American History II
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Populism, Political Parties, Corruption, Robber Barons and the Gilded Age Exam. Using your primary sources, textbook, packets, cartoons, lecture and class notes and your imaginations, please answer the following questions in typed form – 12 pt and double-spaced. Do not use your name anywhere on the test answers. Please only use your ID#. You must type the questions. You may feel free to collaborate with, but not to plagiarize from – in any form – your colleagues. Plagiarism results in a zero for any involved and a request for parent conference. This is a double test grade. All answers are worth five points. 1. The populist movement began as an __________ ______________. (two words). What were some of the circumstances that led to the Party’s founding? 2. The Populist Party platform most wanted… 3. Cite and explain four examples from the Populist Party platform that were intended to improve the lives of the farmer. 4. Cite and explain four examples from the Populist Party platform that were intended to improve the lives of the industrial worker. 5. Explain as simply as you can the patronage system. (The Americans.) 6. Concoct a short account of coming through Angel Island (CA) or Ellis Island (NY) between the years 1890 and 1910. Where are you from? Why did you come here? Did you leave anyone behind? What are your prospects for work? Did you know anyone here? Do you imagine going back home? Where are you looking to settle? (If your family recently immigrated to the US try to stay closer to your actual family history; it might make it more relevant to you.) 7. What were three reasons to use child labor from the perspective of the factory owner? 8. What were two reasons for child labor from the perspective of the family? 9. From the editorial cartoons in your packets, describe in detail two negative attributes of the Gilded Age. (You may not use the Grange cartoon, The Grange Awakening the Sleepers) 10. Explain The Grange editorial cartoon we examined in class and how one of the words from the train box cars applies to the calls by the Grange for economic reform. 11. Explain as simply as possible the following: The Interstate Commerce Act, The Dawes Act, Chinese Exclusion Act, Pendleton Act. Why were each passed and did they succeed? Why or why not? 12. Explain three successes of the Populists, why these policies were called for and how ultimately they succeeded. 13. What is missing from the Populist Party platform that your party added? Why did your political party add them? Be sure to include any statements you may have used in your Preamble to argue for these positions. 14. Explain the ideology of the Gilded Age Robber Barons regarding Social Darwinism. 15. Judging from the Jacob Riis photojournalism work How the Other Half Lives, explain how everyday life was for the millions of immigrants and masses of poor during the Gilded Age. Include the print-out with your answer.
American History II
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16. Using specific laws and quotations, describe what happened to Chinese immigrants and Native Americans during the Gilded Age. 17. Please develop a fictional story where you as a Robber Baron use the following devices to monopolize an industry: vertical integration and horizontal consolidation. Use your imaginations, think about what is happening these very days and apply it to the past. You may be the developer of any 1890-1910 products you want. 18. In the book, The Wizard of Oz, author Frank L. Baum describes the cowardly Lion (often thought to be William Jennings Bryan), the heartless Tin Man (perhaps Industry itself), the pathetic scarecrow (probably the toothless and largely useless federal government) and he further describes that Dorothy’s silver shoes should “follow the Yellow Brick Road.” What policy is it probable that Baum is recommending in this last segment? How would this policy have helped the farmers in Dorothy’s Kansas? 19. What were some of the ways the Social Gospel movement attempted to alleviate the suffering of immigrants and city dwellers? (The Americans and “Cleaning the Streets.”) 20. Describe what and why anything you found of interest during the opening weeks of our class.
This will be collected on Monday, September 29, 2008 at the beginning of class. No excuses are acceptable. Start tonight, five of these are due on Friday for a quiz grade. All spelling, sentence structure, grammar, capitalization and punctuation will be graded.