in The Origins and Development of American Legal History in New York City(1609-1865)
Lesson 5
Created by Dr. Aaron Welt,
Judith S Kaye Teaching Fellow
NYS Common Core Grades 11 & 12:
United States History and Government
Participation in Government and Civics
This series of five lesson plans is designed to familiarize upper-level high school and college students with the early history of American law, with a specific focus on New York City. These lesson plans utilize online resources provided by the Historical Society of the New York Courts and aim to introduce students to the major events and turning points that help us understand how American law, courts, and the criminal justice system developed in early US history. The lesson plans are divided chronologically and thematically, but are meant to be instructed in conversation with one another. For each of the outlined class activities, students should write down their answers and submit them to the instructor.
This lesson plan meets the following guidelines of New York State’s Common Core Social Studies Framework (2017):
The Historical Society’s website contains a wealth of related resources, including descriptions of the cases and biographies of the judges who decided the cases.
The Lemmon Slave Case: The Superior Court Judgment
The Lemmon Slave Case
Judicial Notice Article
Louis Napoleon
Conductor on the Underground Railroad
Chester Arthur
Lawyer for the Enslaved People
John Jay
Lawyer for the Enslaved People
Erastus Culver
Lawyer for the Enslaved People
Henry Lapaugh
Lawyer for the Lemmons
Elijah Paine
Superior Court Judge
The Lemmon Slave Case: Appeals to the Court of Appeals
William Evarts
Lawyer for New York
Charles O’Conor
Lawyer for the Lemmons
Samuel Foot
Former Court of Appeals Judge
William Wright
Court of Appeals Judge, Affirmed
Hiram Denio
Court of Appeals Judge, Affirmed
Thomas Clerke
Court of Appeals Judge, Dissented
George Comstock
Court of Appeals Judge, Dissented
Samuel Selden
Court of Appeals Judge, Dissented
Elizabeth Jennings v. Third Avenue Railroad Co.
Jennings v. Third Avenue Railroad Co.
1854
Chester Arthur
Lawyer for Elizabeth Jennings
Hon. William Rockwell
Brooklyn Circuit Court Judge
New York City Draft Riot Cases
Court Cases Related to the New York City Draft Riots
1864
Hon. John McCunn
New York City Judge
Hon. Samuel Nelson
Justice of the New York Supreme Court of Judicature
Image Citation: The New York Public Library, The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture Collection
New York’s Courts and the People Behind Them
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