Lesson 2:  1881 case of Vines v. Cruse et al. (2-3 days)

 

Summary of case: In 1881, an African American student’s father sued his son’s school and teacher (John Buntin) for $20,000 because the child’s teacher assaulted the child in school and forcibly removed child from classroom.  A jury found in favor of the plaintiff for $50. However, this was never paid.

 

Purpose:

 

Students will explore the primary documents of the 1881 case of Vines v. Cruse in order to gain a better understanding of the impact of the 1875 Civil Rights Act.  It is also important for students to begin to understand that equal rights were being fought for many years before the Brown v. Board of Education case. Students will also use the questioning strategy to further their understanding. 

 

1. Teacher will give a brief introduction of case, but will NOT tell students the outcome. Teacher will have another chart with the headings of questions/answers/responses or teacher can provide the graphic organizer in appendix 1. Teacher will use a projector to share the primary documents with students and use the questioning strategy with the documents:

      studentletter1a.JPG, studentletter1b.JPG (legal reason why case was filed)

      studentletter2a.JPG, studentletter2b.JPG(discusses teachers refusal to allow student in his classroom)

      studentletter3a.JPG, studentletter3b.JPG(discusses assault and forcible removal)

      studentletter4.JPG(amount plaintiffs are suing for)
(For a PDF of all documents, click here.)

 

1. Students will place their questions in their reading response journal or on their graphic organizer and then answer the following questions:  Based on the documents we saw today and previous discussions, do you think the boy’s father will win the case?  Why or why not?  Students will then share their responses with a partner.

 

2. Teacher will briefly review the previous day’s documents and questions.  Teacher will then introduce the following documents to show the outcome of the case and have students write down questions as they review each document:

      jury1.JPG, jury2.JPG (gives outcome and damages)

            costbill.JPG (how much trial cost in 1881)

            judgment.JPG (document issued to attempt to collect on behalf of the plaintiff)

 

4.  Students will go to computer lab to research how much the award would be worth today, how much the trial would cost today and how much the plaintiff would have originally requested if trial happened today using the following website:

      http://www.westegg.com/inflation/  Additionally, students will fill out the “How Much is it Worth?” worksheet.

 

How Much is it Worth Worksheet

 

5.   Students will place their questions in their reading journal or on their graphic organizer and respond to the following questions:  Do you think the judgment was fair? Why or why not?  Students will share their responses with a partner.