Shit I Have to Teach in Twenty Minutes
A podcast for history teachers or anyone in a hurry. Eric and Rob interview historians about what are the important concepts about a given topic and they provide free lesson plans aligned with that discussion.
Shit I Have to Teach in Twenty Minutes
27. Dred Scott in Context with Anne Twitty
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Rob and Eric are joined by Dr. Anne Twitty to explore how to provide greater context for the momentous Dred Scott Decision. Dr. Twitty is an Associate Professor of History at Stanford University and the author of the book, Before Dred Scott: Slavery and Legal Culture in the American Confluence, 1787-1857. She begins by explaining that Dred Scott was not alone in his legal pursuit of freedom. He sued alongside his wife, Harriet, and their two children, and he followed a long line of freedom suit plaintiffs who sued for their freedom in both the nation and St. Louis. Second, she explains that Dred Scott had every reason to expect his suit would be successful because similar suits had resulted in freedom for the plaintiff. She discusses the networks among enslaved people that helped circulate information in the community about how to file suit. She notes that in addition to St. Louis, there were clusters of earlier freedom suits in Virginia and Maryland from the 17th century through the post-revolutionary time period, and there were freedom suits in many other locations. She concludes by discussing how Chief Justice Taney used the Dred Scott case as an opportunity to make broad and exclusionary claims about Black rights and citizenship that were ultimately nullified by the Reconstruction amendments.
Lesson Plans and resources:
The “St. Louis Freedom Suits” lesson can be found at https://bit.ly/4xNcpKx
Other Resources
The Freedom Suits Memorial Foundation can be found at https://stlfreedomsuits.org/
The Dred Scott Heritage Foundation can be found at https://thedredscottfoundation.org
Credits
Opening theme music, “Bossa Bossa,” created by Clare Howard www.clarehoward.com Music supported by the National Council for History Education www.ncheteach.org
Transition theme music, “The Clock is Ticking,” created by Emily Hahn.
Logo artwork created by Jessica Goldman.
Shit I Have to Teach in 20 Minutes is produced by Eric Hahn and Rob Good. Audio and video editing by Sebastian Rosales.
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