Senior Kaitlyn Bailey completes first Honors Capstone Defense of Fall 2019

Kaitlyn Bailey defended her Honors Capstone/Ashbrook Thesis, “Answering the Battle Cry of Freedom: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and the Call to Noble Action” to a packed room in the Ashbrook center. During the Battle of Gettysburg, Chamberlain’s 20^thMaine regiment defended Little Round Top and prevented Union forces from being flanked by Confederate forces.  Kaitlyn argued, “by understanding the call to noble action, one can better understand the experiences Chamberlain and his men had during the Civil War.” In her view, Chamberlain saw slavery as the cause of the Civil War, which, as its “vital point,” gave the conflict its character.

Kaitlyn argued that Chamberlain believed that only some men can hear the call to noble action; in the second part of her thesis, she analyzed the kind of character required to hear the call to noble action. She concluded with how the call to noble action and the character required to hear it apply today.  Kaitlyn’s plans after graduation are to pursue a Ph.D. in history.