Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's Powerful Words

Throughout Earth’s history, people have made powerful speeches which lead others in making decisions for a greater good. One person who made a powerful speech was Winston Churchill in World War 2. His speech I have nothing to offer but blood, sweat, toil and tears was said when he was speaking to the Houses of Parliament on accepting the job as Prime Minister for England, in which he also rejected a deal made by Nazi Germany and instead wanted to carry on the fight against them by not yet surrendering. Another person who made a powerful speech about not giving up was Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain when he addressed 120 mutineers. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was a Colonel of the 20th Maine Regiment during the Civil War. On June 29th, 1863 Colonel …show more content…
Some powerful words he used were found towards the end of his speech and it states in the text, “...we’re worth something more than dirt”(Shaara 8). These words fight for a greater good, which is what most likely what the mutineers felt when they heard. After hearing Chamberlain’s speech the mutineers must have felt a need of change in their decisions because in that powerful sentence it gave them value. Another set of powerful words from Chamberlain’s speech that must have affected them can be found in the final line of his speech. It states in the text, “What we’re fighting for, in the end, is each other”(Shaara 8). These words showed the mutineers that they are fighting for something much more, that what they are really fighting for is to still stay united. These words provoked the change of the mutineers decisions because after hearing these words they went on to join Chamberlain. It states in the book Killer Angels, “ Tom grinned hugely, “Would you believe it? All but six.” “How many?” “I counted, by actual count, one hundred and fourteen.” “Well.” Chamberlain rubbed his nose astounded. “Get all the names and start assigning them to different companies. I don't want them bunched up, spread them out”(Shaara 9). This explains that after just hearing Chamberlain’s speech the mutineers want to rejoin the Union army in their fight against the Confederates. …show more content…
The movie enhanced his words by showing us his emotions, the tone in his voice, his facial expressions, and his stance actions. In the movie when Chamberlain gives his speech to the mutineers, his face is stern and his body posture is definitive, but as he gives his speech he starts to show us his emotions as he sheds a couple tears over his own words and the tone in his voice goes from being confident to being emotional. An example from the scene is Chamberlain’s words from his speech, and he states, “You go ahead and talk for awhile” *sniff* “You talk for awhile”.(Gettysburg) This shows that Chamberlain's speech was even more enhanced in the movie because it reveals to us his emotions. Which his emotions weren’t even shown that much during his speech in the book Killer