Sunday, January 10, 2016

Agenda for 1/11 and 1/12

1. Organized Labor DBQ - 10 mins
  • Thesis Statements
  • Document Analysis
  • Outline Essay
    • Body Paragraphs (categories)
    • Outside evidence
    • Context
    • Synthesis

2. Gilded Age Politics - Crash Course


A. Political Parties in the late-19th century

·      Stable party politics
o   16 Rep states – North
o   14 Dem states - South
o   Only 5 states that varied in support
§  NY and Ohio
·      High voter turnout (60-80%)
·      Party membership strong and based on cultural characteristics
o   Dem.
§  Southern
§  New immigrants
§  Catholics
§  Opposed temperance
o   Rep.
§  Northern
§  Blacks
§  Protestants
§  Older immigrants
§  Favored temperance

B. The National Government in 1880s
·      Delivered mail
·      Military
·      Foreign policy
·      Tariffs and taxes
·      Subsidies to corporations
·      Help suppress labor conflicts (on side of corporations)
·      Administered Union Army pensions

C. Civil Service Reform
·      After the assassination of James Garfield, Chester Aurther gets Congress to pass the Pendleton Act, which required some federal jobs be filled by applicants who take a civil service test to assess aptitude.
·      Reform supported by Half-Breed faction of Rep. party and opposed by Stalwarts (reason for Garfield's assassination)
 
 
3. Populists - party platform 
    • 1. Briefly list the major beliefs of the Populists. What did they hope to achieve as a party?

      2. Using the actual Populist Party Platform of 1892, break down their beliefs into political, economic and social categories.

Problems of Farmers
The Industrial Revolution had caused the big business attitude of industry to make its way into many other aspects of society. Big business was the prominent trend and people looked to incorporate big business ideas into all aspects of business, including agriculture. However, small agrarian communities still mostly dominated agriculture. These small agrarian communities did not wish to give up control to big businesses or corporations. To resist the influence of big corporations, they had to organize together to maintain a standard for agricultural practices and fair prices. Farmers were often taken advantage of by big industries that paid less than fair wages for their product.
One such organization was the “National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry,” or just “the grange” for short. The grange was essentially a union for farmers. It established a standard of farming that was to be upheld by all farmers who joined the organization, which would hopefully help limit any unfair competition. The Grange gained a lot of momentum as people involved in the farm industry became weary of industrial influence. It even grew to possess some political influence and made efforts at enacting laws and reforms to alleviate the problems that farmers were facing. The Grange was ultimately unsuccessful, however, in that it did not address the issue of overproduction of produce, which was one of the primary factors leading to the inflated market and low prices.

For the Test
Be able to explain how the rise of big businesses might have been negative for farmers, and identify examples of actions taken to deal with these problems. 


Populism
As mentioned above, the industrial influence on agriculture had made things very difficult for individual farmers to survive. They struggled to compete with huge, industrial style farms out west. Many private banks even came to be owned by banks. Also, these small farms were heavily dependent on railroads. Unfortunately, small farms could rarely afford the shipping costs associated with using railroads. All of these factors made it very difficult for small farms to be successful. Farmers grew weary and restless as organizations like the Grange failed to make a lasting difference, and they were looking for an alternative solution.
That solution presented itself in the form of populism. Essentially, populism was a political movement and party largely fueled by farmers. It is commonly associated with the catchphrase that farmers needed to “raise less corn and more hell.” As farmers across the country faced difficult conditions and struggled to get by, they were fairly easily united. The political power of the populist movement, although short lived, was timely and surprisingly influential. Within just a few short years, the Populist Party was able to elect a number of senators to congress and even became a recognizable factor in the 1892 elections. Overall, the Populist Party was concerned with railroad use, land management, and money. However, their emphasis soon became the desire for a currency based more on silver, which 

they thought would solve many of their issues. This is the issue that populism is most closely associated with, and it is the issue that populism ultimately died with. The power of the Populists was short lived and only made a temporary impact. They were soon swallowed up by the Democratic party, who shared their views on the issue of silver.

For the Test
Describe the factors that led to the development of the Populist Party. Explain some of the key issues that the Populist Party was concerned with.

3. Booker T. Washington v. WEB Dubois
HW:

A. Describe the significant differences between the ideas/beliefs of BTW and WEBD.

B.Who's ideas/plans do you think held the greatest chances for success? If you could advocate for one of the two ideologies/strategies for improving the lives of Black Americans in 1900, which one would you support? Respond in approximately one page. Be sure to quote from both of the primary source documents above to support your answer.

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