OBJECTIVE - In this lesson, you will learn about the effects that industrialization and immigration had on America.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

• 1.      What were the effects of industrialization on living and working conditions?

• 2.      What were the effects of immigration and industrialization on the cities of America?

• 3.      Who were the industrial leaders of the Gilded Age, what was their attitude towards the masses of workers who fueled their factories and what motivated their various approaches to business?

DISCUSSION

History is marked by change.  Some change is good and necessary for the improvement of a nation and the individuals of that nation.  At other times, change can result in negative effects, whose implications will be felt for many years to come.  More often than not, periods of change result in both good AND bad.  From 1850-1905 the United States experienced just such a period.

As the Industrial Revolution began to gain momentum in America, Americans began to confront the many changes that it brought.  Many of those changes were positive and their effects helped build one of the most prosperous nations in history.  However, much of the prosperity of the time was gained at a cost.  In his book The Gilded Age, Mark Twain characterized this period as an age in which the nation's capital teemed with would-be power brokers and vast fortunes piled up amid thriving corruption.  Twain writes in the preface:

This book was not written for private circulation among friends; it was not written to cheer and instruct a diseased relative of the author's; it was not thrown off during intervals of wearing labor to amuse an idle hour. It was not written for any of these reasons, and therefore it is submitted without the usual apologies. It will be seen that it deals with an entirely ideal state of society; and the chief embarrassment of the writers in this realm of the imagination has been the want of illustrative examples. In a State where there is no fever of speculation, no inflamed desire for sudden wealth, where the poor are all simple-minded and contented, and the rich are all honest and generous, where society is in a condition of primitive purity and politics is the occupation of only the capable and the patriotic, there are necessarily no materials for such a history as we have constructed out of an ideal commonwealth.

For this assignment, you will be completing the webquest called:  "Documenting the Industrial Revolution."  Before you begin this project, you need to:

1. Have a group of 3 people (email people in this class to get a group of 3). Do not waste time finding a group and starting.  It might not be a bad idea
2. Email your teacher with the names of the people in your group.
3. Read the “Evaluation” section at the end so you know how this project will be graded.
   • NOTE:  This project will have two grades; one for the project and one for your group participation. 
4. Read the entire Webquest before beginning and assign member roles.

Start the WebQuest here.

Assignment 2.02 - Industrial Revolution WebQuest

• You’ll need to do the project in a group of 3.
• You will research two different segments.
• You will receive two grades for this assignment: one for the project and one for your group participation.

When you have finished the Webquest:

1. Turn in the finished project in the assignment by attaching the PowerPoint to an e-mail and sending it to your instructor (only one group member needs to do this).  Make sure the name of the file contains all three group members last names.
2. Go to the Discussion Board (DB2) and start a thread answering the following questions (once you have started your own thread be sure to respond to the thread of at least one other person): 

• How did the Industrial Revolution cause urbanization and a dramatic increase in the number of immigrants to the United States?
• What effect did urbanization and immigration have on the United States?

3. Grading.

• Overall Assignment Grade – 200 points – assigned by teacher (see scoring guide below)

•  Group Participation Grade – 120 points total (40 points each) – divided and assigned by group members. Each group member should submit the points they feel each member (including themselves) should get.  There are 120 points total to award.  If each member did an equal share of the work then everyone should get 40.  If you feel one member did more/less work then you can award them more/less points.  Just remember all three scores should add up to 120 total.

  To submit scores click on assignments button then click on "Module 2 Assignments" folder and click on  "View/Complete Assignment".  In the comments area list the names of each group member and the points you feel they deserve.  Click submit.

Project Grading Scoring Guide