Social Studies - United States History II
Lesson Plans

U.S. II Strand 1: INDUSTRIALIZATION

(Ca. 1880-1920)

The Industrial Revolution radically changed the daily lives of Americans. The immense industrial growth in the 19th century was fueled by technological innovations, abundant natural resources, and a large unskilled labor force. Migration, urbanization, and immigration are trends that continue into contemporary times.

Possible Guiding Questions to Consider:

• How did daily life change for many Americans as industrialization developed?
• What role does industrialization play in the United States today?
• What key events laid the framework for the growth of industry, mining, agriculture, and human movement?
• How did employment opportunities influence immigration and internal migration patterns?
• What were the major "push" and "pull" factors influencing migration to and within the United States, and how did immigrants change culture and politics?
• What challenges in employment did immigrants face?
• What is the relationship between industrialism and the rise of consumerism in the U.S.?
• Why is the Industrial Revolution sometimes considered to be two events? What was distinct about the "Second Industrial Revolution"?
• How could industrial leaders be considered both "captains of industry" and "robber barons"?

U.S. II Standard 1.4:

Students will use historical evidence to compare how industrial capitalist leaders used entrepreneurship, free markets, and strategies to build their businesses.

• The Men Who Build America: Traits of a Titan
  This video provides an overview of the captains of industry during the industrial revolution from the viewpoint of their visions and postivie contributions.
• Titans of Industry
  This video provides an overview of Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Labor Unions; horizontal and vertical integrations including criticisms of their practices.
• Wealth and Poverty in the Gilded Age
  In this lesson students will read, analyze, and assess two texts?the ?Gospel of Wealth? (1889), an essay by the industrialist Andrew Carnegie, and What Is Man? (1906), a Socratic dialogue/short story by the American humorist Mark Twain?that address the ideas of destiny, free will, human nature, and philanthropy. The students will then engage in a written and oral debate with their classmates using quotations from these texts and their own words.

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