ASOCIALORPOLITICALHERO?

ASTRUCTURED ACADEMICCONTROVERSY (SAC)withJOSHUAL.CHAMBERLAIN

TheControversy:DidJoshuaChamberlaincometoberememberedasaherobecause his deedsled toa great militaryand politicalvictoryduring theAmerican CivilWar. Or, wasChamberlain’sherostatusattributable tothefactthathischaracterandlifestory embodied somany traits(likehonororduty)valuedin19thcenturyAmerican society?

SideA

“Chamberlain was a politicalheroandwasworth rememberingbecauseheclinched a Unionvictoryat

Little Round Top duringtheBattleofGettysburg.”

SideB

“Chamberlainwasa social herobecauseof thecompellingnature ofhis lifestory,hisapparentlyclean character,andhis strongsenseofhonorandduty.”

STEPI. ReadingandPreparation (~30Minutes).

a.Usingthearticlesbelow,findevidencetosupport yourteam’ssideofthecontroversy.Craft your positionin2-3 well-written,evidence-based statementsthatdrawdirectly onthe texts provided.

DocumentListforSideA:

DocumentA:Reportof Col. Joshua L. Chamberlain,Twentieth MaineInfantry.

GettysburgCampaign. July6, 1863.

DocumentB:Tom Desjardin,StandFirm,YeBoysfromMaine(NewYork:Oxford

UniversityPress, 2009).

Document C:“LettertotheGovernorofMaineafterGettysburg.”BangorWhigand

Courier,Jul.1863.

DocumentD:“A BayonetChargetheLastHope.”(Medal of HonorRecommendation).

1893.

DocumentListforSideB:

DocumentA:LetterfromJoshua L.ChamberlaintoGovernor [Israel]Washburn, Brunswick, July14,1862.

DocumentB:EloiseJordon, ”Joshua Chamberlain:One ofMaine’sGreatestMen,”

LewistonJournal,1982.

Document C:MartinPengelly, “TheMaineLessonof Gettysburg:Real HistoryisNever

SoRomanticasReel,”TheGuardian, 2013.

DocumentD:Letter fromJoshua L.Chamberlaintohis father,Brunswick, February20,

1865.

STEPII.PositionPresentation (~10-15Minutes).

a.SideA clearly presents theirpositionusingsupportingevidencefromthetexts.

b.SideB restatesto SideA’s satisfaction.

c.SideBpresentstheir positionusingsupportingevidencefrom thetexts.

d.SideA restatestoSideB’s satisfaction.

STEPIII. Building Consensus(~30minutes). a.Abandonoriginalroles.

b.Buildconsensus regardingthecontroversy (oratleastclarify whereyour differenceslie).In

collaborationwithyour peers,andusingsupporting evidence,craftastatementof consensus that works toreconcilebothelementsoftheherocontroversy.

Consider thefollowingquestionsasyoucraftyourstatements:

What typeof herowasJoshua Chamberlain?

Which pieces ofevidenceweremostusefulinthis exerciseandwhy?Which sources werelessuseful?

What lingeringquestions doyouhaveaboutsourcesandideas encountered?

RecordConsensusStatementBelow:

STEPIV: Wrap-up(Timeremaining).

a.Whole-groupsharingofconsensusstatements

b.Openconversationabouttheexercise,lessons learned, historicalthinking,etc.

STEPV: MakingSense of itall(Homework/Out-of-Class).

Inawell-written 400-500wordessay, provideyour own positiononthenatureof Joshua L. Chamberlain’sheroism.In yourmind, whywasChamberlainconsideredtobe a hero?Doweknow of any modern Chamberlain-likefigures? Do youthinkthat conceptionsof heroismhavechangedatall? Whyorwhynot?

Greatessays willconsidereach of thepromptsabove, will befreeofgrammatical errors, andwill makethoughtfuluse ofselectsourcesencountered inthe SAC.