A Bank, a Library, and a Hospital
The Legacy of
Benjamin F. Harris and Julia F. Burnham
Peggy Christensen
Summer Fellowship
2007
To download this lesson in PDF format, click here.
Lesson Five:
Students will continue to examine ways in which primary sources about B.F.
Harris reflect the history of the period when he lived. In this lesson, they
will consider the role Harris played on a national level shortly after Abraham
Lincoln was elected president and prior to the Emancipation Proclamation and
the Gettysburg Address. They will be reading a few pages from his autobiography
where he discussed his trip to Washington to offer support to his old friend,
Abraham Lincoln. To understand why Harris felt he was needed, students should
be aware that prior to his visit, several states had seceded from the Union to join
with South Carolina and form the Confederate States of America.
Procedure:
- Discuss
the climate in the North and South following the 1860 election of Abraham
Lincoln. Divide students into groups and have them research the events
that led to these three famous documents: Surrender of Fort Sumter,
Emancipation Proclamation, and the Gettysburg Address. A group might also
do a timeline showing major national events during the period between 1860
and 1864. Each group should share its information with the rest of the
class.
- The
class should then read pages 56, 57, and 58 from Benjamin HarrisŐs
autobiography. These pages could be divided into four sections with
discussion following each division. The top two-thirds of page 56 deals
with the outbreak of war and Henry H. HarrisŐs departure to serve with the
Union troops. In the next section from the bottom third of page 56 to the
top fourth of page 57, Harris discussed his reason for going to
Washington. The third section on the rest of page 57 and the very top of
page 58 describes LincolnŐs reaction to HarrisŐs arrival. Stop here.
- Hand
out the event map that students will complete once they have read the rest
of page 58, which is an account of the death of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth.
Once their maps have been completed, discuss and collect them.
Attachments:
- http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.
Go to 100 milestone documents to view these documents and
background information: Surrender of Fort Sumter, Emancipation Proclamation,
Gettysburg Address.
- Graphic
Organizer: Event Map
Analysis of Local Primary Sources: Three pages from the Harris autobiography, Notes of B.F. Harris,
Sr., are examined in this lesson. This book can be found at the Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free
Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.
- Ties
to National Primary Source: The
following speeches are introduced in this lesson: Surrender of Fort
Sumter, Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg Address.
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