Historical Contexts

 The Great Depression

To Kill a Mockingbird is set during the Great Depression. Harper Lee constantly states how hard times are for the people of Maycomb. Not only does it relate to the time period, when Atticus quit the farm and went back to school as a lawyer. He did this because during the depression, the hardships hit the farmers the hardest. This is represented when Jem asks Atticus if they are as poor as the Cunningham's and Atticus replies, “Not exactly. The Cunningham's are country folks, farmers, and the crash hit them hardest,” (pg. 21). Atticus claims that the professional people were poor because of the farmers were poor.

Atticus was talking to Tom and attempting to find evidence to prove Tom not guilty of raping Mayeila. Atticus asks, "Were you picking cotton in November?" This quote shows how the blacks still were working on the farms and making little amounts of money.

The article, Farming in the 1930's, describes the life of farmers during the Great Depression. It mentions how the weather affected every part of life; cold or hot, rain or dust. Farm families did not have heat, light, or indoor bathrooms like the people in town did. Several farm families raised their own food. Such as eggs, chickens, meat from their own cows, and vegetables from their gardens. No one had any money. Neighbors helped each other through sickness and the hard times. Due to the dryness, grasshoppers attacked the crops, so farmers had no way to make money.

http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/life_01.html