A Nation of States or a Nation-State? – An Informed and Active Citizenry

Description

This seminar will explore competing notions of how the U.S. government should be organized, looking at ways in which presidents, judicial decisions, business practices, and other forces have shaped and changed the form of government throughout history.

Contact name
Scott, Marianne
Sponsoring Organization
The Bill of Rights Institute
Phone number
1 703-894-1776
Target Audience
Ninth Grade through Twelfth Grade
Start Date
Contact Title
Education Programs Coordinator
Duration
One day

The Expansion of Expression

Description

This seminar will explore historical issues related to the freedom of speech and expression in the U.S., examining court cases including the 1919 U.S. Supreme Court case Schenck v. United States, the 1989 case Texas v. Johnson, and the 1997 case Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union.

Contact name
Scott, Marianne
Sponsoring Organization
The Bill of Rights Institute
Phone number
1 703-894-1776
Target Audience
Ninth Grade through Twelfth Grade
Start Date
Contact Title
Education Programs Coordinator
Duration
One day

Clarence Darrow, William Jennings Bryan, and the Scopes Trial

Description

Professor Charles Postel reviews the lives of lawyers Clarence Darrow (1857–1938) and William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) and their involvement as adversaries in the 1925 legal case Scopes v. State, in which a school teacher was found guilty of violating a Tennessee law prohibiting the teaching of evolution in public schools.

Link dead: "Temporarily Unavailable"

Affirmative Action

Description

Professor Lucas E. Morel discusses the history of affirmative action in the U.S., looking at how it has changed from the early 1960s to the present day. He examines particularly the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court cases Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger, both on affirmative action.

Dead link.

Slaves and the Courts, 1740-1860

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Annotation

More than 100 published materials on legal aspects of slavery are available on this website. These include 8,700 pages of court decisions and arguments, reports, proceedings, journals, and a letter. Most of the pamphlets and books pertain to American cases in the 19th century. Additional documents address the slave trade, slave codes, the Fugitive Slave Law, and slave insurrections as well as presenting courtroom proceedings from famous trials such as the 18th-century Somerset v. Stewart case in England, the Amistad case, the Denmark Vesey conspiracy trial, and trials of noted abolitionists John Brown and William Lloyd Garrison. A special presentation discusses the slave code in the District of Columbia. Searchable by keyword, subject, author, and title, this site is valuable for studying legal history, African American history, and 19th-century American history.

Famous Trials

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This exceptional legal history site presents balanced treatments of over 50 prominent court trials. Trials include: Salem witchcraft (1692); Burr conspiracy (1807); Amistad (1839–1840); Dakota conflict (1862); Lincoln conspiracy (1865); Johnson impeachment (1868); and Susan B. Anthony (1873). 20th-century trials include: Bill Haywood (1907); Sacco and Vanzetti (1921); Scopes (1925); Scottsboro Boys (1931–1937); Rosenbergs (1951); Lenny Bruce (1964); "Mississippi Burning" (1967); Chicago Seven (1969–70); My Lai courts martial (1970); LAPD officers (1992); O. J. Simpson (1995); Clinton impeachment (1999); and Moussaoui's 9/11 trial (2006).

Each trial website includes a chronology, maps, and court documents, including transcripts of testimony, media coverage, depositions, and government documents. Most cases also contain images, links to related websites, and a bibliography. Biographies center on five "trial heroes," including trial lawyer Clarence Darrow. "Exploring Constitutional Law" offers 83 important constitutional topics for class discussion.