gilded age

Gilded Egg

Gilded Age1850-1920

Is it all about the Benjamins ($)?

Big Idea: Bittersweet

1) Business was changing during the Gilded Age.- Compare the "Robber Barons“ or “Captains of Industry” to business people today. - Were these people “Robber Barons” or "Captains of Industry" or would you call them something else?- Explain your answer. Be specific.

2) Poverty was a part of life and the Gospel of Wealth and Social Darwinism tried to explain it.

- Do you believe that people's attitudes toward the poor have changed or remained the same? Why or why not?

- Are these beliefs true in your opinion?

- Be sure to provide examples & be specific.

3) Bittersweet is the BIG IDEA for the Gilded Age.

- Why does the word Bittersweet fit the Gilded Age?

- If you could give the Gilded Age a theme other than Bittersweet, what would you call it?

- Be sure to provide examples and BE SPECIFIC.

4) People started to stand up for themselves during the Gilded Age.- Can you predict the outcome if people didn’t start to stand up for themselves?- Should labor unions play as big a part today as they did back then? Why or why not?- Explain and BE SPECIFIC

Greed is Good

•Is what he talks about true? –Is greed good?–Why or why not?

•What are the goals of his corporation?

Transforming AmericaWhat does this mean?I. Industry1) Railroads

- 1890: Were making twice as much as the government

Unites the U.S.

0

100,000,000

200,000,000

300,000,000

400,000,000

500,000,000

600,000,000

700,000,000

800,000,000

900,000,000

1,000,000,000

Railroads U.S. Government

2) Steel- Lots of resources- Quick steel

making processwas invented making steel cheaper to produce

3) Oil- Drilling for oil waseasier and it was becoming a useful product

How would these industries change the U.S.? Ex. of each

How have these impacted your life?

II. Big Business1) “Robber Barons” or

“Captains of Industry”

- Cornelius William Vanderbilt

- Andrew Carnegie- John D. Rockefeller

“Captain of Industry” or “Robber Baron” Why?

- It’s OK to be a Robber Baron.- Robber Barons are good for

society.

2) 1859 – 1899 (U.S.)- Manufactured product

value up 622% a) $1.8 billion - $13

billion3) Who do you trust?

- What is a trust?

Different business trustees

Bob’s Oil

Jen’sOil

Spike’sOil

Anna’sOil

StocksMoney

Business owners

•Are these businesses competing against each other?

•What is going to happen?•Why might/should this be illegal?

- Vertical Integrationa) the process of buying

out suppliers and distributorsex. Buying a tire factory because we make cars

- Horizontal Integrationa) the process of buying

out competitorsex. A hot dog vender who starts selling hamburgers

•Show some examples of vertical integration and horizontal integration.–Diagram, act out, something!!–What are some examples in the world today?

4) Gospel of WealthIf you’re rich what do you do with all the money?

- Make sure the money is put to good use

- The rich are superior humans, God gave the rich the money

Can the poor have the money? Why or why not?

- The poor make poor decisions and therefore shouldn’t have themoney

5) Social Darwinism - Reading, Notes over the

reading- Definition

How is the Gospel of Wealth similar to Social Darwinism?

6) Government InvolvementWhat do you think?How much should the

gov’t be involved in the economy?

- Laissez-faire – “let do” gov’t not involved- People wanted the gov’t

to fix economic and societal problems

- Sherman Anti-Trust Acta) No more trusts

(monopolies) - Federal Trade

Commissiona) Keep business

competition free and fair

IV. Labor movement 1) Workers weren’t exactly treated

well - Used the working class - Eliminated competition, supply

went down- Cheap labor ($8-12/week)- 12-14 hour days, 6-7 days/week- Accidents were plentiful

Work Wages JobsChildren Start

at age 10

30% of what men make

Factories NewsiesUnskilled labor

Women All women work

50% of what men make

Factories

•What does immigration have to do with this?

•Likert Scale–Immigration helped this country.–Immigration could help our country now.–Workers are treated better today.

Little girl who had forgotten how old she was.

Furman Owens, 12 years old. Can't read. Doesn't know his A,B,C's. Said, "Yes I want to learn but can't when I work all the time." Been in the mills 4 years, 3 years in the Olympia Mill. Columbia, S.C.

What is the message of this cartoon?How does it fit today?

2) “We’re Not Gonna Take It!!”

- Workers decided they had rights

- Labor unions are an organization of workers who want to improve status

•What/Who are these?–strikes–Samuel Gompers–Haymarket–Mother Jones–Industrial Workers of the World–Eugene Debs

What to do?

- Reword the song- Draw a picture that represents the song- Write a paragraph about how the song represents this period

•Students will be divided into groups:

(1) lower class workers requesting higher wages (2) barons of industry (3) a group of concerned citizens that feel threatened by immigrants coming into American.

V. Populist Movement- Farmers weren’t happy- Wages were high and imports were expensive- Formed the Populist party

a) Wanted gov’t ownership of all railroads

b) Election reformc) Free silver

•shamrag.blogspot.com/.../last-day-of-year.html

•www.yousephtanha.com/blog/category/transformers/

•www.simpsonstrivia.com.ar/superman-picture.htm

•http://amhist.ist.unomaha.edu/module_files/Iron,%20Steel%20and%20Coal%20Production.bmp

•http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/Econ_Articles/carnegie/delong_moscow_paper2.html