitious To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee used the real life
Scottsboro Boys Trials in the 1930s to display the racial prejudice towards African Americans
throughout the novel, especially in the Tom Robinson Case, which is actually based off of these
real life trials. The quick conviction of the Scottsboro Boys was simply because of the color of
their skin not because of actual evidence, which actually proved the defendants innocent. The
Tom Robinson Case was based off of this as Tom Robinson was convicted because of his race
only as there was strong evidence proving that he is actually innocent. This book is based on
these events as acts of extreme racial prejudice towards blacks but not only in the Tom Robinson
Case. For example, though the Finchs are very tolerable people, Aunt Alexandra isn’t so she
treats Calpurnia as someone below her. Harper Lee wanted to mirror her novel to these events,
as there was this extreme prejudice in the 1930s in the South. In the final analysis, it is because
of historical events and the unfair Scottsboro Boys Trials that create the plot of To Kill A
Mockingbird, which is rightfully set in the 1930s making it as moving and powerful as it is.