Jackson Mock Trial: Did Bank Veto, Force Bill, & Indian Removal Abuse Fed Power?

Bring students to the center of your Advanced Placement United States History or secondary-level History classroom through an engaging mock trial debate activity regarding three key issues of Andrew Jackson's legacy as president.

This lesson was designed around the redesign curriculum for APUSH Period 4 (Topic 4.8 objectives) as students will either defend or prosecute Jackson on the 1832 Bank Veto, Tariff of Abominations and Force Bill Controversy with South Carolina, and the Indian Removal Act (Trail of Tears). The following lesson is loaded with AP/secondary-level skills such as crafting historical arguments using primary and secondary sources. Using precedents found in the provided Mock Trial Debate Attack Plan Guide, this activity also ends up being a great review of the significance of several John Marshall Court Cases (Gibbons v. Ogden and McCullough v. Maryland) and key documents such as the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions and South Carolina Exposition and Protest

For the mock trial debate format, students are assigned to either defend or prosecute Jackson for one issue. Students participate in a first round of presenting arguments to a jury of peers and a second round of questioning/debating the opposing group. Students will serve on the jury for the other two issues. After a Google Form vote determines the verdict, students complete a final assessment of their trial using an APUSH SAQ prompt based off the King Andrew political cartoon that has shown up on several past AP Exams. Students will find themselves experts on these topics and always leave my AP classroom with the Jackson Presidency as a strength thanks to this engaging activity.

Resources Included in this Package:

1. PowerPoint guided activity - 20 slides including learning objectives, teacher directions, argument samples, and Mock Trial directions

2. Student Prep Guide, Jury Duty, and SAQ Assessment Google Doc - All resources needed to prep, record jury notes, and complete an AP SAQ are included in a single, 4 page shareable/editable Google Doc

3. Six Attack Plan Guides (Google Doc) - Includes all links (over a dozen total), resources, primary and secondary sources, and hints for each group to develop strong arguments

4. Google Form - Students vote in the Google Form to determine the final verdict