AP U.S. History/U.S. History
Grade Level: High School
Introduction:
The Gilded Age gave the appearance of a beautiful silver vase, polished on the outside and
tarnished within. Every man had the potential to become an Andrew Carnegie, and Americans who
achieved wealth celebrated it. Mrs. Fish, of New York, once threw a dinner party to honor her dog
who arrived sporting a $15,000 diamond collar. Mrs. Jeannette Thurber negotiated with Czech
composer, Antonin Dvorak, that ended in a very large salary for the times of $15,000, exceeding
that of the mayor of New York City. Although the rich got richer many still wore rags. In 1890, 11
million of the nation’s 12 million families earned less than $1200 per year.
A powerful weapon of the Gilded Age was “yellow journalism”, getting the scoop, exaggerating and
using sensationalism. The Spanish-American War being the most notorious use of yellow journalism
was created by William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. James Creelman, journalist, who had
a history of using yellow journalism was a major player in the New York newspaper wars. He was the
editor of the Evening Telegram and contributor of the Herald. He was employed by Jeannette
Thurber of the National Conservatory of Music to promote Dvorak and the National Conservatory.
After the Civil War and the passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments,
African Americans were given freedom, citizenship, the right to vote and serve on juries. Blacks
made up about 2% of the North’s population. Many whites were hostile towards blacks. Many
workers feared competition and unions refused to let blacks join, notably the Knights of Labor. The
legal system did not help by ruling on Plessy v. Ferguson, articulating a doctrine of “separate but
equal”.
Objectives:
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To explore the use of “yellow journalism” during the Gilded Age to promote Dvorak,
his New World Symphony and his belief that plantation songs would furnish
America’s future music
•
To compare and contrast attitudes regarding Negro melodies and acceptance of
Dvorak’s American Symphony as American
Students will gain the ability to pose good questions as a critical element of historical
investigation. Students will develop the ability to draw inferences beyond stated text, form theses
based on evidence that can be tested. Student will continue improvement in reading, writing,
discussion, collaboration, summarizing and analyzing skills.
Standards:
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Use the tools and methods of historians to transform learning from memorizing
historical data to “doing history.”
•
Distinguish information that is relevant vs. irrelevant and essential vs. incidental to
research and assess the credibility of the sources.
•
Use appropriate evidence gathered from historical research in written, oral, visual,
•
or dramatic presentations.
Evaluate the quality of historical accounts based on the arguments they advance and the
evidence they use.
LESSON PLAN: Three days, one hour/class per day
Day One: Students will come to class having completed the following assignment by choosing one
of the two questions below, either individually or with a partner:
Assignment: WRITE A THESIS that fully addresses one of the following questions, using Dvorak in
America, emphasis on Chapter 4, Dvorak and the Yellow Press and Chapter 7, A Tale of Two Cities.
LIST five pieces of evidence from outside information and Dvorak in America to support the thesis.
1.
A powerful weapon of the Gilded Age was “yellow journalism”, getting the scoop,
exaggerating and sensational journalism. The Spanish-American War being the most
notorious use of yellow journalism was created (created what? The war?)by Hearst and
Pulitzer. How did James Creelman use yellow journalism to promote Dvorak, his New
World Symphony and his belief that plantation songs would furnish America’s future
music?
2.
Although both Boston and New York City were musical centers during the Gilded Age,
the cities’ art communities developed two distinct racial attitudes regarding Negro
melodies and acceptance of Dvorak’s New World Symphony as American. Compare and
contrast these two attitudes.
ACTIVITY: Students/partners will write their thesis and supporting evidence on the whiteboard,
and the class will analyze these to see which ones most effectively addresses the question and have
the most solid evidence to support the thesis.
COLLABORATION: Given the same question and four documents, primary sources from “From the
New World a Celebrated Composer’s American Odyssey”, the students will work in groups to
complete the following assignment:
Read each document.
Analyze each document by answering the following questions:
1.
2.
Who created the document? What do you know about the author? What is the author’s point of view?
Where and when was the source produced? How might this affect the meaning of the source?
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3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Beyond the information about the author and the context of the documents, what do you know that
would help you further understand the document? Do you recognize any symbols? If so, what do they
represent?
For whom was the source produced and how might this affect the reliability of the source?
Why was the source produced and how might this affect the reliability of the source?
What point is the source trying to convey?
Why is the source important? Ask yourself “so what?” in relation to the questions.
Decide and label which documents support your thesis
Day Two
ACTIVITY: Socratic Seminar
Have each group write a summation of its document from day one. In a Socratic Seminar have
students discuss their group’s analysis of each document and how that document could be used
along with the list of evidence that was created to prove their thesis using the following discussion
questions:
•
What interesting facts/characteristics do you notice in this document?
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What questions do you have about the information?
•
What inferences can you draw from these questions?
•
What evidence is there in the documents to support your thesis?
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What further questions come to mind?
Day Three
AP US HISTORY
WRITE AN ESSAY:
Using their question, list of evidence, the summation and analysis of documents, and the discussion
from the Socratic Seminar, students will compose a handwritten essay to address their question
within a forty-five minute time period.
U.S. HISTORY
WRITE A CONVERSATION:
Using all your information, write a dialogue and perform it, between Jeannette Thurber, Dvorak and
Harry Burleigh on the topic “Negro Melodies are the future of music in America”.
CLOSING ACTIVITY (This activity could also be used as an introduction to the lesson):
Play the following three pieces of music without any introduction:
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“Deep River”, sung by Paul Robeson
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Largo, New World Symphony, Dvorak
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Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony,Beethoven
After listening to “Deep River”, talk about what kind of a musical piece it is.
Then have students to listen to the next two pieces.
ANSWER and DISCUSS: Decide which one sounds American? Why?
DOCUMENTS (where are these documents found?)
[James Creelman], "Real Value of Negro Melodies," New York Herald (May 21, 1893).
"America's Musical Future," New York Herald. European Edition--Paris (May 28, 1893).
"American Music. Dr. Antonin Dvorak Expresses Some Radical Opinions," Boston Herald (May 28,
1893).
"Antonin Dvorak on Negro Melodies," New York Herald (May 28, 1893).
Philip Hale, "The Kneisel Quartette Play Dvorak's New Quartette," The Boston Journal (January 2,
1894).
Michael Beckerman, "The Real Value of Yellow Journalism: James Creelman and Antonin Dvorak,
Institutes, Industries, Technologies, page 749.
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