United States History: 1877 to the Present

Reshaping the Nation and the Emergence of Modern America: 1877 to the Early 1900s

USII.3

The student will demonstrate knowledge of how life changed after the Civil War by

a) identifying the reasons for westward expansion;
b) explaining the reasons for the increase in immigration, growth of cities, new inventions, and challenges arising from this expansion;
c) describing racial segregation, the rise of “Jim Crow,” and other constraints faced by African Americans in the post-Reconstruction South;
d) explaining the rise of big business, the growth of industry, and life on American farms;
e) describing the impact of the Progressive Movement on child labor, working conditions, the rise of organized labor, women’s suffrage, and the temperance movement.

NOTE: The Virginia Board of Education adopted the revised 2008 History and Social Science Standards of Learning at the January 10, 2008, meeting. Full implementation of these documents is scheduled for the 2010-2011 school year, as outlined in Superintendent’s Memorandum Informational Number 49.

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Begin the unit with questions about what created the rise in big business, what factors caused the growth of industry, and how industrialization and the rise in big business influenced life on American farms.
Explain that between the Civil War and World War I, the United States was transformed from an agricultural to an industrial nation.
Discuss the reasons for rise and prosperity of big business, including the following:

National markets created by transportation advances
Captains of industry (John D. Rockefeller, oil; Andrew Carnegie, steel; and Henry Ford, automobile)
Advertising
Lower-cost production

Explain the factors resulting in growth of industry, such as:

Access to raw materials and energy
Availability of work force
Inventions
Financial resources

Review examples of big business, including:

Railroads
Oil
Steel

Explain the postwar changes in farm and city life, including the following:

Mechanization (e.g., the reaper) had reduced farm labor needs and increased production.
Industrial development in cities created increased labor needs.
Industrialization provided access to consumer goods (e.g., mail order).

Ask students to provide a definition of the term captains of industry. Write these definitions on the board as they are offered, and hold a class discussion on the meaning of this term. Ask, "Does this term have a positive or a negative connotation?"
Provide materials in the classroom for research on the following industrial leaders of the era: John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and Henry Ford. Helpful Internet sites to which to point students are Internet Public Library at http://www.ipl.org/ and EDSITEment: The Best of the Humanities on the Web at http://edsitement.neh.gov/. Divide students into small groups, and assign each group one of the individuals mentioned above. Have the groups use the research materials and the Internet to find information about the following aspects of their assigned businessman:

His family background
Acquisition of his wealth
Treatment of his workers; his business ethics and values
Philanthropy (his financial donations to individuals and organizations)

After they have gathered their information, have each group write a series of interview questions that would be effective in soliciting information on these topics from their assigned businessman.
Finally, have one group (the interviewers) interview another group (the interviewees), using the questions prepared by the interviewees. Repeat the process so that each group is interviewed. The students may adopt a talk-show format for these mock interviews. Have students use a note-taking chart during the interviews of leaders they themselves did not research.
A Sample Grading Rubric: Captains of Industry for this lesson could be used. For a copy of the grading rubric, CLICK HERE.

WEB SITES

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USArockefeller.htm
Biography of John Davidson Rockefeller

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/
PBS background on the Rockefeller family

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/
Andrew Carnegie's life

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/industry/carnegie
Biography of Andrew Carnegie

http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/hf/default.asp
Life of Henry Ford

http://www.time.com/time/time100/builder/profile/ford.html
Henry Ford

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook14.html
Industrial Revolution

http://www.msu.edu/user/brownlow/indrev.htm
Industrial Revolution

top of page