American Democracy in Word and Deed
MDUSD/UCB H-SSP
11th Grade Lesson: “The Origins of the Progressive Era”
Developed by: Margaret Ljepava and Maureen Allan – Clayton Valley High School, and Erica Shaw – Mt.
Diablo High School
Teaching American History Grant Focus Question:
How have the words and deeds of people and institutions shaped democracy in the U.S.?
11th Grade Yearlong Focus Question:
2009-2014 Grant Question:
2006-2010 Grant Question: How have the powers of the United States federal government
expanded or been limited since the Civil War?
Unit Focus:
TBFO
Lesson Focus Question:
How did political and social conditions at the turn of the century provoke Progressive reform?
Lesson Working Thesis:
Progressive reform was provoked by political corruption, exploitation of children, and poor
working conditions.
Reading and Writing Strateies:
 READING Strategy:
o Analyzing political cartoon analysis
o Discussion questions for The Jungle excerpt
o Cornell Notes for Chapter 9, Section 1
 WRITING Strategy
o Framed analytical paragraph
Suggested Amount of Time:
One to two class periods
Textbook:
Danzer, Gerald et al. The Americans: Reconstruction to the 21st Century. Evanston, Illinois:
McDougal Littell Inc., 2006, pp. 306-312
Primary Source Citation:
"Child Labor." Cartoon. William Floyd School District, n.d. Web. 9 Aug. 2010.
<http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/topic_political.html >.
Keppler, Joseph. J. "Bosses of the Senate" Cartoon. U.S. Senate.
<http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/artifact/Ga_Cartoon/Ga_cartoon_38_00392.htm>
Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2003.
Context of the lesson in the unit:
The lesson will take place within the unit of industrialization. Students should have already
studied industrialization, the origins of Populism, and some of the problems that arose as a result
of industrialization.
Lesson Procedure:
1. Introduction
 Have students address the following prompt to start the class: “Explain some of the
problems that arose in American cities as a result of industrialization.”
o Students should write their answers and then engage the class in a discussion of problems
created by industrialization.
2. Primary source analysis
 Show students “The Bosses of the Senate” political cartoon, pass out a copy to each student
and also have it projected on the screen.
 Model with students how to fill in the Political Cartoon Analysis form with “The Bosses of
the Senate” cartoon.
 Put students in pairs and have them complete the form with a partner and the “Child Labor”
cartoon.
3. The Jungle reading
 Pass out a reading to each student. Each page should have one to two sentences highlighted
on the page. As the story is read aloud, the students should read the portion that is
highlighted on their paper.
 Have students answer the discussion questions individually or in pairs.
4. Analytical paragraph
 After students have analyzed the cartoons and read The Jungle have them answer the lesson
focus question by writing an analytical paragraph.
 Students should use specific examples from the resources presented in class to answer the
question.
5. Extended learning: Textbook homework
 Have students read Chapter 9 Section 1, “Origins of the Progressive Era” in The Americans
textbook for homework and take Cornell notes.
History-Social Science Content Standards:
11.2 – Students analyze the relationship among the rise of industrialization, large-scale rural-to-urban
migration, and massive immigration from Southern to Eastern Europe.
11.2.1 – Know the effects of industrialization on living and working conditions and food safety in Upton
Sinclair’s The Jungle.
11.2.5 – Discuss corporate mergers that produced trusts and cartels and the economic and political
policies of industrial leaders.
11.2.9 – Understand the effect of political programs and activities of the Progressives (eg. Federal
regulation of railroad transport, children’s bureau, the 16th amendment, Theodore Roosevelt and Hiram
Johnson
Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills:
Historical Research, Evidence, and Point of View 1 and 2
Historical Interpretation 1 and 3
Reading/Language Arts Content Standards:
Comprehension and Analysis of Grade-Level Appropriate Text
2.2 Analyze the way in which clarity of meaning is affected by the patterns or organization, hierarchical
structures, repetition of the main ideas, syntax, and word choice in the text.
2.4 Make warranted and reasonable assertions about the author’s arguments by using elements of the
text to defend and clarify interpretations.
2.5 Analyze an author’s implicit and explicit philosophical assumptions and beliefs about a subject.
Common Core State Standards:
English Language Arts, Grades 6-12 Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects
Reading in History (RH): English Language Arts for History/Social Studies
Reading in History: Key Ideas and Details
RH.11-12.1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources,
connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
-Analytical paragraph
RH.11-12.2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source;
provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
-Political Cartoon analysis
Reading in History: Craft and Structure
RH.11-12.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
analyzing how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term over the course of a text
(e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).
-The Jungle reading
Reading in History: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
RH.11-12.7. Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats
and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or
solve a problem.
-Political Cartoons, Textbook Information, Teacher Lecture, Modesta Avila Reading, etc
RH.11-12.9. Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a
coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.
-Analytical paragraph
Writing in History, Science and Technical Subjects (WHST)
WHST.11-12.1. Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
a. Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance of the claim(s),
distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that
logically sequences the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
-Analytical paragraph response
Teacher Background Information
“The Bosses of the Senate” Political cartoon
This frequently reproduced cartoon, long a staple of textbooks and studies of Congress, depicts
corporate interests–from steel, copper, oil, iron, sugar, tin, and coal to paper bags, envelopes, and salt–as
giant money bags looming over the tiny senators at their desks in the Chamber. Joseph Keppler drew the
cartoon, which appeared in Puck on January 23, 1889, showing a door to the gallery, the "people’s
entrance," bolted and barred. The galleries stand empty while the special interests have floor privileges,
operating below the motto: "This is the Senate of the Monopolists by the Monopolists and for the
Monopolists!"
Keppler’s cartoon reflected the phenomenal growth of American industry in the 1880s, but also
the disturbing trend toward concentration of industry to the point of monopoly, and its undue influence
on politics. This popular perception contributed to Congress’s passage of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act in
1890.
Source: http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/artifact/Ga_Cartoon/Ga_cartoon_38_00392.htm
Puck Magazine
Puck was founded by Austrian-born cartoonist Joseph Keppler and his partners as a Germanlanguage publication in 1876. The magazine took its name from the blithe spirit of Shakespeare’s
Midsummer Night’s Dream, along with its motto: “What fools these mortals be!” Puck looked different
than other magazines of the day. It employed lithography in place of wood engraving and offered three
cartoons instead of the usual one. The cartoons were initially printed in black and white, but later several
tints were added, and soon the magazine burst into full, eye-catching color. Puck’s first Englishlanguage edition in 1877 made it a major competitor of the already established illustrated news
magazines of the day, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, Keppler’s former employer, and Harper’s
Weekly. Puck attracted an appreciative audience. Its pro-Cleveland cartoons in 1884 may well have
contributed to the Democratic candidate’s narrow victory in the presidential election. The Republicans
responded by buying Puck’s weak rival, Judge, and luring away some of Puck’s talented staff. Within a
few years, Judge supplanted Puck as the leading humor magazine.
Source: http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/puck/puck_intro.htm
Published in Puck magazine, January 1889.
White Slavery: Northern Capital & Southern Child Labor
Published in New York American and Journal in 1902. Author unknown.
Name
Date
Per.
Railroad Political Cartoon Analysis Chart
Doc # Name of political cartoon? Who created it?
When & where is the document from?
1
DESCRIPTION OF SOURCE
What do you see?
MEANING
Specific meaning of objects
MAIN IDEA
What is the main idea that the author/illustrator is trying to get across?
Doc # Name of political cartoon? Who created it?
When & where is the document from?
2
DESCRIPTION OF SOURCE
What do you see?
MEANING
Specific meaning of objects
MAIN IDEA
What is the main idea that the author/illustrator is trying to get across?
Name
Date
Per.
Railroad Political Cartoon Analysis Chart – Teacher Key
Doc # Name of political cartoon? Who created it?
When & where is the document from?
“The Bosses of the Senate” by Joseph
Puck, January 23, 1889
Keppler
DESCRIPTION OF SOURCE
MEANING
What do you see?
Specific meaning of objects
Fat men labeled as different trusts
The trusts have more power than the rest of the
men
Smaller men sitting in front, some reading and
Elected officials are not as important as
looking like their lounging
trusts/industrialists and are not doing their jobs
“People’s Entrance” closed & locked
People are not allowed to come into the Senate
chambers
“Entrance for Monopolists” open with more
More and more monopolists are coming into the
people coming in
Senate
A plague above the trusts that says that the
The Senate is actually for the business owners,
Senate is for the monopolists
not the people
MAIN IDEA
What is the main idea that the author/illustrator is trying to get across?
The Congress is controlled by trusts and is allowing more of them in while keeping the people out.
1
Doc # Name of political cartoon? Who created it?
“White Slavery: Northern Capital &
Southern Child Labor” Author unknown
DESCRIPTION OF SOURCE
What do you see?
Children on a podium labeled, “For Sale to the
Highest Bidder”
Children are skinny and look weak/sick
2
When & where is the document from?
New York American & Journal, 1902
MEANING
Specific meaning of objects
Children are being sold to industrialists to work
in factories.
Children working in factories are not taken
care of and get sick.
Factory owners are wealthy and receive benefits
from child labor.
Fat, well-dressed men labeled “Northern
Capitalist”
MAIN IDEA
What is the main idea that the author/illustrator is trying to get across?
Northern capitalists are taking advantage of children and treating them like slaves.
Name
Date
Per.
The Jungle Reading
Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2003.
The Jungle pages 96-7.
There were the men in the pickle-rooms, for instance, where old Antanas had gotten his death;
scarce a one of these that had not some spot of horror on his person. Let a man so much as scrape his
finger pushing a truck in the pickle-rooms, and he might have a sore that would put him out of the
world; all the joints in his fingers might be eaten by the acid, one by one. Of the butchers and floorsmen,
the beef-boners and trimmers, and all those who used knives, you could scarcely find a person who had
the use of his thumb; time and time again the base of it had been slashed, till it was a mere lump of flesh
against which the man pressed the knife to hold it. The hands of these men would be criss-crossed with
cuts, until you could no longer pretend to count them or to trace them. They would have no nails,--they
had worn them off pulling hides, their knuckles were swollen so that their fingers spread out like a fan.
There were men who worked in the cooking-rooms, in the midst of steam and sickening odors, by
artificial light; in these rooms the germs of tuberculosis might live for two years, but the supply was
renewed every hour. There were the beef-luggers, who carried two-hundred-pound quarters into the
refrigerator-cars; a fearful kind of work, that began at four o’clock in the morning, and that wore out the
most powerful men in a few years. There were those who worked in the chilling-rooms, and whose
special disease was rheumatism; the time-limit that a man could work in the chilling-rooms was said to
be five years. There were the wool-pluckers, whose hands went to pieces even sooner than the hands of
the pickle-men; for the pelts of the sheep had to be painted with acid to loosen the wool, and then the
pluckers had to pull out this wool with their bare hands, till the acid had eaten their fingers off. There
were those who made the tins for the canned-meat; and their hands, too, were a maze of cuts, and each
cut represented a chance for blood-poisoning. Some worked at the stamping-machines, and it was very
seldom that one could work long there at the pace that was set, and not give out and forget himself, and
have part of his hand chopped off. There were the “hoisters,” as they were called, whose task it was to
press the lever which lifted the dead cattle off the floor. They ran along upon a rafter, peering down
through the damp and the steam; and as old Durham’s architects had not built the killing-room for the
convenience of the hoisters, at every few feet they would have to stoop under a beam, say four feet
above the one they ran on; which got them into the habit of stooping, so that in a few years they would
be walking like chimpanzees. Worst of any, however, were the fertilizer-men, and those who served in
the cooking-rooms. These people could not be shown to the visitor,--for the odor of a fertilizer-man
would scare any ordinary visitor at a hundred yards, and as for the other men, who worked in tankrooms full of steam, and in some of which there were open vats near the level of the floor, their peculiar
trouble was that they fell into the vats; and when they were fished out, there was never enough of them
left to be worth exhibiting,--sometimes they would be overlooked for days, till all but the bones of them
had gone out to the world as Durham’s Pure Leaf Lard!
Discussion Questions: Answer each question below using complete sentences.
1. Assume that you had a twenty year career working at Durham in a variety of jobs. Describe how
you look physically after your long career in the meatpacking industry.
2. Why do you think that working conditions described in the reading of The Jungle existed?
3. What do you think would happen to a worker who got hurt on the job?
4. (a) Does an employer have a responsibility to their workers?
(b) What specific responsibilities do employers have to their workers?
5. Do conditions like the ones described still exist in U.S. industry today? Why or why not?
The Jungle Reading – Teacher Key
Answers will vary based on student knowledge. Look for depth of understanding. For questions where
students do not have sufficient background experience good answers show that student demonstrates
reasoned judgment based on what they know or believe to be true today.
1. At first the joints in my fingers were eaten up by the acid in the pickle-rooms, then my
thumb had been cut so often as a beef-boner that my left thumb was only a stub.
Eventually these problems lessened as all my fingers and nails disappeared from my time
as a wool plucker. Then my left hand was severed while working in the stamping
department.
2. The owners of Durham’s care more about making money than about the welfare of their
employees.
3. The company would have some responsibility for workers who get injured. They might
pay their medical bills.
4. (a) Employers have a responsibility to keep their workers safe and see that conditions are
humane.
(b) Employers need to make factories safe and healthy and workers are treated well
although this was not the case in The Jungle so I am confused.
5. Hopefully the U.S. no longer has working conditions like those described in The Jungle
because we have advanced as a society.
(Question
5 is designed for class discussion)
Name
Date
Per.
Analytical Paragraph
Using the primary sources introduced in this lesson write a paragraph addressing the focus question.
Focus Question: How did political and social conditions at the turn of the century provoke Progressive
reform?
Thesis Statement: Progressive reform was provoked by political corruption, exploitation of children,
and poor working conditions.
BING Source & connection to thesis:______________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________.
Description of source:__________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________.
Analysis:____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________.
BANG source & connection to thesis:_____________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________.
Description of source:__________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________.
Analysis:____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________.
BONGO source & connection to thesis:____________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________.
Description of source:__________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________.
Analysis:____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________.
Name
Date
Per.
Analytical Paragraph – Teacher Key
Using the information taught in this lesson write a paragraph using the frame below.
Focus Question: How did political and social conditions at the turn of the century provoke Progressive
reform?
Thesis Statement: Progressive reform was provoked by political corruption, exploitation of children,
and poor working conditions.
The political cartoon “The Bosses of the Senate” depicts the Progressive view of political
corruption. The characters representing the trusts are drawn so much larger than the
representatives elected by the people. This shows that the progressive reformers felt that the
industrialists had more power in Congress than the senators, which proved corruption.
The cartoon, “Child Labor” represents the exploitation of children. The cartoon shows children
on an auction block being sold to northern capitalists. This shows that the progressive reformers
felt that children were begin taken advantage of by factory owners.
The book by Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, describes the poor working conditions in the factories.
The author describes the horrors that workers in a meat-packing factory faced everyday. This
shows how progressive reformers felt that change was needed to address poor working conditions.
Name
Date
Cornell Note-taking Format
Subject:
Main Ideas
Details
Per.
Summary:
Name
Date
Per.
Cornell Note-taking Format – Teacher Key
Subject: The Origins of the Progressive Era Chapter 9, Section 1
Main Ideas
Details
Notes will vary (Possibilities noted below)
Four Goals of
Progressivism
Progressive movement = restore economic opportunities &
correct injustices in American life
1. Protecting Social welfare
 Social Gospel, settlement houses, & YMCA
 Florence Kelley – improving lives of women &
children
2. Promoting moral improvement
 Improve own living conditions
 Prohibition – ban on alcohol & WCTU
3. Creating Economic Freedom
 Economic panic led to some believing in
socialism
 Muckrakers – journalists who wrote about
corrupt side of business & gov’t
4. Fostering efficiency
 Scientific management – using scientific
studies to see how quickly each task can be
performed
 Assembly lines = people work like machines
Cleaning up Local
Gov’t.
Reforming local gov’t.
 Creating commissions as forms of gov’t.
 Council-manager form of gov’t.
Reform mayors changed cities w/o changing gov’t.
Reform at the State
Level
Reform governors
 Robert La Follette targeted RR industry taxing them
the same as others
Protecting working children
 Children worked to earn $ for family but were often
hurt
 Nat’l. Child Labor Committee told ppl about working
children
 Unions argued they drove down wages
 Keating-Owen Act, 1916 – prohibited transportation
of goods produced by children across st. lines –
eventually overturned by S.C.
 States created laws banning child labor
Efforts to limit working hours
 Laws were created to limit women’s work hours
 Worker’s compensation
Reforming elections
 Secret ballots
 Initiatives & referendums
 Recall
 Mandatory statewide primaries – voters, not political
machines, choose public office candidates
Direct election of senators
 17th amendment – popular election of senators (used
to be St. Legislatures chose senators)
Summary:
The Progressive era brought about many reforms to address the serious political,
social, and economic problems that existed at the turn of the Twentieth Century.
Reforms included changes to local, state, and federal governments as well as
protection for workers including women and children.