NA Senior High School

Unit VI: Reconstruction, Industrialization,Urbanization, and Cultural

***Begin work on the Centennial Reflection research paper.  This assignment is due at the beginning of the last day of this unit***

I.          The Best Laid Plans…

Text 513-516, 518-520

Was Lincoln’s plan too lenient?  Was Congress’s plan too harsh?  What, in your opinion, was the best way to readmit the seceded southern states?

II.        Scalawags, Carpetbaggers, and the Impeachment of a President

            Text 521-532 (fourth paragraph)

Did Johnson deserve the negativity that was heaped on him during his presidency, or was he merely a moderate unfairly vilified for his opposition to the radicals in Congress?  Explain your thoughts.

III.       The Strange Death of Reconstruction

Text 532 (bottom of 2^nd column) – 533;  Spirit II 33-34 (Godkin), 34-35 (Douglass), 35-37 (Washington)

What, in your opinion, was the single-most grievous error made in the Reconstruction South?  Explain why this error is so significant.

IV.       An Era of Good “Stealings”

            Text 538-543 (first column)

How are the political machines that arose at this time a betrayal of the ideas of republican government?  Conversely, how are they exactly what the founders expected?

V.        Attempts at Political Reform

            Rendezvous With Destiny (hereafter cited as Rendezvous), ch I and II (in class)

VI.       The Spoilsmen – An Age of Cynicism

            Text 552-562

What were the major issues dividing the two major parties between 1877 and 1898?  Were there any relationships between the close balance of power and the effectiveness of the federal government during these years?  Was the government remiss in its responsibilities in this situation?

VII.     Railroad Consolidation and Government Regulation

            Text 565-574 (first paragraph)

            MODERATION

Analyze how the course of the fight over railroad regulation reveals relationships between economic interest and political power. 

VIII.    Robber Barons or Captains of Industry?

            Text 575-579 (first section); Spirit II 66-68 (Rockefeller), 68-69 (Oil Man)

How do the so-called “New Rich” of the Gilded Age differ from their patrician predecessors?

IX.       Industrial Philosophy and Impact

Text 579-581 (top of 2^nd column), 583-586, 593-594; Spirit II 70-71 (Carnegie), 71-72 (The Nation), 72-75 (Conwell)

Is the story of American Industrialism one of progress or abuse?  Explain.

X.        Labor “Strikes” Back

Text 586-587 (top of 2^nd column); Spirit II 84-85 (Powderly), 85-86 (Gompers), 86-87 (Nast)

Is the rise of organized labor contrary to the values upon which the country was founded? Why or why not?

XI. The Church, Darwin, and the Apostles of Reform

            Text 609-612 (first half of first column)

How did the advocates of social reform reinterpret Darwin to attack conservatives and to bolster their own arguments? 

XII.     Rise of the City

            Text 595-599, Spirit II 94-95 (Waring), 96-99 (Riis)

            MODERATION

How are the problems that faced urban America in the late 19^th century similar to those that face urban America today? 

XIII.    New Immigrants

            Text 548-551, 599-604, 606-609

Analyze the ways in which these “New” Immigrants differed from those that came before them.  Does this account for how enthusiastically they were received?  Elaborate.

XIV.    End of the Frontier

            Text 633-639 (all), 650-651 (top of 2^nd column)

Was the end of the American “West” inevitable?  Explain your thoughts.

XV.     The Unhappy Farmer and the rise of Populism

            Text 651 (2^nd column), 654-660 (first paragraph)

Cite the areas of greatest discontent in the 1890’s.  Was the plight of the farmer in any way of his own making?