Robber Barons or Captains of Industry

It costs a great deal of money to wage war and many industrialists made great fortunes. This money led to investment in factories, railroads, steel, and the oil business. These giant enterprises transformed business and labor practices. This transformation of the work place led to more huge profits but at great worker expense. Historians have labeled these men both robber barons, for exploiting workers and consumers, and captains of industry, for providing employment and setting up philanthropic foundations.

This week you watched a video on Andrew Carnegie which traced his rise from a 13 year old boy working in a cotton factory in 1848 to the richest man in the world with the sale of Carnegie Steel Company to J.P. Morgan for $480 million in 1901. The Biography video presented a balanced portrait of a man who was ruthlessly competitive while preaching a “gospel of wealth.” In 1889 Carnegie wrote, “the man who dies … rich dies disgraced.” Our writing assignment gave you the opportunity to decide: Was Andrew Carnegie a robber baron or a captain of industry?

These issues and conflicts are with us today. Are Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling of ENRON robber barons? Are Melinda and Bill Gates captains of industry? Does business have an obligation to share its great wealth with society? EXXON, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, announced in October 2005 that their profits had increased 75% over the year before, to $9.92 billion. Do they have an obligation to reduce their prices or distribute much of their gain? And what about the role of government? Should the federal government have stopped the unfair labor practices of the late 1880s? Should government today place a windfall profits tax on the oil companies?

We also had a reading on Wal-Mart workers and saw the parallel between today’s workers and the workers of the late 1880s. The harsh working conditions of the late 1880s led workers to organize and from unions. In their early years the unions struggled to negotiate shorter work days, better wages and safer working conditions. Unions today have the same goal - to provide workers with safe working conditions and fair wages.

Thomas Nast

Thomas Nast, an immigrant from Bavaria (Germany), was an influential political cartoonist from 1860 until his death in 1902. His illustrations and cartoons were featured in one of the most popular magazines of the time, “Harper’s Weekly.” He is credited with creating the political symbols for the Democrats, the donkey, and the Republicans, the elephant.

As we saw in our earlier assignment on political cartoons, they can make powerful statements. I am sure you remember our Andrew Jackson cartoon depicting him as an all powerful King. Your assignment this week is to find a Nast cartoon or illustration that he drew after 1870. You have a series of questions to help you understand the cartoon. Be sure to bring in a copy of the cartoon and your written work with the rubric attached. This will be one of our last assignments for the year.

Packets, Portfolios, and Study Guides

The end of the year is fast approaching. To prepare yourself for the final exam, you should review the past work that you have saved in your portfolio. We will update your status of assignment sheet this coming week and then you may take the folders home.

You also have the packets on the last three standards. The “rise of industrial America” packet will be collected on Tuesday. All of these will be useful in your review of our most recent work.

You also have a study guide. The study guide will be collected the day of the exam and it is worth up to 10 points. The guide is a guide….that is, don’t just provide definitions of the terms or events, use the listing as a way to ask yourself, why do I need to know about tariffs, who supported tariffs, who opposed, was this an issue that resulted in a change in our country? Write your responses on a separate page to give yourself adequate space.

You also have the blog! You can go back to the postings from the start of the third quarter (January) and read each one as a way to review. If you don’t recall a concept or event, you have live links that will take you to a site that will refresh your memory. It takes approximately 2 to 3 minutes to read each entry so in a matter of about 30 to 40 minutes you can review the entire second semester! Should pod casting be next?

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Our bulletin board this week carried pictures of our favorite historians…YOU. Everyone who did a Civil War project received a photo of themselves with their partner and display board. I hope you share these with your family, especially if they were unable to attend our event. Be sure to save the photo in a safe place so when your children are studying the Civil War you can produce the photo and say, “When I was your age, I had to do this project!”

Memorial Day

We did a reading about the history of Memorial Day so I hope you take a moment on Monday to stop and think about all the people who have gone before us and have sacrificed their lives so we can have a better life. Enjoy the long weekend and stay safe.

A Friendly Reminder

The “John Adams” books will be torn from your hands on Tuesday. I know it is difficult to give up this award winning volume but take consolation in the fact that you can order your own copy from Amazon or pick it up at your local bookstore. This summer you may want to pick up 1776, McCullough’s latest book, or go back and read one of his earlier ones such as Truman or The Great Bridge­. A habit common to most successful people is continually reading, to gain knowledge and ideas!

A Time to Rebuild

Reconstruction was a time of challenges, opportunities and forgotten promises. As you wrote your narrative of the years after the Civil War, you told of the complexity of economic, social, and political problems facing this country. You wrote about the efforts by Congress to extend citizenship to all born in the United States and voting rights to former male slaves. In addition, Congress established the Freedman’s Bureau to provide support services and education to former slaves in an effort to integrate these families into the economic life of the community.

While many positive steps were made towards establishing a new political order, many southern whites violently opposed the changes. In 1866, the Ku Klux Klan was established to “defend the social and political superiority” of whites. They resorted to harassment, whippings, cross burnings and lynching in an effort to keep the former slaves in “their place.” In addition, Black Codes and Jim Crow laws were enforced that hampered the newly freed people in their efforts to vote and establish economic strength.

After approximately ten years of military occupation of the south, the Compromise of 1877 led to the “election” of Rutherford B. Hayes and the removal of federal troops.

Expansion of American Industry

You have received your last packet of activities for the year. This coming week we will focus on the growth of industry, establishment of labor unions, and the final push west.
It is especially important that you take the time to do the worksheets in conjunction with the variety of text books and other sources you have on hand as many of the questions on the final come from the packets.

Final Exam

In addition to the packets, you will have your portfolio resources, a study guide (which will be worth additional points) as well as the blog to help you review. It only takes 2 or 3 minutes to read each blog entry, so in a matter of about 45 minutes you could read through all the blog entries for this quarter as part of your review for the final. The blog also provides many live links in case you need to refresh your understanding of specific issues and topics we have discussed this year.

“John Adams”

This is a friendly reminder to the period 2 class that you need to finish reading the last two chapters of “John Adams.” I will drop the writing assignment for these two chapters but you will need to finish reading the book to answer the essay on the final as well as some of the multiple choice questions. Let me warn you, have a box of tissues near by as you read about the final years of JA and his good friend TJ.

Current Events

We are back on our Day 1 and Day 4 schedule for current events. This week your article must be about business or labor. As an added bonus, extra points will be earned if you bring in an article that contains any of the new vocabulary from your packet or refers to one of the names from your Robber Baron worksheet.

My Favorite Historians

Congratulations to my favorite historians!

May 4 was a proud day as you displayed your projects, gave presentations and demonstrated to all of our visitors that you could think and act like historians. The skills you have learned - asking questions, using multiple sources, understanding point of view or bias, looking for evidence, debating, reflecting and communicating - are the same skills you will use throughout your life. Whenever you need to make a decision you should utilize these skills. What should I do after high school? Which political candidate should I support? What car should I buy? Should I move? Take the time to think about your thinking: ask questions, use different sources, reflect, debate and then decide.

The Week Ahead

We will continue with class presentations so we can all benefit from the wide variety of topics covered at the Fair. Instead of handing in a blank rubric, I am asking you to rate your project using the rubric. Circle your level of accomplishment and then provide the evidence to support your decision.

You will also have time to work on the Civil War packet that you received last week. Current events are on hold until we finish the packet but I know you will keep up on what is happening in the outside world. Take a moment to watch the news, check out CNN’s web site, or look at the New York Times that is available to you in room 246.