The work of building and maintaining a democracy is, in the words of Justice William Hastie, "never finished." To better understand what Hastie sees as an ongoing building process, class members listen to a seven-minute podcast about two former Massachusetts slaves who used the law, successfully suing to gain their freedom.

Concepts

voting rights, civic duty, civil rights, human rights, american democracy, democracy, slavery

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Create a listening guide for the seven-minute podcast to sharpen listening skills and help keep learners focused on the discussion
• Pause the audio frequently to check for understanding and to permit listeners to ask questions

Classroom Considerations

• The fifth of eight lessons from the "What Makes Democracy Work?" in the Election 2020 collection
• May be used for remote or in-person learning

Pros

• Extensions permit learners to deepen their study of the Freeman and Walker cases, as well as of other times people have used the law to gain greater rights

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.9-10.1.a SL.9-10.2 SL.9-10.3 SL.11-12.1.a SL.11-12.2 SL.11-12.3