This lesson focuses on the constitutional arguments for and
against the enactment of federal anti-lynching legislation in
the early 1920s. Students will participate in a simulation game
that enacts a fictitious Senate debate of the Dyer Anti-Lynching
Bill. As a result of completing this activity, students will
gain a better understanding of the federal system, the
legislative process, and the difficulties social justice
advocates encountered. This lesson will look at the partisan
political issues which emerged in the election of 1864 around
Abraham Lincoln's role as a wartime president. Through an
examination of primary documents, students will focus on
Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus, the Emancipation
Proclamation, his decision to arm the freed slaves, his refusal
to accept a compromise peace with the South, and the election of
1864. Did the increased right to vote translate into an increase
in the percentage and totals of white males who actually voted?
Students will look for connections between the c