US History
USDE Grant- Region 20
Gilded Age Unit
Chapters 5-8: The Americans, McDougal
Chapters 23-26: American Pageant, Kennedy, Bailey
Chapters 19-23: America, Tindall, Shi
Greg Johnston
Based on a Web quest by Thomas Caswell and Joshua Delorenza (1998-2001)
Big Picture/Essential Questions.
How and why did business grow in the 19th century?
Why and how did wealth impact business and immigration?
Why and how did technology impact American life?
Why and how the creation of political did machines both aid society
and creates an environment for corruption?
What impact did the gilded age have on cultural assimilation?
Analyze how these issues created a cycle that continues to spin into the
Progressive Era.
Engage / Experiential Exercise: 1890’s Assembly line simulation
Debrief Questions: Students write down your responses immediately after completing the
simulation.
1. What technological advances did you experience while on the assembly line?
2. What changed when your factory moved to the city?
3. What groups of people moved to the city and what was life like?
4. What were working conditions like in the assembly line?
5. Were there any methods your workers used to try to get better conditions?
6. Were labor attempts successful?
7. What impact did new immigrants have on the work environment?
8. How much control did you have over your life?
Student Instructions
1. For each segment, students should use the template to take and research each of the
content areas. Explore the web sites listed to add to your core knowledge of the
Gilded Age.
2. In a braided notebook (3-ring), combine your segments; separating each with a tab.
Guided questions should follow each segment.
3. Final essay will be placed in a tab at the end of the project.
Gilded Age Interactions
Using the graphic organizer below, write the causes, issues, and primary people who influenced the
Gilded Age in each of the segment areas. In the star indicate the effects of the issues on each of the
segments.
Politics
Urbanization
Technology
Gilded
Age
Big Business
Immigration
Explore
CONTENT
Big Business Segment
Laissez-faire capitalism ruled the day during the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the United
States. In this atmosphere of unbridled money-making, numerous types of business organizations
gave rise to Big Business. Were the leaders of these companies Captains of Industry or Robber
Barons? While some used ruthless business practices to wipe out their competition and earn large
profits, others gave enormous sums of money to charities and their communities.
Required Content:
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Laissez-Faire Capitalism:
o Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations
Forms of Business Organization:
o Monopoly
o Conglomerate
o Pool
o Trust
o Holding Company
Entrepreneurs (Robber Barons or Captains of Industry?)
o Andrew Carnegie
o John D. Rockefeller
o J. Pierpont Morgan
o Jay Gould
Vertical and Horizontal Integration
Panics (1893) (1907)
Credit Mobilier Scandal
Conspicuous Consumption: advertising, catalog sales
Leisure time and the spread of mass culture
Philanthropy
Resources:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
http://www.printsoldandrare.com/thomasnast/
http://immigrants.harpweek.com/
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/index.html
http://tenant.net/Community/Riis/title.html
http://bss.sfsu.edu/cherny/gapesites.htm
http://linux.cohums.ohio-state.edu/redir/www_cohums.htm
http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/lecture04.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/
http://www.micheloud.com/FXM/SO/rock.htm
http://cprr.org/Museum/index.html
http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com
User name: johnstonsclass Password: johnstonsclass
Explain
Big Business Questions
1.In 1902, George Baer, head of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad said” the rights and interests of
the labor man will be protected and cared for not by the labor agitators but by the Christian men to whom
God in his infinite wisdom has given the control of the property interest of this country.” What bias does
this statement reveal? What theory does this reflect?
2. While Captains of Industry and Robber Barons are sometimes synonymous the people’s perspective, of
both were very different. What were the characteristics of the Captains of Industry? What were the
characteristics of the Robber Barons? List two or three who exemplify each major trait.
3. How did American methods of selling goods change at the turn of the 20th century?
Changes in shopping?
Changes in rural shopping?
Changes in advertising?
4. Industrialists of the late 1800s wanted to control their entire industry. Describe the methods and
techniques used to create monopolies.
5. How does the picture depict business?
6. What can you infer the photographer’s message is?
Explore
Technology Segment
Technology and an abundance of natural resources were the driving forces behind the Industrial
Revolution in the United States. The telegraph, railroads, the telephone, and ultimately the use of
electricity led to the shift from an agrarian to an industrial America.
Required Content:
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Industrial Revolution
Use of Natural Resources:
o Iron
o Coal
o Oil
Transcontinental Railroad
Mass Transit
Canal System
Inventors and their Inventions:
o Samuel F. B. Morse
o Henry Bessemer
o Alexander Graham Bell
o Thomas Alva Edison
o John Deere
o Cyrus McCormick
o George M. Pullman
o Skyscrapers
o Urban/ City Planning
o Wright Brothers
o George Eastman
Resources:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
http://www.printsoldandrare.com/thomasnast/
http://immigrants.harpweek.com/
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/index.html
http://tenant.net/Community/Riis/title.html
http://bss.sfsu.edu/cherny/gapesites.htm
http://linux.cohums.ohio-state.edu/redir/www_cohums.htm
http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/lecture04.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/
http://www.micheloud.com/FXM/SO/rock.htm
http://cprr.org/Museum/index.html
http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com
User name: johnstonsclass Password: johnstonsclass
Explain
Technology Questions
1. In the second half of the 19th century several inventions transformed agriculture. What were they
and the specific impact?
2. Describe how the discovery of new natural resources and improvements in transportation
impacted big businesses.
3. What group is depicted in the photograph?
4. How has this individual retained his cultural identity?
5. Does this fit assimilation, melting pot or the salad bowl theories of immigration?
6. Which invention do you believe had the greatest impact on the period and why?
Explore
Urbanization Segment
Urbanization was a direct result of the Industrial Revolution in the United States. Burgeoning
factories were centralized in cities, which offered a central location for resources and workers to fuel
their production. Immigrants and displaced rural workers flooded cities in the hopes of finding
employment. Throughout the Gilded Age there were several positive, as well as negative, effects
that can be attributed to urbanization.
Required Content:
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Negative Effects of Urbanization:
o Housing (tenements, slums, etc.)
o Health (disease, sanitation, etc.)
o Working Conditions (child labor,
etc.)
o Political Machines (Tammany Hall,
graft, etc.)
Positive Effects of Urbanization:
o New Technologies (elevators,
skyscrapers, street lighting, water
and sewage systems, etc.)
o Cultural Benefits (museums,
theaters, parks, libraries,
education, etc.)
Philosophies:
o Puritan Work Ethic
o Social Darwinism (Horatio Alger,
etc.)
o Social Gospel
Resources:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
http://www.printsoldandrare.com/thomasnast/
http://immigrants.harpweek.com/
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/index.html
http://tenant.net/Community/Riis/title.html
http://bss.sfsu.edu/cherny/gapesites.htm
http://linux.cohums.ohio-state.edu/redir/www_cohums.htm
http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/lecture04.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/
http://www.micheloud.com/FXM/SO/rock.htm
http://cprr.org/Museum/index.html
http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com
User name: johnstonsclass Password: johnstonsclass
Explain
Urbanization Questions
1. Why did political machines become common in big cities in the 19th century?
2. Describe the cultural examples seen in the political cartoon.
3. What does the illustration reflect?
4. Analyze Louis Sullivan’s impact on urbanization?
5. Analyze why dumbbell tenements were considered slums? Describe the conditions in most inner
city tenements.
6. Why were Americans so opposed to immigrants from southern and Eastern Europe?
7. What impact did Florence Kelly and Jane Hull have on social movements?
Explore
Migration/Immigration Segment
The United States has always been a nation of immigrants. However, during the Gilded Age,
immigration to America increased tremendously. And the first major internal migrations were
occurring. Not only were more people coming to the United States than ever before, but they were
also coming from different places, and in doing so they added to the culture of America. But was
America becoming a "melting-pot," or a "salad-bowl" of differing cultures?
Required Content:
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Internal Migrations
Homestead Act (1862) Morrill Act
(1862, 1890)
o Exodusters
o Reservation System
o Plains wars
Periods of Immigration:
o Colonial Immigration (time period,
place of origin, difficulties, etc.)
o "Old" immigration (time period,
place of origin, difficulties, etc.)
o "New" Immigration (time period,
place of origin, difficulties, etc.)
o Angel and Ellis Island
Reaction Against Immigration:
o Nativism
o Know-Nothing Party
o Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
("Yellow Peril")
o Dawes Act (1887)
o Gentleman’s Agreement
o National Origins Acts (1924, 1929)
Theories of Immigration:
o "Melting-Pot" Theory
o Assimilation and Americanization
o "Salad-Bowl" Theory (Pluralism)
o
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Resources:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
http://www.printsoldandrare.com/thomasnast/
http://immigrants.harpweek.com/
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/index.html
http://tenant.net/Community/Riis/title.html
http://linux.cohums.ohio-state.edu/redir/www_cohums.htm
http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/lecture04.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/
http://www.micheloud.com/FXM/SO/rock.htm
http://cprr.org/Museum/index.html
http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com User name: johnstonsclass Password: johnstonsclass
Explain
Immigration Questions
1. How does the political cartoon reflect Nativism?
2. Why did some immigrants oppose sending their children to public schools?
3. Why was the Homestead Act important to the growth of the west? What groups were affected the
most?
4. How did Mexicans help in the growth and expansion of the southwest?
5. What was the outcome of Roosevelt’s “Gentleman’s Agreement”?
6. Why did immigrants group together in cities and which theory of cultural assimilation does this
support?
7. How effective was the Dawes Act (1887) in assimilating American Indians into the “white” culture?
What other agendas were imbedded into the Dawes Act.
Explore
Politics Segment
A reflection of the Gilded Age’s corruption and power is found in the political process. Were politicians
following the lure of business money? Were the exploitations of workers merely the logic of the period?
Required Content:
*Waving the Bloody Shirt
*Era of Good Stealing
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Rutherford B. Hayes
Whiskey Ring
Liberal Republican 1872
Credit Mobilier Scandal
Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall
Resumption Act 1875
Bland-Allison Act 1878
Grand Army of the Republic
Plessy V. Ferguson
*Compromise of 1877
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Civil Rights Act 1875
James A. Garfield
Stalwarts and Mugwumps
Winfield Hancock
Pendleton Act 1883
*Political Machines
Resources:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
http://www.printsoldandrare.com/thomasnast/
http://immigrants.harpweek.com/
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/index.html
http://tenant.net/Community/Riis/title.html
http://bss.sfsu.edu/cherny/gapesites.htm
http://linux.cohums.ohio-state.edu/redir/www_cohums.htm
http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/lecture04.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/
http://www.micheloud.com/FXM/SO/rock.htm
http://cprr.org/Museum/index.html
http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com User name: johnstonsclass Password: johnstonsclass
Explain
Political Questions
1. Who is shown in this picture?
2. What was waving the “Bloody Shirt” and why?
3. What and who were involved in the Credit Mobilier scandal?
4. The Hayes –Tilden standoff was a constitutional crisis. How did this come about? What was the
outcome and what impact did it have on reconstruction?
5. How did politicians react to labor efforts, and specifically strikes?
6. Describe the overall efforts of political efforts to control big business or was it vice versa?
Explore
Reactions Segment
The Gilded Age was a period of immense change in the United States. All of the abuses and problems of
the time generated many different reactions- most directed at reform. Slowly, government regulations
began to reign in the abuses of big business. At the same time, social reformers actively sought to correct
the problems evident in American cities.
Required Content:
•
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Granger Movement:
o Railroad Practices (pools, rebates,
etc.)
o Cowboy life
o Railroads=Public Utility
o Bloc Voting
o Granger State Laws
o Munn v. Illinois (1877)
o Wabash Case (1886)
o Populist Movement
o Interstate Commerce Act (1887)
Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)
Pendleton Civil Act (1883)
Unionism:
o Collective Bargaining
o Knights of Labor
o American Federation of Labor
o International Ladies' Garment
Workers Union
o IWW International Workers of the
World
o Strikes?
Early Reformers/Reforms
o Thomas Nast
o Jane Addams (Hull House)
o Education Reform
o Plessey v. Ferguson (1896)
Resources:
http://www.printsoldandrare.com/thomasnast/
http://immigrants.harpweek.com/
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/index.html
http://tenant.net/Community/Riis/title.html
http://bss.sfsu.edu/cherny/gapesites.htm
http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/lecture04.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/
http://www.micheloud.com/FXM/SO/rock.htm
http://cprr.org/Museum/index.html
http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com User name: johnstonsclass Password: johnstonsclass
Explain
Reaction Questions
1. Why did people, particularly farmers, demand regulation of the railroads in the late 19th century?
2. Why were attempts at railroad regulation often unsuccessful?
3. Why did labor unions begin forming in the late 19th century?
4. Compare and contrast the AFL and the Knights of Labor?
5. What sort of problems arose as a result of patronage?
6. How might the economy and culture of the United States have been different with out the expansion of
public schools?
*Goals of public schools?
*Why people supported expanding public education.
*The impact of public schools on the4 development of private schools.
7. Describe the outcome of education reform.
Editorial Task
The year is 1900. You are a muckraking reporter for Harper’s
Weekly and assigned the task of researching the insidious
behavior of politicians and big businessmen over the past 30 years.
After careful research and citing multiple sources, you present
your facts to your editor, (me). Write a two-three page typed
editorial expose, which will highlight the plethora of corruption,
found in all facets of society. Copies of your notes will be required
to verify your sources. Draft copies are highly encouraged prior to
publishing. You will have three weeks to accomplish this. It will be
the equivalent of a major test grade and two quiz grades. A
superb product will include answers to the big picture questions
found on the first page.
The Project
Teacher Notes
The Task:
Students will portray a muckraking journalist working for
Harper’s Weekly magazine. The assignment is to create an
editorial essay which depicts the corruption and insidious
behavior of the robber/baron industrialists and key leaders of
the “machine”. To insure the magazines’ protection from suits,
detailed research is necessary to substantiate your sources.
The Product
In a braded notebook (paper or plastic with three-hole
capability) print and maintain each content segment and the
guiding questions for each. Write or type your research notes
for each segment and place them in your folder.
Students will explore each content segment; provide detail
notes from the sources both in class and through their web
quest.
Teacher Options and Methods
Teacher options; the initial assembly line simulation is from
TCI’s beginning level instruction manual, page 417, Triangle
Shirtwaist Company.
Teaching methods can include independent research, teaching
the project by segment, teaching the unit while emphasizing
the content from each segment, or creating a series of
explorations allowing the students to research primary sources
that are found in the Region 20 Gilded Era Trunk. Video
references include biographies of Carnegie, Rockefeller,
Roosevelt (TR) and background references of the
transcontinental railroad, industrialization, immigration and
urbanization. Jackdaws’ primary sources are provided to give a
visual representation. Jacob Riis’s, How the Other Half lives, is
available in a classroom set to supplement the urbanization
segment.
Mini-Lessons (Presentations)
To improve your products, create two opportunities for
students to share their work. The first should be after each
student has completed the research on the five segments;
Urbanization, Big Business, Immigration, Technology, and
Reactions. Students can be broken into groups of five (one for
each segment) to share the specific research and sources.
Conduct a peer assessment of the research to be added to the
overall rubric. Have students discuss the segment questions to
prepare for the final product. The second should be the
presentation of the final product and a reading of the student’s
essay/editorial. Final peer assessments are optional. TEKS
correlations and a grading rubric are attached.
TEKS
(2) History. The student understands the political, economic, and social changes in the United States from
1877 to 1898. The student is expected to:
(A) analyze political issues such as Indian policies, the growth of political machines, and civil
service reform;
(B) an analyze economic issues such as industrialization, the growth of railroads, the growth of
labor unions, farm issues, and the rise of big business; and
(C) analyze social issues such as the treatment of minorities, child labor, growth of cities, and
problems of immigrants.
(10) Geography. The student understands the effects of migration and immigration on American society.
The student is expected to:
(A) Analyze the effects of changing demographic patterns resulting from migration within the
United States; and
(B) Analyze the effects of changing demographic patterns resulting from immigration to the
United States.
(11) Geography. The student understands the relationship between population growth and modernization
on the physical environment. The student is expected to:
(A) Identify the effects of population growth and distribution and predict future effects on the
physical environment
(12) Economics. The student understands domestic and foreign issues related to U.S. economic growth
from the 1870s to 1920. The student is expected to:
(A) Analyze the relationship between private property rights and the settlement of the Great
Plains;
(B) Compare the purpose of the Interstate Commerce Commission with its performance over
time;
(C) Describe the impact of the Sherman Antitrust Act on businesses;
(20) Culture. The student understands the relationship between the arts and the times during which they
were created. The student is expected to
(D) Analyze the relationship between culture and the economy and identify examples such as the
impact of the entertainment industry on the U.S. economy
(21) Culture. The student understands how people from various groups, including racial, ethnic, and
religious groups, adapt to life in the United States and contribute to our national identity. The student is
expected to:
(A) Explain actions taken by people from racial, ethnic, and religious groups to expand economic
opportunities and political rights in American society;
(B) Explain efforts of the Americanization movement to assimilate immigrants into American
culture;
(C) Analyze how the contributions of people of various racial, ethnic, and religious groups have
helped to shape the national identity; and
(D) Identify the political, social, and economic contributions of women to American society.
(22) Science, technology, and society. The student understands the impact of science and technology on
the economic development of the United States. The student is expected to:
(A) Explain the effects of scientific discoveries and technological innovations such as electric
power, the telegraph and telephone, petroleum-based products, medical vaccinations, and computers on
the development of the United States;
(B) Explain how scientific discoveries and technological innovations such as those in agriculture,
the military, and medicine resulted from specific needs; and
(C) Analyze the impact of technological innovations on the nature of work, the American labor
movement, and businesses.
(23) Science, technology, and society. The student understands the influence of scientific discoveries and
technological innovations on daily life in the United States. The student is expected to:
(A) Analyze how scientific discoveries and technological innovations, including those in
transportation and communication, have changed the standard of living in the United States
(24) Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information
acquired from a variety of sources including electronic technology. The student is expected to:
(A) locate and use primary and secondary sources such as computer software, databases, media
and news services, biographies, interviews, and artifacts to acquire information about the United States;
(B) analyze information by sequencing, categorizing, identifying cause-and-effect relationships,
comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and predictions, and
drawing inferences and conclusions;
(C) explain and apply different methods that historians use to interpret the past, including the use
of primary and secondary sources, points of view, frames of reference, and historical context;
(D) Use the process of historical inquiry to research, interpret, and use multiple sources of
evidence;
(E) Evaluate the validity of a source based on language, corroboration with other sources, and
information about the author;
(F) Identify bias in written, oral, and visual material;
(G) Support a point of view on a social studies issue or event; and
(H) Use appropriate mathematical skills to interpret social studies information such as maps and
graphs.
(25) Social studies skills. The student communicates in written, oral, and visual forms. The student is
expected to:
(A) Use social studies terminology correctly;
(B) Use standard grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and punctuation;
(C) Transfer information from one medium to another, including written to visual and statistical
to written or visual, using computer software as appropriate; and
(D) Create written, oral, and visual presentations of social studies information.
(26) Social studies skills. The student uses problem-solving and decision-making skills, working
independently and with others, in a variety of settings. The student is expected to:
(A) Use a problem-solving process to identify a problem, gather information, list and consider
options, consider advantages and disadvantages, choose and implement a solution, and evaluate the
effectiveness of the solution; and
(B) Use a decision-making process to identify a situation that requires a decision, gather
information, identify options, predict consequences, and take action to implement a decision.
Grading Rubric
Criteria
Factual Content-The
information included in the
editorial is accurate and relevant
to the topic, and includes all of
the required items listed on the
Content page.
Use of Primary SourcesSeveral relevant primary sources
(e.g., photographs, Supreme
Court rulings, Federal legislation,
personal accounts, etc.) have
been used to provide information
about the content contained in
the editorial.
Organization-The documentary
segment is organized in a logical
manner, making it easy to
understand the information that
is being presented.
Citation- As in most cases with
reporting you must have two
sources to back up your
conclusions
Factory Experience The
debriefing exercise from the
Triangle Shirtwaist Company.
Formatting- Write the expose
using the MLA format for citing
sources.
Thesis Statement Strong thesis
which elaborates each major topic
covered.
Political Cartoon Extra credit
which must be original and
highlight at least two of the
segments
Total Points
Grade
Score
Each of these criteria will be rated according to
the following point scale:
Score
Meaning
3
Excellent-these criteria has been
met in every possible way, and
may even exceed expectations.
2
Acceptable-This criteria has
been mostly addressed, however,
there is room for improvement.
1
Sub par-Some elements have
been met, but most of the criteria
fails to be addressed.
0
Incomplete-This criterion has
not been addressed in any
meaningful way or has not been
completed.
Scale
Score
Meaning
19-21 A
Excellent-This criterion has been
met in every possible way, and
may even exceed expectations.
17-18
B
Acceptable-This criteria has
been mostly addressed, however,
there is room for improvement.
15-16
C
Par-most elements have been
met, but some of the criteria fails
to be addressed.
13-14
D
Sub-par Most elements are not
addressed
F
Incomplete-This criterion has
not been addressed in any
meaningful way or has not been
completed.
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