AMERICAN STUDIES Individual and National Identity Project

Uncle Sam Trial

Instructions: For this unit, you will be participating in a trial of sorts. At stake is the very identity of our nation. There are several traits that a majority of Americans would argue exist in the character of our nation, including a love of freedom and liberty, the pursuit of justice for all, courage, fairness, compassion, equality, and strength, to name but a few. From time to time, however, events occur that make some people question whether we are all we claim to be. Your job is to examine this issue in a trial. The defendant: Uncle Sam (i.e., the American government). The charge: Violation of the character of what America stands for.

Each class will be divided into six groups, covering three separate issues (one group for the defense and one group for the prosecution for each issue). Between the two classes, there will therefore be six issues covered and six trials presented:

1. Hiroshima

2. Human Rights Violations (genocide, massacres, slavery)

- Native Americans, slavery

3. Civil Rights Violations (denial of basic constitutional rights)

- Chinese exclusion, Japanese internment, women’s rights

4. The Cold War

- includes Vietnam

5. Turn of the Century Imperialism (1898-1914)

- includes the Spanish American War

6. Isolationism vs. Internationalism in World Wars I and II

Each group will consist of four or five members, depending on class size. Each member will be responsible for acting out a different role during the trial:

1. Two will be lawyers, one of whom will give the opening statement

and the other of whom will give the closing statement in your

trial. The remainder of your questions and duties during the trial should be divided equally between the two of you.

2. Two will represent important historical political figures who were

involved with the issue and who will support your side.

3. One will represent the voice of an average person who was

personally impacted by the event.

(Note: if your group has only four members, you may eliminate either one

lawyer or one of the historical figures, but the others must be represented).

The historical figures and the average person are the witnesses who will take the stand during the trial and answer the lawyers’ questions. As you plan out what their comments will be, make sure that they represent three distinct viewpoints, not just all repeating the exact same thing as each other.

One important note to remember is that for each of the issues, there will be two groups fulfilling the roles listed above - one for the defense and one for the prosecution. It is important that you choose characters who will best promote your group’s side of the issue. For instance, if you are in the Hiroshima group that is defending Uncle Sam, it would make sense to choose someone like the President or one of his military advisors as your political figure, since they would be likely to say things in favor of our government’s actions. On the other hand, choosing the Emperor of Japan would make no sense for the defense team, but it might make sense for the prosecution’s group.

The Pre-Trial Process:

1. As a group, decide who will take what role.

2. Individually, research and collect information and ideas that will be useful in promoting your side of the case. You will need to turn in a bibliography of the sources you used in finding your information.

3. Share your information with your group and decide on what questions the lawyers should ask each witness, along with what major points each witness will be making when asked these questions.

4. Try to anticipate what the primary arguments of the opposing side would be, and include arguments in your own testimony that would refute or outweigh those opposing arguments.

5. Prepare opening and closing arguments.

6. Each group member will turn in detailed notes of the points you plan to present in the trial. (Lawyers will turn in opening and closing arguments, as well as questions, and witnesses will turn in responses to those questions). You will not simply read these during the trial; rather, they are to make sure you have prepared your ideas thoroughly.

The Trials:

1. Each trial will last 35-40 minutes. This means that both the prosecution and the defense for each issue must squeeze all of their witnesses and lawyer’s comments into that time frame, so be sure to limit your comments to the strongest points possible.

2. Opening statements by both prosecution and defense will go first.

3. Prosecution team goes next, calling all of their witnesses. When the prosecution’s lawyers have finished asking all of their questions, the defense lawyers are allowed to ask one question of one of the prosecution’s witnesses, so it should be a really strong question that could damage their case.

4. Defense team goes next, with the exact same process as in step 3, except reversing the groups.

5. Closing statements by prosecution and defense end the trial.

6. The rest of the class will be taking notes during each trial, which will be used in a writing assignment at the end of all the trials.

7. Time allowing, there will be a short question and answer period in which the audience can debate points with the witnesses.

Post-Trial Essay:

When all six trials are over, each of you will have approximately one hour to write an in-class essay explaining your judgment on the guilt or innocence of Uncle Sam in one of the other group’s trials (not your own), giving specific reasons from the trials to justify your points. You may use the notes you took during the trials when writing the essay. Your teachers will choose which trials for you to write about, so you need to be prepared for all of them.