Historical Context of To Kill a Mockingbird
The Great Depression Era
Harper Lee's masterpiece is set during the Great Depression of the 1930s in Alabama, a time of severe economic hardship that particularly affected the American South. The novel's setting in the fictional town of Maycomb reflects the stark realities of this period:
- Widespread poverty affecting both white and Black communities
- High unemployment rates
- Agricultural crisis due to drought and falling crop prices
- Social tensions heightened by economic stress
Scout's observations of Walter Cunningham Jr.'s poverty is reflected when she notes his lack of shoes and lunch:
"Walter Cunningham's face told everybody in the first grade he had hookworms. His absence of shoes told us how he got them."
Jim Crow Laws and Racial Segregation
The 1930s South was firmly in the grip of Jim Crow laws, which enforced racial segregation and discrimination:
- Segregated public facilities
- Disenfranchisement of Black voters
- Economic oppression through sharecropping
- Limited educational and professional opportunities for Black citizens
The Tom Robinson trial reflects the systemic racism of the era, where all-white juries routinely convicted Black defendants regardless of evidence.
The Legacy of Reconstruction
The novel's setting occurs roughly 70 years after the Civil War and Reconstruction period:
- Lingering tensions between North and South
