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The Trial of Standing Bear
(Ponca - Intermediate Level)
This lesson plan is geared toward students in grade 8 and covers history, social studies and science components. The trial of Standing Bear was the first time Native Americans were "legally" recognized as having the rights of citizens under the constitution. (Although citizenship was not actually granted until the 1920s.) Students are asked to research the case with the overall objective of understanding the effects of Indian removal on the people themselves and the consequences of the European concept of Manifest Destiny. Other objectives include student awareness of:
- The purpose and economic incentives associated with westward expansion including accounts of the removal of Indians and the Cherokees "Trail of Tears."
- The character and lasting consequences of Reconstruction, in terms of the development of federal Indian policy and the Plains wars with American Indians and the relationship to agricultural development.
- Between fact and opinion in historical narratives and stories
- The different historical points of view on historical events and the context in which the historical statements were made.
- President Andrew Jackson's defiance of a Supreme Court decision when he continued with his Indian removal policy.
"This hand is not the color of yours, but if I prick it, the blood will flow, and I shall feel pain.
The blood is of the same color as yours. God made me, and I am a man."
The blood is of the same color as yours. God made me, and I am a man."
~ Standing Bear
