This lesson plan helps teachers contextualize the Dred Scott decision by exploring a variety of freedom suits brought by other enslaved Black people in St. Louis during the first half of the 19th century.
Students read five different case summaries in a carousel activity, predicting if the plaintiffs achieved freedom or not. Teachers can use the lesson to demonstrate how African Americans used the legal system to obtain freedom. Teachers can also link these cases to the more famous cases brought by Dred and Harriet Scott, which ultimately reshaped notions of freedom and citizenship in the United States.
FREEDOM SUITS MEMORIAL FOUNDATION 