Unit
Chapter 9: The Gilded Age 1877-1898
Guiding question
Invite students to explore how a changing view of government’s responsibility during the Gilded Age affected American society.
Chapter 9 of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, BRI’s U.S. History Curriculum Resource, invites students to explore how a changing view of government’s responsibility during the Gilded Age affected American society. Discover our suggested sequence for Chapter 9.
Teacher resource
Chapter 9: 1877-1898 Inquiry Organizer
How did a changing view of government’s responsibility during the Gilded Age affect American society?
Lessons
Use this Lesson with The Annexation of Hawaii Narrative to show how American policymakers and businesses looked outside U.S. borders to continue expanding American influence.
Use this Lesson with the Cartoon Analysis: Immigration in the Gilded Age, 1882–1896 Primary Source to highlight the way immigrants were regarded and treated during the Gilded Age.
Use this Lesson with the Andrew Carnegie and the Creation of U.S. Steel Narrative and the Were the Titans of the Gilded Age "Robber Barons" or "Entrepreneurial Industrialists"? Point-Counterpoint to highlight the impact businessmen like Carnegie had on industry and philanthropy in the Gilded Age.
Use this Lesson with the Ignatius Donnelly and the 1892 Populist Platform Narrative and the William Jennings Bryan, "Cross of Gold," speech 1896 speech Primary Source to give students a deeper understanding of Gilded Age political platforms.
Use this Lesson with the Booker T. Washington, "Speech to the Cotton States and International Exposition," 1895 Primary Source to allow students to analyze and compare arguments for the early African American civil rights movement.
Unit resources
Was the economic growth in the country during the Gilded Age justified if it was built on the backs of American workers? Mark Summers and John Steele Gordon debate this question.
Were urban leaders more like "Boss" Tweed, who is infamous for his corruption, or did most benefit their communities by providing services that local governments did not? Stephanie Hinnershitz and Mark Summers debate which narrative about these urban bosses was more accurate.
Did western expansion fuel the individualism seen in the American character? Andrew Fisher and Bradley J. Birzer debate the validity of Frederick Jackson Turner's Frontier Thesis.
Use this primary source imagery to analyze major events in history.
Use this primary source imagery to analyze major events in history.
Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.
Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.
Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.
Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.
Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.
Use this primary source imagery to analyze major events in history.