Gilded Age and Progressive Era Comparing Opposites
Here are the questions covering the notes you took in the Lectures and Activities Materials. As you answer your 5 questions, always include the specific names of people, groups, places, laws, conflicts, etc. Do not use the same specific examples repeatedly because that leads me to believe that you only know a few items from the notes. Remember, I want to see evidence that you took all the notes and not just a few topics. You may want to plan which specific examples match the best question, so you don’t have to use the same facts more than once.
Reminder,
• If you use a source other than the lecture notes, you must cite your source. At least insert the URL in your answer. You will lose 5 points every time you fail to cite a source outside of class sources.
Gilded Age and Progressive Era
1. Pick out 2 political stereotypes from the National Politics lecture video. Are those stereotypes concerning politics in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era correct? Use specific examples, meaning exact names of people or things, to prove your answer. This will mostly come from the Politics lecture, but you may also find help in the business and cities lecture. (Caution: This question is about politics and not business.)
Answer –
Big Business
2. Do you believe that businessmen between the Civil War and World War I were Robber Barons or good examples? Give three reasons to prove your answer. Always use specific names of people, companies, muckrakers, court cases, laws, strikes, methods of big business, etc. Use information you learned about businessmen from the Politics, Business, Cities, and Labor lectures. (Caution: Don’t confuse politicians with businessmen. This question is about businessmen.)
Answer-
Industrial Cities
3. How was the walking city different before the Civil War than after the Civil War?
a. What were some of the problems of the industrial walking city?
b. Explain how three people or groups, including Muckrakers, political machines, Progressives, businessmen, or any other groups tried to help resolve the problems of the industrial city.
*** Notice that this is not the same question as #4. This question is about living conditions in the city, not the workplace.
Answer-
Reformers
4. There are two parts to this question: Working Conditions and Labor Unions who tried to fix those conditions. (This is not the same question as number 3. This question is about workers and the workplace, while #3 is about living in the city.)
a. What were problems that workers experienced because of industrialization? Use specific examples of conditions including writings from Muckrakers, strikes, and reasons for strikes instead of simply saying conditions were bad.
b. Compare the Knights of Labor to the American Federation of Labor, particularly the way that they tried to resolve these problems. Using the “Test Strikes,” why did the AFL survive until today and the Knights no longer exist?
Answer-
5. If the 13, 14, and 15 Amendments were supposed to protect African American rights, why didn’t those amendments in the Constitution work?
a. What did these amendments say?
b. What people, laws, court cases, groups, or event/activities took those Constitutional rights away?
c. Who were people and groups who fought to restore those rights? Did these people or groups agree about how to do this? Explain.
Answer-
