The second class in Maycomb County included the lower class, white workers, and primarily farmers who struggled to make ends meet. The Cunninghams, Dolphus Raymond, and the mysterious Radley family represented this group. The third class of Maycomb County was the " white trash". The Ewells, who lived at the dump, and relied on welfare for survival, were members of this group. It is important to note that the difference between the second and third class was not a financial one. Both were "poor". The difference, however, was in the way they interacted in the society. The Cunninghams, unlike the Ewells, refused to accept any kind of charity and paid back their debts with what little they had. The Cunninghams were also different from the Ewells because they did not take advantage of Negroes.
The fourth and lowest class in Maycomb was best described as a "caste" because it was impossible to escape from it. All blacks were included in this group. Prejudice ran deep in Maycomb County. Although many classes existed within the black community, one of colour must always be in the lowest class. The majority of the black people had very little money, which is obviously a great contrast from people such as Atticus Finch. The blacks lived apart from the whites in their own section of town and seemed to have a society separate from the whites. Reasons for this conflict could be because of the matters that occurred during the American Civil War.
In U.S. history, the conflict (1861–65) between the Northern states (the Union) and the Southern states formed the well-known civil war. It is generally known in the South as the War Between the States and is also called the War of the Rebellion, the War of Secession, and the War for Southern Independence. The name Civil War, although much criticised as inexact, is most widely accepted.
Differences between North and South were dwarfed by their common interest in establishing a new nation. But sectionalism steadily grew stronger. During the 19th century the South remained almost completely agricultural, with an economy and a social order largely founded on slavery and the plantation system. These mutually dependent institutions produced the staples, especially cotton, from which the South derived its wealth. The North had its own great agricultural resources, was always more advanced commercially, and was also expanding industrially. It is because of these slavery antics that the black people were first seen as in superior to the white people. This of course had an effect on the way that the black people lived in the future and this could be compared to the antics that occurred in the 1930’s.
In the 1930's, the civil war had long been over but divisions were still strongly present between counties and states. Although, this caused many negative vibes between different sections of America e.g. north and south, if there were a crisis the neighbouring counties would forget their differences and unity would be shown. Harper Lee shows this in the novel. She shows this when Miss Maudie's house catches fire. As the fire engine comes all the way from a neighbouring county. The fire engine has to travel though the snow and there are big problems but they keep going. This shows a great deal of unity, as the two counties don't particularly get along.
She also shows unity within the Maycomb residents themselves at the same point in the novel. As all the residents come out of their houses in the middle of the night and they all try and help each other, even those who normally argue or disagree with each other. The Author even goes to the extreme of Arthur Radley emerging from his house. Arthur Radley is one of the main characters in the novel. He is the gossip of the town, as he never comes out of his house due to issues from his childhood.
Even though no one sees Arthur come out of his house, the author shows that Arthur has a great love for the children (Jem and Scout). The fact that Arthur is involved shows even more that even though these people have their differences, deep down they do care about each other. This again shows unity.
America showed unity in the 1930's at the time of 'the depression'. The Depression caused wide spread poverty. The Wall Street crash initially caused the Depression in 1929. People at all levels of society were affected. Those at the highest levels of the financial spectrum were affected as they lost money on investments and future plans. This in affect, filtered down throughout society, as the employers had to decrease wages and lose many staff. This unity that existed in America is shown within Maycomb.
For example: Atticus is affected as a lawyer as his clients cannot afford to pay him therefore, causing him to have financial problems. The Depression is also shown through the Cunningham family within the book as, their farm struggles. Atticus and the Cunningham's show that unity takes place as, The Cunningham's cannot afford to pay him for some work he has done. So they pay him back in ways they can. For example: Mr Cunningham paid Atticus instalments, he gave him a sack of hickory nuts etc. When Scout asked her father why he paid him in this way Atticus simply said; " Because that's the only way he can pay me. He has no money."
This shows that Atticus understands and does not penalise them because, they have no other way to pay him. This again shows unity as he could have refused to work for him.