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Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)

What To Expect

These modules were designed for a student-led, e-learning exploration.

In each lesson, students will:

  • Review a landmark Supreme Court case
  • Study primary sources from that time period
  • Read and analyze poetry

The students will use the same analysis form (with the same questions) for each lesson. It will be available for digital download on the student website.

Students will also be required to answer an extended response question chosen from the list.

How Will You Teach?

  • Lead the whole group through each module & analysis
  • Lead the whole group through the introduction lesson & conclusion lesson, and allow them to individually work through the modules
  • Assign modules to small groups or partners
  • Assign modules individually
  • Complete one module as a whole group, and assign another individually

All the student materials & modules are available at civics360.org/3PLessons

All educator materials are available at floridacitizen.org/3PLessons

A Poetry Review is available at ___ or in a Poetry Review Handout

Activity Sequence

Hook

  1. Begin your class with a discussion around the quote from “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” by Fredrick Douglass in 1852:
    1. “But such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.”
  2. Pass out the Dred Scott Analysis Document for students. Let them know that they’ll be reviewing a landmark Supreme Court case, looking at primary sources, and reading some poetry today with similar themes and content. After they’ve looked at the policy, poetry, and primary sources, they’ll choose a question for an extended response. Give them a minute to familiarize themselves with the guiding questions.

Activity

  1. Allow students to look at the image of Chief Justice Taney and Dred Scott before they go into the case review. What things immediately stand out about the image?
  2. Using the Case Summary from Street Law, review the Supreme Court case of Dred Scott v. Sanford. As students read, they can fill in some of the case information from their graphic organizer.

Teacher Note: Different reading levels of the case summary are available at landmarkcases.org 

  1. Knowing what we do about this landmark case, we see how divided our country was at the time. Tensions were rising, and the Civil War was imminent. This ruling wouldn’t be nullified for nearly a decade, with the passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865 and the 14th Amendment in 1868. Ask students, “How does the Frederick Douglass quote from earlier connect to this landmark case?”
  2. Next, have students analyze the slavery clipping from the Library of Congress. Generate a discussion about the following questions:
    1. What do you observe about the clipping?
    2. What questions do you have?
    3. What conclusions can you reach about this time period in the United States?
    4. How did this primary source mirror the ideals of the landmark Supreme Court case, Dred Scott v. Sanford?
  3. As the students analyze the primary sources, they can fill in the primary source section of their graphic organizers.
  4. Finally, students will read two poems and fill out the poetry section of their graphic organizer.
    1. Slavery; Its Origin, Progress, & Effects excerpt by David Woodward from the Library of Congress (only Image 18)
    2. I, Too by Langston Hughes

Conclusion

  1. As a class, read the final quote from Chief Justice Taney. How do his words reflect the tensions of that time period?
    1. “We think they [people of African ancestry] are . . . not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word ‘citizens’ in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States.”
  2. Lead students to the understanding that after exploring the policy, poetry, and primary sources above, they will now provide an analysis of the materials to determine how they all work together to form a clear voice for democracy. While not all the materials were sourced from 1857, they share different perspectives on a common discussion point: the rights of the enslaved. 
  3. Students can finish filling out the rest of their graphic organizer. 
  4. They will also pick one option from the extended response list.

Additional Resources

Sample Answers

Additional Resources

Download the Lesson

Link to Google Docs

Zip Folder Download

Back to Policy, Poetry, & Primary Sources Homepage

Lesson Designed with support from: