Sacco & Sacco & Vanzetti: Guilty Vanzetti: Guilty

as Chargedas Charged

John RiemenschneiderJohn RiemenschneiderHolland Patent Middle SchoolHolland Patent Middle School

Grade 8Grade 8jriemenschneider@hpschools.orgjriemenschneider@hpschools.org

Was the Government Right Was the Government Right to Execute Sacco & to Execute Sacco &

Vanzetti?Vanzetti?Directions: In your small group you will complete the following

task.

1) Read the summary first to get a good understanding of the case

2) Analyze each slide and the document/picture/graphic on each slide

3) Determine if the document provides evidence for the execution of Sacco & Vanzetti or evidence supporting their innocence

4) After you have gone through all the slides, determine as a group if the Sacco & Vanzetti should have been executed. You must answer this part in Short Response format. *This will utilize the first two steps of

the PPA:

1. Define the Problem

2. Gather Evidence

Review: Overview of TrialReview: Overview of TrialSacco and Vanzetti were accused of the murders of Frederick Parmenter, a paymaster, and Alessandro Berardelli, a security guard, at the Slater-Morrill Shoe Company, on Pearl Street in Braintree Massachusetts during the afternoon of April 15, 1920. Vanzetti was further charged with the theft of $15,776.51 from the company.Police suspicions regarding the Braintree robbery-murder and an earlier attempted robbery in Bridgewater, Massachusetts  centered on local Italian anarchists. While neither Sacco nor Vanzetti had a criminal record, the authorities knew them as radical militants and adherents of Luigi Gallenaei Police connected the crimes and the recent activities of the Galleanist anarchist movement, speculating that the robbers were motivated by the need to finance more bombings.

The two men were arrested in Brockton, Massachusetts on May 5, 1920, after appearing at a garage to pick up a car that police believed was used in the robberies. Both had pistols on them, along with anarchist literature, and Vanzetti was carrying shotgun shells similar to those used in the holdups.

Vanzetti was first tried for the armed robbery in Bridgewater and convicted. Both men were then tried for the Braintree crimes and convicted. After several failed appeals over six years, Sacco and Vanzetti were executed in the electric chair on August 23, 1927

Source: http://saccoandvanzetti.org/

The EvidenceThe Evidence

Click on the link here to look over the evidence from the trial.

Make sure you look through the entire list to see all of the evidence.

• Click Click here for a poem about the for a poem about the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti trial of Sacco and Vanzetti

Source: http://superitch.com/?p=11510

Reminder!

Use the skills taught to you during this year to analyze political cartoons.

Make sure you identify people/symbols

Read all text

Determine the overall message of the author

Source: http://bill.ballpaul.net/iaph/main.php?g2_itemId=1078

Was the Government Right Was the Government Right to Execute Sacco & to Execute Sacco &

Vanzetti?Vanzetti?• Now that you have looked at the Now that you have looked at the

evidence, read a poem and looked at evidence, read a poem and looked at some political cartoons, decide as a some political cartoons, decide as a group if Massachusetts had enough group if Massachusetts had enough evidence to execute Sacco & evidence to execute Sacco & Vanzetti. Remember to use the short Vanzetti. Remember to use the short answer format used in ELA & Social answer format used in ELA & Social Studies! You may type your response Studies! You may type your response if you would like. if you would like.