Civil Rights
Introduction to Mississippi Trial,
1955 and Harper Lee
Emancipation Proclamation
• 1863 under Lincoln
• Officially made slaves free
• 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments gave
ex-slaves the right to vote and full
suffrage
• This was NOT the end of racism
Jim Crow Laws
• Starting in the 1880s, states throughout
the South passed laws which favored
European Americans, giving this group
a huge, controllable, and designated
labor force and preventing African
American citizens from improving their
status or achieving economic and social
equality.
Jim Crow Laws
• These statutes, which together were
known as Jim Crow were in place and
enforced in full from the early part of
1900 until the 1950s and 60s
Jim Crow Laws-Education
• Separate schools shall be maintained
for the children of the white and colored
races.
• School textbooks shall not be
interchangeable between the white and
colored schools, but shall continue to be
used by the race first using them.
Jim Crow Laws-Freedom of
Speech
• Any person guilty of printing, publishing
or circulating matter urging or
presenting arguments in favor of social
equality or of intermarriage between
whites and negroes, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor.
Jim Crow Laws-Healthcare
• No person or corporation shall require any
white female nurse to nurse in wards or
rooms in hospitals, either public or private, in
which negro men are placed.
• There shall be maintained by the governing
authorities of every hospital maintained by
the state for treatment of white and colored
patients separate entrances for white and
colored patients and visitors, and such
entrances shall be used by the race only for
which they are prepared.
Jim Crow Laws-Marriage
• The marriage of a white person with a negro
or mulatto or person who shall have oneeighth or more of negro blood, shall be
unlawful and void.
• Any negro man and white woman, or any
white man and negro woman, who are not
married to each other, who habitually live in
and occupy in the nighttime the same room,
shall each be punished by imprisonment not
exceeding 12 months, or by fine not
exceeding five hundred dollars.
NAACP
• National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People
• Founded in 1909 that is devoted to civil rights
and racial justice
• Throughout its existence it has worked
primarily through the American legal system
to fulfill its goals of full suffrage and other civil
rights, and an end to segregation and racial
violence.
NAACP Today
• At the end of the 20th century, the
NAACP focused on economic
development and educational programs
for youths, while also continuing its role
as legal advocate for civil rights issues
• There are currently over 500,000
members
Jim Crow Laws in Mississippi
Trial, 1955 and To Kill a
Mockingbird
• Jim Crow Laws play a big role
throughout Mississippi Trial, 1955 and
To Kill a Mockingbird
• Without Jim Crow Laws, both trials may
have turned out differently but racism
still existed long after the Emancipation
Proclamation