NEH Summer Teacher Institute 2004 Final Lessons

The Gilded Age and Liberty

Theone Sexauer

Grade Level: 10

Discipline: Honors U.S. History

Objectives

To identify the economic and social implications of the Gilded Age.
To recognize the Populist movement and their philosophies.
To compare and contrast music and to understand its impact on society.

To analyze political cartoons and their meaning.
To research and develop a campaign platform,

Resources

Song used:

Future America
New American Anthem

Other:

Armistage, Susan, Czitrom, Daniel. Out of Many. Upper Saddle River; Prentice Hall, 2005.

Foner, Philip S. American Labor Songs of the Nineteenth Century. Urbana; University of Illinois Press, 1975.

Lichenstein, Nelson. Who Built America? Volume Two. New York; Worth Publishers, 2000.

Organization of American Historians. “The Progressive Era,” Magazine of History, Volume 13, Number 4 Spring 1999

Organization of American Historians. “The Gilded Age,” Magazine of History, Summer 1999.

The Hand That Holds The Bread: Progress and Protest in the Gilded Age. http://dlib.nyu.edu/dram/Objid/26430

Cartoons:

Tammany

www2.truman.edu/parker/research/cartoons.html

The Supreme Court-As it May Hereafter Be Constituted

http://faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/awcohen/Teaching/Legal/main.htm

Song History

Mark Twain coined the phrase “Gilded Age” to reflect the opulence of the wealthy while hiding the underlining poverty resulting from the exploitation of the workers by American corporations in the late 1800s.

With the expansion of the railroads the nation became stitched together, thus creating new markets for farmers and new jobs for laborers. Corporations, such as Carnegie Steel Company and Rockefeller’s Standard Oil, helped America grow from the 4th largest manufacturer in 1860 to #1 by 1894.

Two groups that first benefited then were adversely affected by the growth of corporations and railroads were farmers and laborers. Farmers responded by this adverse affect by creating the Farmers Alliance and the Grange. These two socioeconomic organizations gave rise to the Populist Party.

Leopold Vincent, along with his father and brother published the Winfield American Nonconformist, a radical paper that condemned many of the unfair practices that were inflicted on immigrants, workers and farmers. Vincent published a farm-labor solidarity booklet in 1891 called The Alliance and Labor Songster. The book was a compilation of songs using familiar tunes and was written mostly by farmers and workers who believed in the cause of solidarity. The song Future America (author unknown) uses the tune of “My Country ‘tis of Thee," and attacks the idea of corporations and monopolies.

“A New American Anthem” was written by Thomas Nicol and also appeared in The Alliance and Labor Songster. Also using the tune of “My Country ‘tis of Thee,” this parody reflects the plight of the farmers.

Procedure

This lesson would be used to introduce the growth of the Populist party and the growing class division that occurred during the Gilded Age.

Introductory learning activities

Have students read the lyrics of New American Anthem in the class.

Discussion Questions

Have students sing the Anthem (no recording) twice. The first time students will sing the song as it is written. The second time the students sing, will be a reflection of their discussion.

Repeat that first two activities using Future America.

Compare and contrast the two songs using graphic organizer.

Break the class into four groups, giving each student a political cartoon. Have the students link their cartoon to one of the songs.

Break the students into groups of three. Each group will have an identity either farmers, laborers, or industrialists.
Students will read the Gilded Age material in their textbook. After brainstorming as a group students will identify the attitudes of their assigned roles. .
Individually write a journal entry explaining why they advocate their political position.
For homework, all students will be given an excerpt from the Gospel of Wealth to read. After the reading students will write a response as a 21st century historian analyzing the person’s bias.