Period 6 C (Modules 8-10)

Reading Guide (Modules 8-10)

(8) SOCIETY AND CULTURE IN THE GILDED AGE

Terms:

  • Gilded Age (524)

  • Corporate capitalism (524)

  • Questions:

  1. What did life look like for a typical middle-class family in the Gilded Age?

  2. How did corporate capitalism lead to an increase in "white-collar" workers?

  3. How did most view the purpose of education for women during the Gilded Age?

  4. What leisure activities became popular for both men and women in the Gilded Age?

  5. How did the so-called "crisis of masculinity" lead men to embrace sports?

  6. What opportunities were presented for different forms of sociability and sexuality in the Gilded Age?

  7. What forms of entertainment appealed to both working and middle-class Americans?

  8. What forms of music developed in black and white communities in the South?

(9) GILDED AGE IDEOLOGIES

Terms:

  • Laissez-faire (532)

  • Social Darwinism (533)

  • “The Gospel of Wealth” (533)

  • Questions:

  1. How did capitalists use the fourteenth amendment to defend their business practices?

  2. How did cultural components of the Gilded Age support capitalist ideology?

  3. How did Spencer’s theory of Social Darwinism relate to Darwin’s On the Origin of Species?

  4. Why was the concept of Social Darwinism popular?

  5. In The Gospel of Wealth, Carnegie argued that the wealthy should help the poor. Who or what did he imply should NOT be responsible for helping the poor?

  6. In what ways were industrialists like Rockefeller and Carnegie hypocritical?

  7. How did the beliefs of reformers like Bellamy, George, and Ward differ from those of Karl Marx?

(10) POLITICS AND PROTEST

Terms:

  • Depression of 1893 (537)

  • Billion Dollar Congress (539)

  • Grangers (540)

  • Interstate Commerce Commission (541)

  • Farmers' Alliances (542)

  • Subtreasury system (543)

  • Sherman Silver Purchase Act (542)

  • Populists (543)

  • Jacob Coxey (544)

  • Coxey's army (544)

  • Williams v. Mississippi (547)

  • Questions:

  1. What struggles did farmers face as a result of growing industrialization?

  2. What is your text’s hypothesis for why voters refused to give either Democrats or Republicans solid support?

  3. Why did the public hold politicians in very low esteem?

  4. How did politicians garner record-breaking political participation in the late 1800s?

  5. What factors played a role in determining which party an individual American might vote for?

  6. What mistake did farmers make in response to a drop in prices of their goods?

  7. How and why did the Grangers eventually become involved in politics?

  8. In what way was enforcement of the ICC similar to that of the Sherman Antitrust Act?

  9. How did Mary Elizabeth Lease help round up support for Farmers’ Alliances?

  10. Which groups of people were eventually invited to join into the Farmers Alliance in an effort to create a nationwide organization?

  11. Why did farmers seek to increase the money supply by expanding the amount of silver coinage in circulation?

  12. Did they have any success in convincing major political parties to consider this change?

  13. What policies did Populists add to their platform in order to appeal to industrial workers?

  14. What factors led to a decrease in popularity for President Cleveland, specifically in regards to Southern and Western Americans?

  15. How did Mark Hanna, McKinley’s campaign manager, give McKinley an edge in the 1896 election?

  16. Why did the Populist Party collapse after McKinley’s victory in 1896?

  17. What was the enduring legacy of the Populists?