What Are Jim Crow Laws In To Kill A Mockingbird

One of the first examples of American history influencing To Kill a Mockingbird is that of the Jim Crow Laws. The Jim Crow Laws were laws that prevented black people from being treated equally to Whites. The Jim Crow Laws mostly operated in southern and border states, from 1877 to the mid-1960’s (Pilgrim). White people in these states believed that they needed these laws, because Blacks were inferior to Whites in every way (Pilgrim). They also believed that “integration would mongrelize the White race” (Pilgrim). One punishment for not obeying these wrongful laws was that the black person would be lynched (Pilgrim). Punishments for not abiding by Jim Crow Laws almost always ended with the black person in question losing their lives (Pilgrim). In To Kill a Mockingbird, one
One Jim Crow Law states that a black person should “never assert that a white person is lying (Pilgrim). An example of this law being used, is how Tom Robinson cannot accuse Mayella of constructing a false story (Lee 24). Another Jim Crow law states that a black person should “never suggest that a white person is from an inferior class” (Pilgrim). When Tom Robinson said that he felt sorry for Mayella, he meant no malice. He quickly rectified his statement when he realized that some would interpret it as him saying Mayella is pitiful (Lee 224). The Jim Crow Laws were not the only prevalent influence in To Kill a Mockingbird; mob mentality was also evident.
The second influence on To Kill a Mockingbird is mob mentality. Mob mentality is the behavioral characteristics of people when they are in groups (Smith). Behaviors when mob mentality is present includes aggressive, chaotic behaviors. People in mobs tend to believe that they will not suffer the consequences for their actions (Smith). An example of mob mentality is when two teen boys in Indiana were lynched for a crime they may