Gilded Age: Important Court Case

This chapter is full of interesting major and minor events falling into what we call the "Gilded Age".

One of the most important events is a court case, settled in the 1890s, called Plessy v. Ferguson. I do not want to give too much away, so let me just say the decision in this case negatively affected African Americans for the next 70+ years.

For this week's blog, do your own research on Plessy v. Ferguson. In the comment section, answer the following...
1) What is the "basic story" of the case?
2) The phrase "separate but equal" comes from this case. What does this phrase mean? How did it affect African Americans?

What About The Workers?: Employees of the Industrialization Era

Last week you all did an excellent job of profiling those men who amassed prolific wealth during this Second Industrial Revolution. For this week, you will profile the people on the other end of the spectrum.

As you saw in class last week, the fortunes of these industries were built (often) using harsh/unfair businesses practices. Unionizing soon became the best option for workers to have their rights heard. Unions differed in tactics, who they represented, who they allowed to join and how "radical" they were; but, all of these groups essentially wanted the same thing---a fair piece of the pie.

For this week, please profile ONE of the following labor leaders/unions. Write a 100 paragraph to summarize the main points and then a Top Ten List of interesting facts.

Choices
-Mother Jones
-Terrence Powederly
-Samuel Gompers
-Eugene V. Debs
-"Big" Bill Haywood
-American Federation of Labor
-Knights of Labor

Post Civil War Industrialization: A New Class of Americans

This time period is intriguing for two main reasons:
1) Certain men were able to use loopholes in the laws, as well as their own hard work, to make vast fortunes in new industrial areas

AND

2) Oftentimes, these "titans of industry" used shady business dealings and unfair treatment of their employees to make these fortunes.

For this week's blog, we will focus on the first point.

Spend some time doing your own research on ONE of the following people:
John D. Rockefeller, JP Morgan, Leland Stanford, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Cyrus Field, Jay Gould, Andrew Carnegie, John Jacob Astor, Marshall Field, John Warne Gates, Charles Schwab or Andrew Mellon.

For the comment section
A) Write a 100 word paragraph explaining how this man made his fortune.

B) Write a "Top Ten List" of the most interesting facts you learned about him during your research.

Remember, the total word count must be at least 200 words.

***You may choose the same person as another classmate, but I would like to see each guy covered at least once.***

Native American Assimilation: Kill The Indian, Save The Man

As we saw last week, not every armed conflict went the way of the US Army. At Little Bighorn, we are reminded the natives we fought against were as trained as our soldiers...perhaps more so.

As it became clear the "native problem" needed creative solutions, one phrase came to the forefront that changed the game forever.

Kill the Indian...Save The Man.

For this week's blog, read Website A and Website B for context and basic information. Then, watch this clip for more information about the Native American Assimilation program.

For the comment section, give me 50 words each for these four questions:

1) What does the phrase Kill the Indian...Save the Man mean?

2) How did we try to "Americanize" (or..."make the natives more like us") the natives?

3) What was the Carlisle Boarding School in Pennsylvania?

4) Was this system of assimilation better or worse than the wars we fought with the natives?