At the time To Kill a Mockingbird was published in 1960, the civil rights movement was gaining momentum in the United States. The Supreme Court had recently ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott had just ended. The civil rights movement was gaining traction, and the fight for racial equality was becoming more visible. Additionally, the Cold War was in full swing, and the Cuban Missile Crisis was looming on the horizon.
