Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping
The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping Trial
I. Events of the Time Period During the time of the kidnapping (America in the1930's) America as undergoing some major political and economic changes. A controversial issue pf the time period was prohibition. Prohibition was the movement to stop the manufacturing and selling of alcoholic beverages. The eighteenth amendment outlawed the manufacturing, importing, exporting, transporting and selling of alcoholic beverages in the United States. Many Americans turned to illegal activities to get around the law. Many Americans resorted to going to places where alcoholic beverages were sold illegally and some Americans even made, sold and transported their own alcohol often referred to as "Moonshine". Because of this illegal activity, the number of violent crimes surged. Another change that shook the nation was the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Many Americans lost everything after the end of World War I when the stock market crashed. This event caused crime to increase more than ever. Following the crash America entered the time period known as the Great Depression. Such things as unemployment and a need to feed the family turned several Americans into criminals. A kidnapping epidemic hit America hard. These kidnappings were usually committed by gangsters and members of organized gangs. Adults were usually the targets as result of power wars between gangs. In 1932 the kidnappings began to spread from gang members to the general public and wealthy families, including children.
II. Background Information on the Lindberghs Charles Augustus Lindbergh was born in the small town of Little Falls, Minnesota, on February 4, 1902. When he was eighteen he attended the University of Wisconsin and then dropped out at the age of twenty to go to flying school. Seven months of flying school got him his pilots license. He started out flying mail routes from Saint Louis, Missouri to Chicago, Illinois. At the age of twenty five Charles Lindbergh
I. Events of the Time Period During the time of the kidnapping (America in the1930's) America as undergoing some major political and economic changes. A controversial issue pf the time period was prohibition. Prohibition was the movement to stop the manufacturing and selling of alcoholic beverages. The eighteenth amendment outlawed the manufacturing, importing, exporting, transporting and selling of alcoholic beverages in the United States. Many Americans turned to illegal activities to get around the law. Many Americans resorted to going to places where alcoholic beverages were sold illegally and some Americans even made, sold and transported their own alcohol often referred to as "Moonshine". Because of this illegal activity, the number of violent crimes surged. Another change that shook the nation was the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Many Americans lost everything after the end of World War I when the stock market crashed. This event caused crime to increase more than ever. Following the crash America entered the time period known as the Great Depression. Such things as unemployment and a need to feed the family turned several Americans into criminals. A kidnapping epidemic hit America hard. These kidnappings were usually committed by gangsters and members of organized gangs. Adults were usually the targets as result of power wars between gangs. In 1932 the kidnappings began to spread from gang members to the general public and wealthy families, including children.
II. Background Information on the Lindberghs Charles Augustus Lindbergh was born in the small town of Little Falls, Minnesota, on February 4, 1902. When he was eighteen he attended the University of Wisconsin and then dropped out at the age of twenty to go to flying school. Seven months of flying school got him his pilots license. He started out flying mail routes from Saint Louis, Missouri to Chicago, Illinois. At the age of twenty five Charles Lindbergh
Cited: Monroe, Judy. The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping Trial. Berkeley Heights: Enslow, 2000.