American Democracy in Word and Deed

MDUSD/UCB H-SSP

11th Grade Lesson: “The Origins of the Progressive Era”

Developed by: Margaret Ljepava and Maureen Allan – Clayton Valley High School, and Erica Shaw – Mt. Diablo High School

Teaching American History Grant Focus Question:

How have the words and deeds of people and institutions shaped democracy in the U.S.?

11th Grade Yearlong Focus Question:

2009-2014 Grant Question:

2006-2010 Grant Question:How have the powers of the United States federal government

expanded or been limited since the Civil War?

Unit Focus:

TBFO

Lesson Focus Question:

How did political and social conditions at the turn of the century provoke Progressive reform?

Lesson Working Thesis:

Progressive reform was provoked by political corruption, exploitation of children, and poor working conditions.

Reading andWriting Strateies:

  • READING Strategy:
  • Analyzing political cartoon analysis
  • Discussion questions for The Jungle excerpt
  • Cornell Notes for Chapter 9, Section 1
  • WRITING Strategy
  • Framed analytical paragraph

Suggested Amount of Time:

One to two class periods

Textbook:

Danzer, Gerald et al. The Americans: Reconstruction to the 21st Century. Evanston, Illinois: McDougal Littell Inc., 2006, pp. 306-312

Primary Source Citation:

"Child Labor." Cartoon. William Floyd School District, n.d. Web. 9 Aug. 2010. < >.

Keppler, Joseph. J. "Bosses of the Senate" Cartoon. U.S. Senate. <

Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2003.

Context of the lesson in the unit:

The lesson will take place within the unit of industrialization. Students should have already studied industrialization, the origins of Populism, and some of the problems that arose as a result of industrialization.

Lesson Procedure:

  1. Introduction
  • Have students address the following prompt to start the class: “Explain some of the problems that arose in American cities as a result of industrialization.”
  • Students should write their answers and then engage the class in a discussion of problems created by industrialization.
  1. Primary source analysis
  • Show students “The Bosses of the Senate” political cartoon, pass out a copy to each student and also have it projected on the screen.
  • Model with students how to fill in the Political Cartoon Analysis form with “The Bosses of the Senate” cartoon.
  • Put students in pairs and have them complete the form with a partner and the “Child Labor” cartoon.
  1. The Jungle reading
  2. Pass out a reading to each student. Each page should have one to two sentences highlighted on the page. As the story is read aloud, the students should read the portion that is highlighted on their paper.
  3. Have students answer the discussion questions individually or in pairs.
  4. Analytical paragraph
  5. After students have analyzed the cartoons and read The Jungle have them answer the lesson focus question by writing an analytical paragraph.
  6. Students should use specific examples from the resources presented in class to answer the question.
  7. Extended learning: Textbook homework
  8. Have students read Chapter 9 Section 1, “Origins of the Progressive Era” in The Americans textbook for homework and take Cornell notes.

History-Social Science Content Standards:

11.2 – Students analyze the relationship among the rise of industrialization, large-scale rural-to-urban migration, and massive immigration from Southern to Eastern Europe.

11.2.1 – Know the effects of industrialization on living and working conditions and food safety in Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle.

11.2.5 – Discuss corporate mergers that produced trusts and cartels and the economic and political policies of industrial leaders.

11.2.9 – Understand the effect of political programs and activities of the Progressives (eg. Federal regulation of railroad transport, children’s bureau, the 16th amendment, Theodore Roosevelt and Hiram Johnson

Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills:

Historical Research, Evidence, and Point of View 1 and 2

Historical Interpretation 1 and 3

Reading/Language Arts Content Standards:

Comprehension and Analysis of Grade-Level Appropriate Text

2.2 Analyze the way in which clarity of meaning is affected by the patterns or organization, hierarchical structures, repetition of the main ideas, syntax, and word choice in the text.

2.4 Make warranted and reasonable assertions about the author’s arguments by using elements of the text to defend and clarify interpretations.

2.5 Analyze an author’s implicit and explicit philosophical assumptions and beliefs about a subject.

Common Core State Standards:

English Language Arts, Grades 6-12 Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects

Reading in History (RH): English Language Arts for History/Social Studies

Reading in History: Key Ideas and Details

RH.11-12.1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.

-Analytical paragraph

RH.11-12.2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.

-Political Cartoon analysis

Reading in History: Craft and Structure

RH.11-12.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including analyzing how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison definesfactioninFederalistNo. 10).

-The Jungle reading

Reading in History: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

RH.11-12.7. Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.

-Political Cartoons, Textbook Information, Teacher Lecture, Modesta Avila Reading, etc

RH.11-12.9. Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.

-Analytical paragraph

Writing in History, Science and Technical Subjects (WHST)

WHST.11-12.1. Write arguments focused ondiscipline-specific content.

a.Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance of the claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that logically sequences the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

-Analytical paragraph response

Teacher Background Information

“The Bosses of the Senate” Political cartoon

This frequently reproduced cartoon, long a staple of textbooks and studies of Congress, depicts corporate interests–from steel, copper, oil, iron, sugar, tin, and coal to paper bags, envelopes, and salt–as giant money bags looming over the tiny senators at their desks in the Chamber. Joseph Keppler drew the cartoon, which appeared in Puck on January 23, 1889, showing a door to the gallery, the "people’s entrance," bolted and barred. The galleries stand empty while the special interests have floor privileges, operating below the motto: "This is the Senate of the Monopolists by the Monopolists and for the Monopolists!"

Keppler’s cartoon reflected the phenomenal growth of American industry in the 1880s, but also the disturbing trend toward concentration of industry to the point of monopoly, and its undue influence on politics. This popular perception contributed to Congress’s passage of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act in 1890.

Source:

Puck Magazine

Puck was founded by Austrian-born cartoonist Joseph Keppler and his partners as a German-language publication in 1876. The magazine took its name from the blithe spirit of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, along with its motto: “What fools these mortals be!” Puck looked different than other magazines of the day. It employed lithography in place of wood engraving and offered three cartoons instead of the usual one. The cartoons were initially printed in black and white, but later several tints were added, and soon the magazine burst into full, eye-catching color. Puck’s first English-language edition in 1877 made it a major competitor of the already established illustrated news magazines of the day, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, Keppler’s former employer, and Harper’s Weekly. Puck attracted an appreciative audience. Its pro-Cleveland cartoons in 1884 may well have contributed to the Democratic candidate’s narrow victory in the presidential election. The Republicans responded by buying Puck’s weak rival, Judge, and luring away some of Puck’s talented staff. Within a few years, Judge supplanted Puck as the leading humor magazine.

Source:

Name Date Per.

Railroad Political Cartoon Analysis Chart

Doc #
1 / Name of political cartoon? Who created it? / When & where is the document from?
DESCRIPTION OF SOURCE
What do you see? / MEANING
Specific meaning of objects
MAIN IDEA
What is the main idea that the author/illustrator is trying to get across?
Doc #
2 / Name of political cartoon? Who created it? / When & where is the document from?
DESCRIPTION OF SOURCE
What do you see? / MEANING
Specific meaning of objects
MAIN IDEA
What is the main idea that the author/illustrator is trying to get across?

Name Date Per.

Railroad Political Cartoon Analysis Chart – Teacher Key

Doc #
1 / Name of political cartoon? Who created it?
“The Bosses of the Senate” by Joseph Keppler / When & where is the document from?
Puck, January 23, 1889
DESCRIPTION OF SOURCE
What do you see? / MEANING
Specific meaning of objects
Fat men labeled as different trusts / The trusts have more power than the rest of the men
Smaller men sitting in front, some reading and looking like their lounging / Elected officials are not as important as trusts/industrialists and are not doing their jobs
“People’s Entrance” closed & locked / People are not allowed to come into the Senate chambers
“Entrance for Monopolists” open with more people coming in / More and more monopolists are coming into the Senate
A plague above the trusts that says that the Senate is for the monopolists / The Senate is actually for the business owners, not the people
MAIN IDEA
What is the main idea that the author/illustrator is trying to get across?
The Congress is controlled by trusts and is allowing more of them in while keeping the people out.
Doc #
2 / Name of political cartoon? Who created it?
“White Slavery: Northern Capital & Southern Child Labor” Author unknown / When & where is the document from?
New York American & Journal, 1902
DESCRIPTION OF SOURCE
What do you see? / MEANING
Specific meaning of objects
Children on a podium labeled, “For Sale to the Highest Bidder” / Children are being sold to industrialists to work in factories.
Children are skinny and look weak/sick / Children working in factories are not taken care of and get sick.
Fat, well-dressed men labeled “Northern Capitalist” / Factory owners are wealthy and receive benefits from child labor.
MAIN IDEA
What is the main idea that the author/illustrator is trying to get across?
Northern capitalists are taking advantage of children and treating them like slaves.

Name Date Per.

The Jungle Reading

Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2003.

The Jungle pages 96-7.

There were the men in the pickle-rooms, for instance, where old Antanas had gotten his death; scarce a one of these that had not some spot of horror on his person. Let a man so much as scrape his finger pushing a truck in the pickle-rooms, and he might have a sore that would put him out of the world; all the joints in his fingers might be eaten by the acid, one by one. Of the butchers and floorsmen, the beef-boners and trimmers, and all those who used knives, you could scarcely find a person who had the use of his thumb; time and time again the base of it had been slashed, till it was a mere lump of flesh against which the man pressed the knife to hold it. The hands of these men would be criss-crossed with cuts, until you could no longer pretend to count them or to trace them. They would have no nails,--they had worn them off pulling hides, their knuckles were swollen so that their fingers spread out like a fan. There were men who worked in the cooking-rooms, in the midst of steam and sickening odors, by artificial light; in these rooms the germs of tuberculosis might live for two years, but the supply was renewed every hour. There were the beef-luggers, who carried two-hundred-pound quarters into the refrigerator-cars; a fearful kind of work, that began at four o’clock in the morning, and that wore out the most powerful men in a few years. There were those who worked in the chilling-rooms, and whose special disease was rheumatism; the time-limit that a man could work in the chilling-rooms was said to be five years. There were the wool-pluckers, whose hands went to pieces even sooner than the hands of the pickle-men; for the pelts of the sheep had to be painted with acid to loosen the wool, and then the pluckers had to pull out this wool with their bare hands, till the acid had eaten their fingers off. There were those who made the tins for the canned-meat; and their hands, too, were a maze of cuts, and each cut represented a chance for blood-poisoning. Some worked at the stamping-machines, and it was very seldom that one could work long there at the pace that was set, and not give out and forget himself, and have part of his hand chopped off. There were the “hoisters,” as they were called, whose task it was to press the lever which lifted the dead cattle off the floor. They ran along upon a rafter, peering down through the damp and the steam; and as old Durham’s architects had not built the killing-room for the convenience of the hoisters, at every few feet they would have to stoop under a beam, say four feet above the one they ran on; which got them into the habit of stooping, so that in a few years they would be walking like chimpanzees. Worst of any, however, were the fertilizer-men, and those who served in the cooking-rooms. These people could not be shown to the visitor,--for the odor of a fertilizer-man would scare any ordinary visitor at a hundred yards, and as for the other men, who worked in tank-rooms full of steam, and in some of which there were open vats near the level of the floor, their peculiar trouble was that they fell into the vats; and when they were fished out, there was never enough of them left to be worth exhibiting,--sometimes they would be overlooked for days, till all but the bones of them had gone out to the world as Durham’s Pure Leaf Lard!

Discussion Questions: Answer each question below using complete sentences.

  1. Assume that you had a twenty year career working at Durham in a variety of jobs. Describe how you look physically after your long career in the meatpacking industry.
  1. Why do you think that working conditions described in the reading of The Jungle existed?
  1. What do you think would happen to a worker who got hurt on the job?
  1. (a) Does an employer have a responsibility to their workers?

(b) What specific responsibilities do employers have to their workers?

  1. Do conditions like the ones described still exist in U.S. industry today? Why or why not?

The Jungle Reading – Teacher Key

Answers will vary based on student knowledge. Look for depth of understanding. For questions where students do not have sufficient background experience good answers show that student demonstrates reasoned judgment based on what they know or believe to be true today.

  1. At first the joints in my fingers were eaten up by the acid in the pickle-rooms, then my thumb had been cut so often as a beef-boner that my left thumb was only a stub. Eventually these problems lessened as all my fingers and nails disappeared from my time as a wool plucker. Then my left hand was severed while working in the stamping department.
  1. The owners of Durham’s care more about making money than about the welfare of their employees.
  1. The company would have some responsibility for workers who get injured. They might pay their medical bills.
  1. (a) Employers have a responsibility to keep their workers safe and see that conditions are humane.

(b) Employers need to make factories safe and healthy and workers are treated well although this was not the case in The Jungle so I am confused.

  1. Hopefully the U.S. no longer has working conditions like those described in The Jungle because we have advanced as a society.

(Question 5 is designed for class discussion)

Name Date Per.

Analytical Paragraph

Using the primary sources introduced in this lesson write a paragraph addressing the focus question.

Focus Question: How did political and social conditions at the turn of the century provoke Progressive reform?