| History 10 Unit 8 The Gilded Age |
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| History 10 Unit 8 The Gilded Age |
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Texts: RTAP & handouts
Follow the due dates regardless of the rotation of your section.
Unit Main Themes: What made Andrew Carnegie the "richest man in the world"?
Is the Gilded Age an era of "triumphant democracy" or an age of plutocracy?
Was the Pullman Boycott justifiable or inexcusable?
Assignment #1-- Read this intro and take notes on pp. 552-557 of handout to "The Railway System": "The Gilded Age was the title of a Mark Twain novel published in 1873, and has since become a term which reflects life in late-nineteenth-century America. The period following the end of Reconstruction (1865-1877) in the United States was one of tremendous economic expansion, and is viewed as an era of conspicuous capitalism, ostentatious wealth, and blatant political corruption. Heavy industry prospered, and by 1895 America was a major world economic force. The American Industrial Revolution affected the country politically and socially, as industrial expansion also brought about extreme inequality in the distribution of wealth, with only ten per cent of America's population earning more than $1,200 a year. During this period, the labour movement grew into a formidable force, as workers demonstrated on issues such as poor working conditions and wage cuts. In 1877 there were three national unions, by 1880 there were eighteen, and 1886 saw the establishment of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The political system was dominated by industrial interest. Corruption was widespread, and the key political issues of the day revealed the extensive influence of the industrialists on the government." "The Gilded Age, 1877-1896." Study Unit. History Study Center. ProQuest LLC. 8 Feb. 2009 <http://www.historystudycenter.com/>.
EXTRA READING: Concepts covered in class are also in your handout if you need a back up in writing to get a firmer grip of them: Managerial Revolution (560), Mass Markets, Monopoly, Oligopolistic Competition (56)0, Vertical and Horizontal Integration (561)
Assignment #2-- Jay Gould and Andrew Carnegie: Captains of Industry or Robber Barons ? Read the 2-page excerpt on Jay Gould in the original handout (also available under the hypertext link above in "handout"). Identify what he did that was unscrupulous that supports the label Robber Baron, and what he achieved that supports the label Captain of Industry. What questions does this piece raise? For whom are those questions relevant today? In class you will watch a film on Carnegie. Read this brief excerpt as an introduction.
The son of a Scottish hand-loom weaver, Carnegie went to America when he was thirteen. He worked in a cotton mill, as a telegraph operator and on the Pennsylvania Railroad, of which he became superintendent. In 1865 he turned to iron manufacture, which made him a millionaire, and then to steel. Carnegie had no engineering training but he had enormous energy and drive, which swept aside competitors and TRADE UNIONS alike. His Homestead plant was the scene of a bitter strike in 1892 (see HOMESTEAD STRIKE), in which he defeated the Steelworkers' Union. Carnegie was quick to apply new methods, such as the open-hearth process for making steel, and with Henry Clay Frick made the first huge vertical combine to include coalfields, coke ovens, iron mines, ships and railroads. He then controlled all sources of supply and distribution. The Carnegie company soon dominated the steel industry and made its owner one of the richest men in the world. Carnegie received 447 million dollars when he sold his company to J. Pierpont MORGAN and Henry Finch, who reorganized it in 1901 as the United States Steel Corporation, which produced 60% of the country's steel.
Carnegie then retired to devote himself to philanthropy. His Gospel of Wealth (1889) expressed the view that personal fortunes should be used to benefit society as a whole, an idea he put into practice from the 1880s. Over 2500 libraries in the USA, Britain and Canada were founded by Carnegie, the first being in his home town of Dunfermline in 1882. He set up the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh in 1912, which is now part of the Carnegie-Mellon University. Carnegie endowed many charitable institutions and gave away 350 million dollars. "Carnegie, Andrew (1835-1919)." The New Penguin Dictionary of Modern History 1789-1945. London: Penguin, 2001. History Study Center. ProQuest LLC. 8 Feb. 2009 <http://www.historystudycenter.com/>.
Assignment #3--Review Film notes and read and take notes in RTAP, 106-108 "Introduction" to The Age of Industrial Violence and "an overview of industrial strife, 109-110 at Strikes and Riots of 1877, Homestead on 116-117, Pullman on 119-121
Assignment #4---Read and take notes RTAP 129- 130 italicized text only. Then page 132-138. (Due. Tues.)
Assignment #5- Read and take notes RTAP 138 starting at Lessons of the Pullman Boycott from a Business Perspective - 142. (Wed.)
Assignment #6 - In the next class we will be looking at Populism and the Election of 1896. For your homework study this cartoon and make a list of five things that you can glean about the Populist perspective from this cartoon. (Fri.)
Assignment #7. Prepare for the debate on the last two UMTs. (Mon.)
Debate on 2/28
Review on 2/29
Test March 1, C-day for Sallee's class.
Possibility for after the test Assignment 8
Read and take notes on The Gilded Age and Globalization today and investigate this website with studies on wealth inequality today: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/businessdesk/2011/09/easy-as-pie-inequality-in-down.html.
1. Pretend you have to write a news report on what you learned. What headline would you give your report?
2. What were your perceptions and what information confirmed or challenged your perceptions?
3. Write three questions about the material.