Scottsboro Boys Research Paper

Words: 521
Pages: 3

On March 25, 1931 it was just the beginning for the Scottsboro Boys. Nine young black men were falsely accused of raping two white women on board a train near Scottsboro, Alabama. Eugene Williams, Roy Wright, Charlie Weems, Andy Wright, Clarence Norris, Haywood Patterson, Olen Montgomery, Willie Roberson, and Ozie Powell were young boys hoping to find work in Memphis, Tennessee. A fight broke out between a group of whites and the young black men. The group of black boys threw their opponents off the train. The nine young boys were than taken off the train to Scottsboro jail for starting a fight. On board to train were two young white women named Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. Both of the women had questionable reputations including prostitution. …show more content…
Because of their failure to purchase a train ticket the two accused the black prisoners of rape. Trouble for the Scottsboro Boys was just beginning. The trials were long and hard for the boys and their lawyers. In two weeks after the incident, the Scottsboro Boys had been indicted, tried, convicted and sentenced to death. The International Labor Defense immediately sent lawyers down to Alabama when they heard of the news and began to organize nationwide protests. In November 1932, the Supreme Court overturned the convictions, only to order new trials in the Alabama courts. Ruby Bates then testified that the defendants never touched her and that she lied because Victoria Price told her too. Finally, in 1950, the charges against all the Scottsboro boys were dropped. On November 22, 2013 the nine boys were pardoned after 82 years of