Lesson 3
Abraham Lincoln's Closest Advisers and Making the Dividing Decision
Essential Questions: How did Lincoln feel about the counsel he received from his cabinet? What decision did he make? Did the decision go against his personal belief and morals leaving him more of a man divided in his mission to preserve the Union?
Notes to Instructor:
- The purpose of the first document, titled Daniel Caudle's Historiography of Excerpts, is to provide the instructor with the needed background information to further the students' in class discussion and efficiently accelerate the lesson.
- The opening discussion should be directed in a way to draw the students into the lesson. Choose the style that works best for your class. The following is an example of lead questions you could use or build on to engage students, "How many people in here have ever had to make a really hard decision? How many of you sought advice from your friends, family, etc.? What would you do if the people you expected to give you the best advice were offering conflicting advice? Lincoln faced this situation. That is what we are going to explore today."
- This lesson utilizes the Jigsaw technique of instruction for the students to perform document analysis.
- This lesson should be adapted to a manner of your choosing when assigning expert and secondary groups.
Daniel Caudle's Historiography of the Excerpts:
Note to Instructor and Students:
- The images below are copies of some the original documents and advice addressed in the excerpts for this lesson. The first row is the response from General Winfield Scott to Abraham Lincoln. The second row is the cabinet meeting notes of Secretary of State William H. Seward. The third row is the cabinet meeting notes of Secretary of the Interior Caleb B. Smith. These images are provided courtesy of Dickinson College House Divided Project. http://housedivided.dickinson.edu/sites/lincoln/finding-lincoln-documents/
Directions:
- Begin class with a discussion about who students take advice from when making an important decision. This should be a short discussion, but is essential for the students to be able to make a connection with Lincoln in this lesson.
- Divide students into four "expert" groups of your choosing. The "expert" groups will each close read, review, and analyze one the of the excerpts. You may choose to enhance the "expert" group session by including the primary sources shown above. Provide time for the groups to complete their close read, analysis, and Excerpt Analysis Form, located in the resources tab. Students should only complete questions 1, 2, and 3 on the Excerpt Analysis Form at this time.
- Continuing with the Jigsaw method move students into "secondary" groups with one member from each expert group.
- Each member of the "secondary" group teaches their passage to the other members of the group. They should not read their entire excerpt, but rather summarize and highlight the main ideas and most important details.
- Each student is responsible for taking notes on the key information from the other experts within the "secondary" group. Students may want to take notes in a bullet format or graphic organizer, such as a triple T-chart. Students can take notes on a separate sheet of paper, or on their excerpt sheet.
- Move students back to their seats. Students should work independently to answer questions 4 and 5 on the Excerpt Analysis Form. These questions allow the students to reflect on what they have learned. This can be used as an exit slip.
- After some time for students to complete questions 4 and 5 independently, the teacher should facilitate student discussion focused on the essential question regarding whether or not Lincoln's decision went "against his personal belief and morals leaving him more of a man divided in his mission to preserve the Union".
- The teacher should end by asking the students to again think of whose advice they would take if their family/friends were offering conflicting advice? Ask students to think about whether or not they could put their personal feelings aside for the greater good in a difficult situation, like Lincoln had to do. Making a connection between the student's experience and Lincoln's struggle will develop more meaningful learning.
- Add any student generated questions that were not answered to the anchor chart from Lesson 2.
Excerpt 1: Library of Congress - Includes quotes from Secretary of State William H. Seward and Secretary of the Interior Caleb B. Smith:
Excerpt 2: Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as commander in Chief by James M. McPherson. Pages 11-12
Excerpt 3: Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as commander in Chief by James M. McPherson. Pages 12-13
Excerpt 4: The Foreign Policy of Abraham Lincoln by Harvey Sicherman