Lizzie Borden Murder

Kathryn Allamong Jacob’s article “She Couldn’t Have Done It, Even If She Did” revolves around the murder mystery of Lizzie Borden. Lizzie Borden was an Upper-class woman who lived in the Industrial Era of the late 1800’s. Lizzie Borden was accused of Brutally murdering her father and stepmother, but was later deemed innocent on account of the jury. From the start, Jacob’s made her stance of Borden’s evident guilt very clear. The murder is centered in an era that dealt with gender discrimination. As Borden was a woman from an upper class family, a shadow of doubt was cast on her as a suspect for the murders. During this era the Upper class were highly regarded as the purity in society, they would never take part in such horrific crimes. In her …show more content…
However, in a larger sense the jury was more concerned with the physical and psychological nature of upper-class womanhood than with the actual crimes” (P.51). To exhibit the attitudes of the American citizens Jacob’s referred to a variety of articles written during the trial. One article described a woman’s incapability to commit murder. “The defects of the female anatomy included sloping shoulders, broad hips, underdeveloped muscles, short arms and legs, and poor coordination.” (P.55). This article illustrated women weren’t murderers because they did not contain the capacity for brutality, a characteristic that only men would exhibit. A collection of other articles described the physical weaknesses of women, which reinforced the belief that it was impossible for a woman to commit such acts of violence. “Many of these articles were written in response to the growing number of women who were demanding equal rights, and were written with the intention of proving women hopelessly unable to handle the sacred privileges of men” (P.55). The premise of these articles substantially aided Borden’s …show more content…
It continued by saying that men were part of the public sphere, which was to influence all factors of politics, economics, and law. The women’s sphere was based from the moral sphere, which influences the world of religion, domestic life, and raising children. This Doctrine was referenced throughout the trial, in the Newspapers, Government, and Scientific Consultations that were involved with the trial. After noting the “Doctrine of Separate Spheres”, Jacobs considered aspects of the social hierarchy and how the upper class was treated. During the court case, scientific figures didn’t want people to realize that upper class could commit the same crimes that the lower and middle classes participated in. They buried this and used false theories to their advantage skewing the evidence by implying an upscale woman was incapable of committing murder mostly because she didn’t have the physical prowess of a man. During the investigation there were multiple errors made by the Police, mainly the time it took to processing this case. Jacobs indicated in this story that the police were hesitant in the Arrest of Borden, explaining that “Trial Transcripts suggest that the police did err on the side of caution. If the victims had not been so prominent, matters would have been simpler”(P.54). Due to evidence, the maid was not