Period 1: The Industrial Revolution (1865-1900)

As the nineteenth century drew to a close, observers were asking, "Why are the best men not in politics?" One answer was that they were being lured away from public life by the lusty attractions of the booming private economy. As America's Industrial Revolution slipped into high gear, talented men ached for profits, not the presidency. They dreamed of controlling corporations, not the Congress. What the nation lost in civic leadership, it gained in an astounding surge of economic growth. As late as 1870, agriculture remained the nation's biggest business. By 1900 it accounted for less than half of the national economy. Until the end of the Civil War, the United States imported more merchandise than it exported. By 1900 it annually delivered more than $600 million worth of manufactured goods to the world's marketplace. Americans did not achieve this economic transformation all by themselves. Foreign investment, labor, trade, and technology made it possible. Although in many ways still a political dwarf, the United States was about to stand up before the world as an industrial colossus - and the lives of millions of working Americans would be transformed in the process. (Source: American Pageant by David M. Kennedy and Lizabeth Cohen)

VOCABULARY

Industrial Revolution	A change in America's economic organization that was characterized by a shift from hand tools to power-driven machines, and by the concentration of industry into large corporations.
Capitalism	An economic system where control of production, distribution, and exchange is managed by private individuals or corporations, rather than by the state.
Entrepreneurs	A person who starts and manages a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.
Labor Union	A group of workers who join together for mutual aid and protection and for negotiations with employers.

ACTIVITIES & ASSIGNMENTS

1: Industrial Revolution (lecture notes): Students will learn about the tensions that developed between the major business owners of the nineteenth century (Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan) and American laborers.

2: The Men Who Built America: Blood Was Spilled (questions): Students will watch a re-enactment of the Homestead Strike, answering questions on the conflict between business and labor at Carnegie Steel.

3: Homestead Strike: What Really Happened? (Readings & Questions) Students will complete a case study of the Homestead Act - comparing the accounts of Carnegie Steel manager Henry Frick and labor rights activist Emma Goldman.