The Gettysburg Address
One of the troubles with getting 8th grade students excited about studying the Civil War is that they don't seem to see a point to studying all of the details, especially when it Michigan the 8th grade unit on the Civil War and Reconstruction come at the end of the school year when they are often mentally done. Keeping their interest is difficult. A teacher has to walk the fine line between overwhelming them with the immense content that is out there and them taking nothing away from the study of the most defining moment in our nation's history.
For the first day of the 2017 CWI, the biggest moment that stuck out to me was Martin Johnson's talk about Lincoln and his "Gettysburg Moment." As a historian I was engaged in the lecture and hung on every word he was saying. He talked about the drafts for the Gettysburg Address that Lincoln went through, what changes he made, why he might have made the changes, and why we have such a fascination and hold on the Gettysburg Address. His lecture would be too much for my 8th grade students. But the reflection, and lesson, that I will take away from it would be connected to them.
Lincoln was making changes to what we now know as the Gettysburg Address even in the morning before he gave the short speech. It's a lesson is revision, drafting, making changes, going over your work, etc. that even 8th graders can connect to. One of the stories Mr. Johnson told in his lecture was that on the morning of November 19, 1863, Lincoln walked part of the Gettysburg battlefield with his Secretary of State William Seward. The moment had such an impact on him (the physicality of being on the spot where it all took place) that caused him to want to revise the speech again. In pencil, on the draft that he carried in his pocket, where the part of the speech says "but we can never forget what they did here," Lincoln underlined the word "did." He was so moved by the experience that he wanted to emphasize the sacrifice of the soldiers because he knew the audience was made up of many wives, sons, daughters, family members, veterans, that had all lost someone or who were injured at Gettysburg.
The takeaway for us is simple: never be afraid to make changes to your work and know that every little change you make can have an impact. This is a lesson I will share with my students and will be good to teach the revision process (if Lincoln could do it you can!).
I bought Martin Johnson's book last night and started reading it. I have had a hard time putting it down since then! I would recommend it!
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