Teacher Resources: Lesson Plan

Women's Property Rights: Supreme Court Decisions over Time

Overview

This lesson will explore Court rulings regarding the property rights of women. Students will examine cases and decisions, and complete reflective journal entries from the perspective of one of the parties from at least three of the cases reviewed.

National Curriculum Standards met by this lesson

For a list of standards that this unit addresses, click here.

Time Required

This lesson will take three traditional class periods if reading and writing are done outside of class.

Materials

  1. Internet connection to utilize History of the Supreme Court Website
  2. Library Resources
  3. Copies of Court decisions for:
    • Voorhees v. Bonesteel
    • Sykes v. Chadwick
    • Barrett v. Failing
    • Drury v. Roster
    • Reed v. Reed
    • Israel v. Arthur 152 U.S. 355 (1894)
    • Bennett v. Bennett 208 U.S. 505 (1908)
    • Thompson v. Thompson 218 U.S. 611 (1910)
    • Williams v. Paine 169 U.S. 55 (1898)
    • Kirchberg v. Feenstra 450 U.S. 455 (1981)
    • Hamilton v. Rathbone 175 U.S. 414 (1899)
    • Fleitas v. Richardson 147 U.S. 550 (1893)

These cases can be found on the:
http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/index.html

The Lesson

Anticipatory Set

  1. Make sure students are familiar with the following terms:
    • feme sole
    • property rights
    • status
    • coverture
    • additional terms as identified by the teacher
  2. Students can use the K.I.M. strategy (below) to help them remember these key vocabulary words.
  3. Students should read: (below)
    • Marriage Protest 1832 Robert Dale Owen
    • Marriage Protest 1855 Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell

Discuss the statements, their significance, and place in context of society at that time in history.

Marriage Protest 1832 Robert Dale Owen

Radical Robert Dale Owen issued the following statement on the occasion of his 1832 wedding to Mary Jane Robinson, to protest the state of law by which women lost property and other legal rights upon marriage.

Of the unjust rights which in virtue of this ceremony an iniquitous law gives me over the person and property of another, I cannot legally, but I can morally, divest myself. And I hereby distinctly and emphatically declare that I consider myself, and earnestly desire to be considered by others, as utterly divested, now and during the rest of my life, of any such rights, the barbarous relics of a feudal, despotic system.

Marriage Protest 1855 Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell

The following declaration was signed by Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell prior to their May 1, 1855 marriage. The Rev. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, who performed the marriage, not only read the statement at the ceremony, but also distributed it to other ministers as a model that he urged other couples to follow.

While acknowledging our mutual affection by publicly assuming the relationship of husband and wife, yet in justice to ourselves and a great principle, we deem it a duty to declare that this act on our part implies no sanction of, nor promise of voluntary obedience to such of the present laws of marriage, as refuse to recognize the wife as an independent, rational being, while they confer upon the husband an injurious and unnatural superiority, investing him with legal powers which no honorable man would exercise, and which no man should possess. We protest especially against the laws which give to the husband:

  1. The custody of the wife's person.
  2. The exclusive control and guardianship of their children.
  3. The sole ownership of her personal, and use of her real estate, unless previously settled upon her, or placed in the hands of trustees, as in the case of minors, lunatics, and idiots.
  4. The absolute right to the product of her industry.
  5. Also against laws which give to the widower so much larger and more permanent interest in the property of his deceased wife, than they give to the widow in that of the deceased husband.
  6. Finally, against the whole system by which "the legal existence of the wife is suspended during marriage," so that in most States, she neither has a legal part in the choice of her residence, nor can she make a will, nor sue or be sued in her own name, nor inherit property.
  7. We believe that personal independence and equal human rights can never be forfeited, except for crime; that marriage should be an equal and permanent partnership, and so recognized by law; that until it is so recognized, married partners should provide against the radical injustice of present laws, by every means in their power...

After reading, the students should write a quick reflection on how the public may have responded to the protest statements and why. Then explain to students that they will examine the legal challenges in the Supreme Court that centered on the property rights of women.

Procedures

  1. The students should review the first section of The Court and Gender Essay prior to the start of the lesson.
  2. The class should be divided into pairs. The students should work in pairs reviewing the Supreme Court cases.
  3. As students review the cases, they should take notes on the "Supreme Court Case Analysis Worksheet".(below)
  4. Using the "Pairs Compare" strategy, students should review their analysis of the cases.

Pairs Compare Strategy

Students work in pairs to create a list of answers to a question or task, compare their list with another pair, and then work as a teams to find additional information if needed.

The teacher should review the key facts of the cases with the whole class.

Assessment

The students will select three of the cases from different time periods for the assessment. Fore each case, the student should select one of the parties involved and create three personal journal entries from the perspective of the involved party. The journal entries should include their position, how they feel about the current law and the premise of the case, and a reflection of how other events and issues in the United States may impact the case.

Journal Entry Rubric

A journal entry reveals a person through their writing. The journal focuses on the subject as well as the writer's relationship with the subject. Students may use the rubric to evaluate their own papers; teachers may use it for evaluate student work.

0=not evident

1=minimal evidence of mastery

2=adequate evidence of mastery

3=strong evidence of mastery

4=outstanding evidence of mastery

___ Opening: The writer begins with a strong lead--dialogue, sensory description--to draw the reader into the journal.

___ Significance: The writer provides the reader with an understanding of the subject's importance.

___ Details: The writer includes details to help visualize the subject.

___ Dialogue or other devices: The writer uses dialogue or other literary devices to reconstruct an incident in which the character is revealed

___ Tone: The writer establishes a tone that clearly conveys his/her attitude toward the subject.

___ Coherence: The writer ties together memories or anecdotes in a way that makes sense.

___ Ending: The writer ends with a final assertion--a reflection on the subject, an anecdote.

___ Showing Writing: The writer shows rather than tells throughout the journal entry.

KIM strategy

K. I. M.

Write the term or key idea (K) in the left column, the information (I) that goes along with it in the center column, and draw a picture of the idea, a memory clue, (M) in the right column.

The key idea may be a new vocabulary work, or a new concept. The information may be a definition or it may be a more technical explanation of the concept. The memory clue is a way for students to fully integrate the meaning of the key idea into their memories. By making a simple sketch that explains the key idea, students synthesize and interpret the new information, making it their own. Then, students can reference their drawings to easily remember new key ideas.

K

Key Idea

I

Information

M

Memory Clue

Popular sovereignty

Political power rests with the people who can create, alter, or abolish government.

Unrestricted submarine warfare

A German policy during World War I designed to challenge the supremacy of the British fleet in the Atlantic Ocean. Unrestricted submarine warfare was one of the main reasons for the entry of the United States into World War I.


K

Key Idea

I

Information

M

Memory Clue
     
     
     
     
     

 

Supreme Court Case Analysis Worksheet

Case

Year

Issue

Ruling

Events in U.S. History
   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 
   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 
   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

Pairs Compare Strategy

Students work in pairs to create a list of answers to a question or task, compare their list with another pair, and then work as a teams to find additional information if needed.

  1. Divide class into pairs
  2. Pairs complete the task
  3. Two groups join together to share answers and information
  4. Group conducts further research into the task if needed