Week 4

Week 4

The Birth of Modern America

Monday: The Changing Face of Labor
Wednesday: Unrest on the Farm
Friday: Gilded Age Politics

DISCUSSION SECTIONS: Labor and Capital

READINGS:

1.Plunkitt, Plunkitt of Tammany Hall.
2.Andrew Carnegie "Wealth" 1889
3.Documents: Ocala Platform, 1890; and William Jennings Bryan, Cross of Gold Speech.

ADDITIONAL INTERNET RESOURCES:

1.William McKinley:
http://www.cohums.ohio-state.edu/history/projects/McKinley
2.Coal Mining in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era:
http://www.cohums.ohio-state.edu/history/projects/Lessons_US/Gilded_Age/Coal_Mining/default.htm
3.The Union Web: http://www.unionweb.org/

WEEKLY ASSIGNMENT:

For your written assignment, we want you to think about the comparison
between late-nineteenth-century urban politics and politics of today. Your
assignment is to write three discussion points that highlight similarities and/or
differences. You have two choices for your focus:

1.) Assume that today's presidential candidates were magically
transported back in time. How would they have faired in Plunkitt's
world? What would have surprised them? What would be familiar?
Would any of today's candidates be successful in Plunikitt's world
(who)?

2.) What would Plunkitt think about the 2000 election campaign? What
would surprise him? What would be familiar? Could he operate
successfully in today's electoral system?

***FIRST MIDTERM EXAMINATION***

Due Monday, February 5, 2001 at 10:20 a.m. at the beginning of lecture.

ANSWER ONE OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

Your paper should be around 5 pages in length, and must be typed and double-spaced.

1. As we have argued in class, nineteenth-century Americans deeply valued individualism and equality. Yet, their society was deeply divided along racial, ethnic, gender, and class lines. How do you explain this? Discuss the importance of these boundary lines in the late nineteenth century. To what extent did race, ethnicity, gender, and class shape the lives of late-nineteenth-century Americans? What was the world these different groups of Americans faced? How did they respond? How did these boundary lines shape their experiences? Be sure to discuss both the social environment and cultural attitudes and to compare and contrast the experience of these groups in both settings. You must utilize material from both the readings and lectures in answering this question.

2. It has been said that America was born in the country and moved to the city. Who moved to cities in the late nineteenth century? Why? What was it like for the various peoples who came from rural communities to the burgeoning cities of the late nineteenth century? What challenges did they face in adapting to the new urban environments? What challenges did this growth pose for cities and how successful were they in meeting these challenges? You must utilize material from both the readings and lectures in answering this question.

3. Reconstruction marked a major turning point in the nation's history, and its legacy would shape much of American life over the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Discuss the legacy of reconstruction and its impact on Americans, both African-American and white, men and women, working-class and wealthy, in both the South and the North. What were the successes and failures of Reconstruction? What was its lasting legacy for 20th century Americans? In answering this question, you must utilize material from both the readings and the lectures.

INSTRUCTIONS:

We expect well-written and typed essays around five pages in length. The paper is due at the beginning of class on February 5. You could write much longer essays on each of these questions so it is important to focus carefully on what is being asked. You MUST support your main points with evidence. BE SPECIFIC and utilize both lecture and reading material throughout your essay. (Additional material beyond course material can only be used as a supplement. You must demonstrate your mastery of the course material.) Refer directly to your sources and use formal footnotes or endnotes. Be sure to distinguish your views and those of the authors and lectures clearly. These essays, like all college essays, should be written for an intelligent but ignorant audience. That means that you must explain your references and examples clearly as if the reader of the essay is unfamiliar with the material that you are writing about.

Good writing is important in these essays. Essays are not just a collection of sentences. How you express your ideas counts. We can only judge how well you understand the material by how well you can express yourself on paper. Your essay should have a clear thesis, a logical structure with good transitions from paragraph to paragraph, and a resounding conclusion. In a history essay what follows what is important since you are usually writing about causation and change over time. Use formal writing avoiding slang and contractions. Spelling and grammatical errors are unacceptable. Whether you write your essays in first person or third is a matter of personal style, but these must be coherent essays with thesis paragraphs and conclusions (even for the second questions which gives you more creative leeway.)

You should not work on this with anyone else. The paper you turn in should represent your work and yours alone. You are encouraged to be analytical, creative, and above all independent in your answers.

created: February 10, 2000
last updated: January 10, 2001