Gilded Age Project
US History
Gilded Age Unit
Chapters 23-26: American Pageant, Kennedy, Bailey
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.
These questions should be answered as part of the final product with short
answers that are typed in 1-2 pages.
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
The Gilded Age project has been designed to replace the chapter 23-26 outlines.
However adding these will serve as extra credit for the project. We will explore most of
the segments in class but this is a difficult period to examine. Most high school and college
texts have difficulty because of the complexity of the period. 1877-1900 was a turbulent
time in America. Many of the issues that surfaced were not covered by the Constitution
thus requiring those in power to have to be creative. It also opened the door for many
layers of corruption at both the governmental and business levels. This project will have
several grades attached and will be evaluated in the segments presented. Read these
instructions carefully to insure project completion.
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. Record your research either using the segments as a template or
printing the template with the embedded research or by creating an outline of the
content material.
2. In a folder combine your segments; separating each with a tab. The segment
questions should follow each research product. (this is not a binder)
3. Final essays with the big picture/essential questions will be placed in a tab at the end
of the project.
4. This is an individual project requiring the student to do independent research. While
we want all students to be able to share their products electronically through
Edublogs and incorporate this project into their portfolios. This must not be done
until the final project due date. Duplicate answers to questions or essays will be
construed as plagiarism and a grade of zero will be reflected.
5. This project will serve as the nine weeks test for the third nine weeks.
Explore with Chapter 23
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









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





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 Use Lee Library portal
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
with chapter 24
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:









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 Use Lee Library Portal
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 peoples 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
with chapter 24
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:






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 Use Lee Library portal
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
with Chapter 25
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:



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 Use Lee Library portal
Explain
Urbanization Questions
1. Why did political machines become common in big cities in the 19 th 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
with Chapter 25
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:

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



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 Use Lee Library Portal
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 all Chapters
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:





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 Use Lee library portal
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.
Final Essays
Choose one of the following essays to complete your project. Write this ensuring that
you site your sources DBQ style.
1. The reorganization and consolidation of business structures was more responsible for late 19thCentury American industrialization than was the development of new technologies.
Assess the validity of this statement with specific reference to business structures and technology
between 1865 and 1900. (1990, FRQ 4)
2. Compare and contrast the attitudes of THREE of the following toward the wealth that was created
in the United States during the late nineteenth century.
Andrew Carnegie Eugene V. Debs Horatio Alger Booker T. Washington Ida M. Tarbell
(1994, FRQ 4)
3. From the 1840s through the 1890s, women’s activities in the intellectual, social, economic, and
political spheres effectively challenged traditional attitudes about women’s place in society.
Assess the validity of this statement. (1991, FRQ 4)
4.Throughout its history, the United States has been a land of refuge and opportunity for immigrants.
Assess the validity of this statement in view of the experiences of TWO of the following:
The Scotch-Irish on the 18th Century Appalachian frontier
The Irish in the 19th Century urban Northeast
The Chinese in the 19th Century West
(1987, FRQ 3)
5.Analyze the ways in which farmers and industrial workers responded to industrialization in the
Gilded Age (1865-1900). (2003, Form B FRQ 4)
6.Describe the patterns of immigration in TWO of the periods listed below. Compare and contrast the
responses of Americans to immigration in these periods.
1820 to 1860
(2005, FRQ 4)
1880 to 1924
1965 to 2000
Grading Rubric
Grade Scale
Independent
Research
outlines
Excellent
90-100
Acceptable
80-89
Each segment has
been researched
with all segment
elements presented
Each segment has
the majority of the
elements
researched but
missing less than
15 percent
85 percent of all
questions
answered with the
majority showing
detail and support
of the thesis
All questions
Segment Questions answered
accurately with
detail supporting
the student’s thesis
Final Essays
With essential
questions
Both questions
answered
accurately with
detail supporting
the student’s thesis
Both questions
answered with the
majority showing
detail and support
of the thesis
Not Yet (returned
to the student for
additional work if
prior to the due
date.) Less than 70
The student has
not produced more
than 70 percent of
each segment in
the project
Total for this
portion by weight
Less than 70
percent of the
questions
answered. No
details or
supporting
evidence
20% of the total
Both questions
answered with the
majority not
showing detail and
support of the
thesis. Documents
not cited
50% of the total
30% of the total
Total for all
categories
_______________