Description
Discussion 1: Supreme Court Cases (1865-1900)
Calvo
AMH 2020
Due January 19, 11:59pm
4% of final grade
This is the first of two discussions on the history of the Supreme Court. For this assignments students will complete a few different tasks related to a Supreme Court case from the latter part of the nineteenth century.
First, students will select a case to discuss from the list below.
Second, students will discuss the historical significance of the selected case. Essentially, why is the Court’s decision important? (Avoid giving a general summary of the case)
Third, students will discuss the legal reasoning (argument) employed by both plaintiff and defendant (petitioner and respondent, appellant and appellee). (Speak to issues of constitutionality)
Fourth, students will give their own opinion about the outcome of the case. Essentially, do you support the Court’s decision and why? (Make an argument)
Select your case from the following list:
Osborn v. Nicholson (1871)
Strauder v. West Virginia (1880)
Davis v. Beason (1890)
Ex parte Milligan (1866)
Wong Wing v. US (1896)
United States v. Harris (1883)
Santa Clara v. Southern Pacific (1886)
US v. Wong Kim Ark (1898)
Ex parte Yarbrough (1884)
Munn v. Illinois (1877)
Slaughter-House cases (1873)
Pollock v. Farmers’ (1895)
Reynolds v. US (1879)
These are arranged in no particular order
Requirements for discussion.
The entire exercise should fill about 3 pages.
Standard margins.
12 point times new roman font.
In-text parenthetical citations. For example: (Foner, 3), or (Johnson, 25).
The discussion needs to reference/cite at least 2 sources. If the essay does not reference at least 2 sources, the grade will be penalized.
You can reference the Yawp.
Or, research through the following websites, or any other “academic” oriented writing.
https://www.oyez.org/cases/1850-1900
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/programs/constitution_day/landmark-cases/
https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/supreme-court-landmarks
https://constitution.congress.gov/resources/decisions-overruled/
https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/historyandtraditions.aspx
Students must respond to a classmate’s post. The response to your classmate’s discussion should be a full paragraph long.
Proofread the discussion and the response. If I can’t understand the writing, the grade will be penalized.
There is no need to consult outside sources. All of the information needed to complete this essay is found in the module.
The discussion and response to a classmates’ post should be submitted via canvas by the due date.
–Your response to every discussion prompt should be written in an argumentative format. It should answer the question in language that takes a strong position and makes your answer to the question abundantly clear. Do not simply write a narrative of events, and avoid writing a response that offers only a general discussion of the topic. Rather, write in such a way that makes clear you are trying to prove a point—to convince somebody of an argument.
–To write an argumentative essay you must have a thesis statement that presents your argument in clear and coherent language, in this case, your answer to the discussion question. The response must cite specific pieces of evidence. The evidence helps prove the argument. The evidence is sourced to the course readings.
Because there are no page numbers in the Yawp, you will cite the chapter and section. For instance: (Yawp, 13, II)—13 is the chapter, II is the section.
For the Johnson, indicate the authors and page number, for instance: (Carnegie, 100).
After completing these tasks and objectives, students will be able to:
