Rosie the Riveter? Can they really imagine a world without
cell phones and automobiles? Perhaps at the end of a course
of study, but how do teachers get them there?
Military history provides an effective tool for building this
capacity for understanding. Students have little trouble
comprehending the outcomes of military decisions: Armies
either win or lose. Where the subtle, decades-long impact of an
election might escape students, even the novice understands
the difference between victory and defeat. The consequences
of decisions, the effects of leadership, and the impact of
individual efforts revealed in military history provide students
with clear insight into the chain of causality. Even the effects
of chance events, such as the storm that battered the Spanish
Armada, emerge from the mosaic of military history. No other
historical subject makes history so accessible to students who
are still developing historical awareness.
The battle for Little Round Top in Gettysburg provides one
useful example. Though the battle took place within the much
larger context of the Civil War, students need not understand
this context to grasp the essentials: If Little Round Top had
fallen into Confederate hands, the battle would have been lost.
The details of the struggle over this small piece of ground
illustrate the historical processes from the macro to the micro
level: General Sickles disobeyed General Meade’s orders,
thus endangering the entire Union line. General Warren
recognized the danger and took corrective action. Through
Colonel Chamberlain’s leadership and the collective efforts
of the commanders and Soldiers of the 20th Maine, the 83rd
Pennsylvania, the 44th New York, and the 16th Michigan,
the Confederate assaults were repulsed. The Union held the
Colonel Robert Gould Shaw commanded the 54th Massachusetts
Infantry, one of the first African-American units in the Civil War. Col.
Shaw was killed leading his men in an attack on Fort Wagner, South
Carolina, on July 18, 1863. Digital copies of his letters home and
other materials relating to his service are available online at Harvard
University. http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu//oasis/deliver/deepLink?_
collection=oasis&uniqueId=hou00649 (Photo Courtesy of the U.S. Army
Heritage and Education Center)
ground, leading to a third day of battle and the Confederate defeat following Pickett’s Charge. Though it was not immediately
obvious at the time, this defeat represented the end of the last, best chance the South would have to win the war, and marked the
beginning of the end of the Confederacy. Thus the successful defense of Little Round Top had a significant impact on the outcome
of the battle, the war, and the history of the United States.
Forgetting that Little Round Top represents a pivotal point in U.S. history (a fact some historians challenge), this story lays
bare the essential elements of the historical process. Leadership, geography, individual efforts, action, and reaction combined
to produce outcomes. Simple counterfactual examples serve to illustrate to the student the significance of each element of the
process: What if Sickles had stuck to the plan? No battle. What if Warren had been less observant or Chamberlain had been a poor
leader? A battle lost. What if the soldiers had not fought so well and so hard? Again, a battle lost. Military history provides many
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opportunities to ask simple questions like these that can lead students to understanding.
NATIONAL HISTORY DAY 2015