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Answers must be complete sentences.
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Answer all parts of every question.
Industrial America
Chapter 17
1877-1911
(use pages 423-442) in Sources for America’s History, vol. 2)
17.1 Industrialist Justifies Fortunes Used for the Common Good
ANDREW CARNEGIE, Wealth (1889)
1. What argument does Carnegie make about the uses which the great
fortunes of industrialists should be devoted?
Carnegie suggests that wealth should be used to build better
relationships between the rich and poor. Monet should go into
housing, clothing and food, that way people of all kinds can
harmonize a happier life together. It explains this on page 424 when it
states, “The problem of our age is the proper administration of
wealth, so that the ties of brotherhood may still bind together the rich
and poor in harmonious relationship.”
2.What factors might have motivated Carnegie to write his essay on wealth,
and for whom do you think he wrote it? What inferences can you draw
about the social and political context during which Carnegie wrote, which
may have inspired his essay?
Carnegie might have been motivated to write his essay on wealth after
his trip to Sioux and knowledge on how life worked years ago. He
wrote this essay for the American people and American officials. An
inference that a reader can draw about the social and political context
during which Carnegie wrote which may have inspired his essay was
that the social and political life was very bad. One can interpret his
essay as this because on page 427 the author wrote, “Such, in my
opinion...someday to solve the problem of the Rich and the Poor, and
to bring “Peace on earth, among men Good-Will.”
3.Why does Carnegie insist that his “gospel of wealth” was founded “upon
the present most intense individualism”? What can you conclude about the
cultural significance of that term as Carnegie used it?
Carnegie insists that his “gospel of wealth” was founded “upon the
present most intense individualism” because he believed that the
capitalist system was fair since everyone should have responsibilities
when it comes to giving back to society. What I can conclude about
the cultural significance of that term as Carnegie used it is that those
who have more than others should likely give back to society due to
capitalism, that’s the reason for their wealth.
17.2 Industrial Brotherhood Counters Excesses of Capitalist Power
TERENCE POWDERLY, Thirty Years of Labor (1889)
4.Catalyze and evaluate the Knight’s platform for evidence of the unions
point of view toward the federal government. What role does it see for the
state in regulating the relationship between workers and employees?
The role it sees as the state in regulating the relationship between
workers and employees is producing classes. This would advance
workers’ interests and counter the power of capitalists, who saw
wealth as a threat to America’s republican traditions.
5. Imagine Carnegie's reaction to the reforms advocated by the Knights Of
Labor in their statement of principles. What specific statements might have
elicited the strongest reaction and why?
The specific statement that might have elicited the strongest reaction
was statement 8 “The enactment of a law giving mechanics and other
laborers a first lien on their work” because it fended off the reforms
and principles.
6. From the union's platform, what conclusion can you draw about the
status of Labor in industrial America? What obstacles and challenges do
Powderly and his fellow Knights identify as stumbling blocks to the
equitable society they sought?
From the union's platform, a conclusion I can draw about the status of
Labor in industrial America was having immigrants working in
factories, mines, and mills. The obstacles and challenges that
Powderly and his fellow Knights identified as stumbling blocks to the
equitable society they sought were their reforms being advocated.
17.3 Worker Finds His Way on the Shop Floor
ANTANAS KATZAUSKIS, Life Story of a Lithuanian (c.1906)
7. What evidence of unions’ effectiveness can you discourage discover in
the story Kaztauskis tells of his experience working in the Chicago
stockyards? What advantages does he attribute to his membership in the
union?
8. How does Kaztaukis’s point of view towards industrialization compare
with the views expressed by Carnegie in his essay on wealth?
His views are it was challenging as many men wanted a job and the
people would wait in lines just to be hired. The pay would not be the
best and after considerable time to better himself, he is now really
well paid and enjoys his life.
17.4 Congress Closes Door to Chinese Laborers
Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
9. What argument about 19th century immigration policy does the Chinese
Exclusion Act support?
They support the idea of falsification of any document or anything
that can be used in falsification should result in punishment for how
does it.
10. How might a historian interpret the Chinese Exclusion Act within the
historical context of 19th century immigration policy, the history of race and
ethnicity, and the history of American labor?
A historian might interpret the Chinese Exclusion Act within the
historical context of 19th century immigration policy, the history of
race and ethnicity, and the history of American labor by
17.5 Pointing Out the Irony of Nativist Policies
JOSEPH KEPPLER, Looking Backward, (1893)
11. Analyze and evaluate the point of view Kepler expresses in his cartoon.
What do the shadows behind the elegantly dressed gentleman represent?
The shadows behind the elegantly dressed gentleman represents
12. How would you compare Kepler's cartoon with the Chinese Exclusion
Act for evidence of the diversity of opinion on the immigrant question in the
latter 19th century?
17.6 Economists Scores the Costs and Benefits of Monopoly
ARTHUR TWINING HADLEY, The Good and Evil of Industrial Combination
(1897)
13. How does Hadley summarize the arguments for and against monopoly?
Whereas some attributed rising prices to the power of monopolies, what did
Hadley see as their ‘more serious’ problem? Why do you think he identifies
that problem as his leading concern?
14. Analyze the methods for controlling monopolies that Hadley describes
for evidence of the political conflict between the interests of capital and
labor that existed during this period. What reformers does he allude to in
discussing the popular methods of control, which he criticizes as ineffective
and counterproductive?
The reformers he alludes to in discussing the popular methods of control,
which he criticizes as ineffective and counterproductive is Adam Smith
maybe?
Comparative Questions
15. Analyze and evaluate historical patterns of nativists thought over time
for evidence of continuity and change by comparing the Chinese Exclusion
Act and the looking backward cartoon with Charles Francis Adams’s views
on suffrage (document 15-4, pgs. 368-373). What similarities do you see
continuing into the 21st century?
16. How would you evaluate and synthesize the conflicting evidence in this
chapter to construct a convincing historical argument about immigration
during the latter 19th century?
17. In thinking about the period from 1877 to 1911, what theme or themes
emerge from the sources that serve to unify these years as a coherent
block of time for historical analysis and interpretation?
18. Evaluate monopoly as a source of political conflict by considering the
multiple views in this chapter. What similarities and conflicts do you see?
19. How does this period of industrialization compared with the period of
rapid economic development during the early national period? Explain and
evaluate the similarities and differences that you see across time and
place?