Abraham Lincoln : Case Study in Contextualized Thinking

Teaching history is not only about teaching students what happened in the past; its about teaching them how to think about the past. Many students instinctively employ modern perspectives when reading historical documentsa practice historians call "presentism." Students have to be taught to "think contextually," learning to recognize how the past differed from the present. In a significant study, Sam Wineburg revealed that even among teachers contextual thinking is a unique skill that needs to be intentionally developed. Wineburg and his colleagues worked with 12 pre-service teachers participating in a fifth-year certification program at the University of Washington. They asked those teachers to "think aloud" and make visible how the teachers thought about six historical documents from the nineteenth century. In this small study, being a history major turned out not to be a reliable predictor of being able to contextualize historical documents. Even college students with strong history content knowledge can fall prey to presentism. The most sophisticated historical readers, on the other hand, build a social context for the historical documents they are reading, drawing inferences from each document, establishing a spectrum of ideas for the period, and reading multiple documents in conversation with each other. Drawing Inferences from Documents Historical documents tell readers something not only about their author, but also about the world in which he or she lived. One document from the study, for instance, is a campaign speech made by Abraham Lincoln, in which Lincoln seemingly reveals deep bigotry toward African-Americans. But Lincolns words cannot be separated from the occasion on which they were uttered, the location of the debate, or the kinds of people who were in attendance. In short, the speech may tell us something about Lincoln, but it may tell us even more about middle America in 1858.

Establishing a Spectrum of Ideas In order to build a social context for understanding historical documents, students need to have a general understanding of what people thought about particular issues at that time. In the case of Lincolns comments on race, students can better understand the context in which he made them by reading documents written by defenders and opponents of slavery. Examining excerpts from white supremacist John Bell Robinson and abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, for instance, helped successful readers understand how slavery was understood in Lincolns own time. Reading Across Documents Looking at the ways in which different documents from the same period inform each other is another way of building the social context of the past. The technique, which historians call "intertextual reading," involves reading each document with the others as backdrop, weaving them together to bring to life the world of the past.

In the Classroom The past, as L.P. Hartley wrote, is a "foreign country," which means that people thought, spoke, dressed, and lived in different ways than we do today.

Think about how you can help your students understand this strange place, where people lived differently, had different rights, and believed different things. Begin by asking students to figure out where they stand on a particular issue. Then, reminding them that they are dealing with a different time and place, give them a number of documents focusing on a particular historical issue.

Have students make lists of what they can infer about the time period from these documents. How was it different from our world today? See if students can use the documents to establish a spectrum of ideas for the period, and ask them if modern perspectives fall within the poles established by that spectrum. Reminding them that they should be reading across the various documents, ask them to paint a general picture of this past world.

Sample Application The two excerpts below are from think aloud exercises with two participants in the study. While those participants were teachers rather than students, they nevertheless reflect the same strengths and weaknesses exhibited by younger readers. Take a look at the first one: Lincoln was not so much...working in the interest of the black man, for altruistic sense. . . hes not giving them equality in personhood. The criticism that Lincoln is not giving African-Americans equality in personhood is a distinctly modern one that ignores the fact that Lincoln was operating in a very different time in American history. Further, the reader draws conclusions about what Lincoln stood for, ignoring the fact that Lincoln was speaking in the context of a political campaign. Now take a look at how the second reader approaches a historical text: . . . I get the feeling that he is wrestling with something that doesnt really have a good solution. This is the best you can have for now. . . He was real onedimensional in the first article, kind of a slimy politician. Then he has another side with the letter to Mary Speed, kind of human. And now this is again another, its beginning to fill out, but now I see him more as the chief executive and trying to deal with problems, trying to balance a war, thinking ahead, what are we going to do after the war and sort of coming up withand this is prior to the Emancipation Proclamation. Is this prior to the Emancipation Proclamation? Yes, this is prior. So, I mean he may have had this idea in mind, so hes thinking forward, and how are we going to deal with this huge number of slaves? Maybe colonizing is certainly a viable option in 1862. It kind of reminds me of what the British did with Australia. Ship all the undesirables down to Australia

Abraham Lincoln Leadership Who was He?

Abraham Lincoln is the 16th President of the United States and deemed by many scholars as the greatest President of the United States. He led the Republicans to defeat the Confederates who were challenging for a democratic United States. As President, he built the Republican Party into a strong national organization, and abolished slavery within the Confederacy. A Quick History

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks in a small town in Kentucky. Lincolns childhood had been full of events, with his family having to be forced to be moved to Indiana due to them losing the rights to their land in Kentucky. Lincoln only spent 18 months in formal school but much of his education was from reading himself. Lincoln was a really talented person, able to wrestle, and a skilled axe wielder. He could also very talented in storytelling and often entertained a lot of his friends in meetings. Lincoln began his political career at the young age of 23, and 5 years later, he began his first protest against slavery. Also, he protested against the war in Mexico, saying that President Polk was doing it for his own glory. This speaking against the President caused him to lose his footing the political scene, but he would spend the next several years speaking against slavery as a citizen. Lincoln would be twice an unsuccessful candidate for election to the U.S. Senate before his election as the 16th President of the United States. As he would become the President of the United States, many states who would disapprove of his appointment made it clear that they would leave the Union. These states became the Confederate States of America.

The Union and the Confederates would eventually cause the American Civil War. This war would last for 4 years, and end with the surrender of General Lee and the Confederate armies. He would spend most of his time after the war to reconstruct the United States and rally the people once again together through his speeches and rhetorics. Lincoln would later be assassinated by an actor named Booth while he was attending a play. Abraham Lincoln Leadership Lessons

1. Dont give up Abraham Lincoln showed the power of persistence as he continued to run for positions in the U.S Senate even though he was already rejected twice. This persistence paid off when he became the 16th President of the United States. Your strength as a leader and as a person shows in your persistence in pursuing a goal and a vision. Lincoln wanted to see slavery abolished in the US, and he kept at it until it happened. Similarly, whatever cause youre pursuing; whatever goal youre chasing, remember to just keep at it. Youll reach it eventually if you dont give up. 2.Having the desire to learn Although Abraham Lincoln never went through a lot of formal schooling, he never lost the desire to learn; and it showed in his immense interest in reading and during the war; a great curiosity about war strategy. This desire made him a great public speaker and also one of the most quoted person in history. He had so much wisdom that people today still quote him, and scholars consider him the most excellent of all the US Presidents. You must have a desire to learn as a leader. It is what keeps you growing and gives you wisdom and ability to handle bigger issues and solve bigger problems. If you want to become a leader of influence, then a continual attitude of learning is a must.

Related Books on Abraham Lincoln Leadership

I Recommend

Abraham Lincoln James M. McPherson $9.48

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abrah Doris Kearns Goodwi $14.28

Lincoln David Herbert Donald $13.60

A. Lincoln: A Biography Ronald C. White Jr. ( $5.04 12>

Get WidgetPrivacy <A HREF="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPla ce=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fleawityou-20%2F8001%2Fe0a76aeb-cb6c4a41-8e8d-1184dbd282a8&Operation=NoScript">Amazon.com Widgets</A> Best Quotes from Abraham Lincoln Leadership

A friend is one who has the same enemies as you have. A house divided against itself cannot stand. . All my life I have tried to pluck a thistle and plant a flower wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind. Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other. Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them? America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable - a most sacred right - a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world. As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. As our case is new, we must think and act anew. Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm. Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.

Don't worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition. Everybody likes a compliment. MORE ABRAHAM LINCOLN LEADERSHIP QUOTES Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth. He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help. I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it. I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday. I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end. I don't like that man. I must get to know him better. I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice. MORE ABRAHAM LINCOLN LEADERSHIP QUOTES I hope to stand firm enough to not go backward, and yet not go forward fast enough to wreck the country's cause. I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him. I walk slowly, but I never walk backward.

I will prepare and some day my chance will come. If there is anything that a man can do well, I say let him do it. Give him a chance. If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will. Important principles may, and must, be inflexible. In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt. Lets have faith that right makes might; and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it. MORE ABRAHAM LINCOLN LEADERSHIP QUOTES Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be. My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure. Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. Some single mind must be master, else there will be no agreement in anything. Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves. That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well. The way for a young man to rise is to improve himself in every way he can, never suspecting that anybody wishes to hinder him. These men ask for just the same thing, fairness, and fairness only. This, so far as in my power, they, and all others, shall have.

Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored. Whatever you are, be a good one. When I am getting ready to reason with a man, I spend one-third of my time thinking about myself and what I am going to say and two-thirds about him and what he is going to say. You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence. You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.