Robber Barons of the Gilded Age

Summary

This lesson will ask students to research industrial giants of the late 19th century, analyze the information they gather about the industrialists, and determine whether they deserve the title Robber Barons. In addition, students will be asked to evaluate the habits and philosophies of the industrialists in order to determine whether the "robber baron" term is consistent with the ideas and practices that define this era as the Gilded Age.

Essential Questions:

- Where did the term "robber barons" originate and what does it mean?
- Who were the robber barons in United States history?
- What does "gilded" mean?
- Why are the late 1800s called the "Gilded Age"?
- Is the term "robber barons" compatible with the ideas and practices that make the late 1800s the "Gilded Age"?

Materials

For Students:
-1 poster board each to use for cube
For Teacher:
-1 poster board to use for demonstration
-cut out cube pattern for students to trace. See attachment.
-list of robber barons, cut into separate names for student "drawing" for topics (See attached list)
-video about the life of Andrew Carnegie (see bibliography)
-handout of assignment and grading rubric

Background for Teachers

-Knowledge of the Gilded Age and the Robber Barons.
-Introduction presentation that defines "gilded" and includes reference to Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warren's book, The Gilded Age. I recommend using a PowerPoint presentation. (Web sites for homes of the Robber Barons are included in Bibliography)
-Teacher demonstration of how to create the cube using information obtained from the Carnegie video. Stress importance of citing visuals used in the presentation.

Student Prior Knowledge

Associated chapters from the course textbook

Intended Learning Outcomes

-Students will assess the actions and lives of individual industrialists
-Students will demonstrate through the information presented on the cube project that this age and its people were complex and had both good actions and bad actions
-Students will analyze materials gathered from their research
-Students will gain valuable practice searching for materials from the Internet and other sources
-Students will gain practice citing their information sources correctly
-Students will develop a quality product to demonstrate their findings

Instructional Procedures

Day 1:
-Introduction activity by teacher (See teacher background)
- Assign each student to bring their own poster board to class on Day 3
- Introduce the cube assignment to the students
- Assign students to find out all they can about the term robber barons and bring that information to class with them at the next meeting.
Day 2:
- Discuss what students found out about robber barons.
- Show the video about Andrew Carnegie
- Using information from the video, create a Satisfactory (C) cube as a demonstration
- Draw names to receive industrialist assignments
Day 3:
- Students will need to trace cube form from pattern onto their poster boards. They may with to cut cube form out in order for easier handling.
- Spend this day doing research on the Internet, your Media Center, etc.
- Students need to complete their cubes by Day 4.
Day 4:
- Students should briefly introduce their industrialist, what their research revealed, their answer to the assignment question, and their justification for their decision.
- Teacher should display the cubes. (I hang mine from the ceiling)
- Wrap up. Answer the essential questions as a group.

Strategies for Diverse Learners

This lesson plan was designed for Advanced Placement U.S. History students. For an average class, students could be divided into groups of 4--one researching the biography, one searching for possible negative aspects, one researching positive aspects, and one working on the illustration and graphic information. Working in groups would require an additional day to organize and assemble the project. Individual days may need to be adjusted as well.

Another option could be to concentrate more on technology-based skills and have students create PowerPoint shows.

Extensions

This lesson can be used to work into an additional lesson on big business and labor practices.

Immigration can also be tied to this lesson because so many of the Robber Barons were immigrants themselves or the children of immigrants. They also hired immigrants to work in their businesses.

A more social approach could be tied to this unit by contrasting the Victorian lifestyles of the upper and middle classes with the lifestyles of the workers in tenements and immigrant ghettos.

Bibliography

Brimhall, Sandra Dawn, and Mark D. Curtis. "The Gardo House: A History of the Mansion and Its Occupants." Utah Historical Quarterly winter 2000: 4-37. The Gardo House was the home of Susanna Emery Holmes, Utah's Silver Queen. The pictures are wonderful.

DeLong, J. Bradford. "Robber Barons." Brad DeLong's Website. 1 Jan. 1998. University of California at Berkeley, and NBER. 9 Feb. 2005 . Funded by the Carnegie Institute, this is the ultimate in articles about Robber Barons.

"The Gilded Age-Industrial Revolution in America." A Classification of American Wealth. Raken. 14 Mar. 2005 . Although you must buy a membership to research the biographies of individual robber barons, this site is useful for general information about various industries and the industrialists involved in them.

Klein, Maury. "The Robber Barons' Bum Rap." City Journal (1995). 9 Feb 2005 . This article gives an interesting insite into industry, the economy, and the leaders of the Gilded Age.

Lloyd, Henry Demarest. "The Lords of Industry." North American Review 331 (1884). 9 Feb 2005 . One of the first critical articles to be published against the Gilded Age industrialists, this is still a classic.

"Robber baron: Meaning." Explanation Guide. 16 Mar. 2005 . This is the location of the historic information about the origins of the term robber baron.

Schoenherr, . "The Robber Barons." History Department. San Diego State University. 14 Mar. 2005 . Site lists negative and positive aspects of the Gilded Age industrialists with links to other writings and resources.

"Susanna: The Silver Queen." Utah Centennial Studies. Utah Education Network. 9 Feb. 2005 . Don't forget that Utah had people on the Caroline Astor's guest lists, too. Susanna Emery Holmes, Utah's Silver Queen was among them.

"Wealthy 100." Scott J. Winslow Associates Inc.. 14 Mar. 2005 . This site includes a list of the top 100 wealthiest men in America and was one of my sources for the Robber Barons List.

West, Woody. "The Truth About Robber Barons." Policy Review Feb 2000. 9 Feb 2005 http://www.policyreview.org/feb00/west_print.html This is the article that gave me the idea for this unit.