Notes on a few of the historical references from the first chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird

1. TKAM Chapter 1 Notes

2. “If General Jackson hadn’t run the Creeks up the
creek, Simon Finch would never have paddled up the
Alabama, and where would we be if he hadn’t?” (3)
• Andrew Jackson, before
becoming President, was
a military leader. After
defeating the Red Creek
Indians at the Battle of
Horseshoe bend, he
claimed the area and
opened it up for white
settlers.

3. The Battle of Hastings
• The Battle of Hastings
took place on 14
October 1066. It was the
decisive Norman victory
in the Norman Conquest
of England.
• Since the Normans were
Francophones, their
conquest of England
introduced many French
words into English.

4. “Simon, having forgotten his teacher’s dictums [John
Wesley’s scriptures] on the possession of human
chattels, bought three slaves and with their aid
esablished a homestead” (4)
• “Chattel”: property
• John Wesley founded the
Methodist church and
was one of the first to
preach for slaves’ rights.

5. “Maycomb County had recently
been told that it had nothing to
fear but fear itself.” (6)
• The reference is to
President Franklin D.
Roosevelt’s inaugural
speech of 1933.
• At the time the nation
was at the lowest point of
the Great Depression--a
quarter of the workforce
was unemployed.