The Scottsboro Boys
1. Who were the Scottsboro Boys? How did they get into so much trouble?
The Scottsboro boys were nine black boys that gang raped two white girls. 2. Where and when did the Scottsboro Boys' original trial take place? How do you think this affected the outcome of their trial? The trial began 12 days after the arrest in Scottsboro, Alabama. The outcome was affected by prejudice and racism. 3. What does the NAACP acronym stand for? Why did the NAACP decide not to help the Scottsboro Boys? The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. They didn't support them because they were afraid it would hurt their reputation. 4. The Communist Party came to the aid of the Scottsboro Boys. How did the South perceive the Communist Party, and how was it similar to the perception of blacks? What was the Communist Party's hidden agenda in providing aid to the Scottsboro Boys? The communists used the trial to recruit southern blacks and northern liberals. The south only treated the communist with a slight bit more respect than blacks. 5. The Scottsboro Boy were not provided with adequate defense lawyers. Please list at least 3 ways in which the defense lawyers were inadequate. One reason that the defense lawyers were inadequate was that they were inexperienced, secondly because they were prejudiced, finally because they were attorneys not lawyers. 6. Describe the trials. Were they fair or unfair? Please include at least 3 supporting facts to back up your description. After the first four trials eight of the nine boys were sentenced to death and the other was sentenced for life in prison. The trials were unfair because there was lying by all, racism, and inexperience. 7. Were the Scottsboro Boys ever pardoned of their convictions? They were pardoned of their conviction, but after five died. 8. The Scottosboro Boys' trial took place during the childhood of To Kill A Mockingbird's author, Harper Lee. Make a prediction about how this trial might be an important impetus, or driving force, for the book. The trial probably plays into to the theme because of how large of an impact it had on Harper lee and there will probably be a trial. |