Unit 1-The Gilded Age-Migration, Industrialization & Urbanization (1877-1900) |
Big Ideas
Organizing Principle
- The Gilded Age fostered the consolidation of business, the government, and disadvantaged economic and social classes.
Essential Questions
Students will consider...
- Why did people move west? Was the destruction of Native American culture because of this movement inevitable?
- How and why did rapid industrialization and technological innovation take place in the United States after the Civil War? What changes to the American economy, culture, society and politics took place as a result?
- How did 19th Century entrepreneurs and politicians effectively accumulate wealth and power? To what extent did this accumulation negatively impact Americans?
- How and why did “the huddled masses” of new immigrants endure passage to the United States to better themselves and their families? How attainable was the American Dream for these people during the Gilded Age?
- Why did Social Darwinism and the idea of “the survival of the fittest” become acceptable during the Gilded Age? How did the idea influence the development and relationship of American industry, government policies and social customs?
Understandings
Students will understand how, why and/or to what extent...
- Individuals and groups are sometimes motivated to relocate and take risks in order to improve their quality of life.
- Individual risks, aspirations and ingenuity often lead to innovation, economic development and progress.
- As a nation prospers and grows, opportunities may increase for some individuals and groups, while decreasing for others.
- The development of technology and industry encourages immigration, urban development, and ethnic diversity.
- Cultural diversity derived from religious, ethnic, geographic and class differences may create conflict.
- Immigrants are often challenged with economic hardship, poor living conditions and discrimination.
- An individual or group’s perceptions of themselves, their country, and their place within a society may be influenced by times of prosperity and crisis.
Knowledge
Students will know...
- A variety of economic, cultural, and political factors motivated people to migrate westward during the latter part of the 19th Century. This westward expansion positively and negatively impacted various groups and the environment.
- Westward migration threatened diverse American Indian groups on the American frontier, and contributed to the establishment of government policies that encouraged their movement to reservations and eventually, assimilation.
- The financial problems facing 19th century American farmers in the South and West contributed to the rise of social and political movements that permanently changed American politics (e.g., the Grange, Farmers Alliances & the Populist Party)
- A Second Industrial Revolution emerged in the United States characterized by the production of steel and the use of electricity.
- The development of industrial, agricultural, transportation and communication technologies encouraged urban immigration and westward migration and settlement during the 19th Century.
- 19th Century industrialization led to rapid urbanization, widespread poverty and poor living conditions for diverse groups in urban areas.
- Unskilled “new” immigrants satisfied the labor needs created by the rapid industrialization of the late 19th Century; Nativist attitudes increased as the number of “new” immigrants increased.
- Labor unions evolved in an attempt to meet the political, social, and economic needs of laborers. These unions used a variety of tactics in an attempt to improve poor working conditions.
- “Laissez faire” politics led to the monopolization of specific industries during the 19th Century that benefited owners but restricted the interests and protection of workers and consumers.
- Various new inventions and products became available to Americans during the mid-19th Century that encouraged mass consumerism while improving the quality of life and standard of living for some people.
- Urban politicians used graft, fraud, and voter corruption to operate “political machines” at the expense of efficiency and democracy.
Skills
Students will be able to...
- Use Historical Comprehension to explain how the Gilded Age reflected a growing disparity between the “haves” and the “have nots”.
- Use Historical Analysis and Interpretation to critique competing historical interpretations of the significance of the frontier experience in American history.
- Use Historical Analysis and Interpretation to compare multiple perspectives of Gilded Age “new” immigrants and nativists in terms of their motives, beliefs, hopes, and fears.
- Use Historical Analysis and Interpretation to compare multiple perspectives of those Americans who supported the notion that 19th century entrepreneurs were “captains of industry” and those who considered them to be “robber barons”.
- Use Historical Analysis and Interpretation to judge the relevance of the Populist Movement to contemporary political party platforms, national elections and party realignment.
- Use Historical Analysis and Interpretation to judge the relevance of Gilded Age immigration trends to contemporary events and their own lives through a variety of classroom settings such as debates and seminars.
- Use Historical Research to interpret historical data, construct reasoned arguments and draw conclusions about key turning points of the Gilded Age using historical evidence collected from a variety of sources
- Use Chronological Thinking to identify the historical narrative for Migration, Industrialization & Urbanization (1877-1900).