MVHS students stage mock trial of Andrew Jackson in IB History class

On Monday, November 18, 2024, students of Cesar Olivares’ History of the Americas class produced the second installment of their trials of Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States. Every student in Mr. Olivares’ class participated in the mock trial by playing the roles of judge, jury, prosecutor, defense attorney and notable people in Andrew Jackson’s life. 

The History of the Americas course is a part of Mount Vernon High School’s International Baccalaureate (IB) Program. In this class, students learn about key historical moments in North and Latin America. Mr. Oliveras is instructing students with the required knowledge to succeed on their History Internal Assessment (IA), at the end of the school year. These assessments are a crucial component of IB courses.

“Andrew Jackson is a controversial figure so he lends himself to an exercise like this,” said Mr. Olivares. “I want to challenge them to try something different. It can be scary and they’re a little bit nervous. They’re getting comfortable being uncomfortable, and that’s good.” 

Students prepared research for a week on Andrew Jackson’s controversial policies and actions as president. It was required of them to go to the Mount Vernon Public Library and check out a book surrounding Andrew Jackson’s presidency. They wrote either a five-page Chicago-style paper or a one-page in-depth character synopsis to perform on stage amongst their classmates. 

“I was kind of nervous at first,” said Dashon Brown, an 11th-grade student at MVHS and member of Andrew Jackson’s defense team. “But by the second witness, it was more easygoing. I’ve learned more about Andrew Jackson and how the law worked back then!” 

As the class went on, the exercise got less daunting as the students got to examine and cross-examine many different “witness” characters in the Andrew Jackson trial. By the end of the class period, there was a light-hearted and confident feeling among the students.  

The court was adjourned at the sound of the bell, leaving a few more witnesses to be examined in their next class before the jury could cast their vote and the judge could make her final decision on Andrew Jackson. 

“I feel really powerful,” said Venessa Thompson, an 11th-grader who has been assigned the role of judge in this trial. “I’m up there making all of the decisions. I’ve learned a lot about how a presidency works and about the Indian Removal Act of 1830 from this exercise and doing research for my research paper.”