Subject Areas |
History and Social Studies
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U.S. History - African-American |
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U.S. History - Colonial America and the New Nation |
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U.S. History - Women's Rights/History |
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Time Required |
| New Workplace, New Technology, New Consumers: Four or five 45-minute classes.
Americans at Work Before the Civil War: Three or four 45-minute classes, depending on how many interviews are conducted. |
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Skills |
| Interpreting census data
Interpreting first-hand accounts
Interviewing
Supporting a position with evidence
Collaboration |
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Additional Data |
| Date Craeted: 08/27/02 |
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Date Posted |
| 8/27/2002 |
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Was There an Industrial Revolution? Americans at Work Before the Civil War
IntroductionIn the decades before the Civil
War—a period sometimes dubbed the First Industrial Revolution—a
significant number of inventions and innovations appeared, transforming American
life. A telegraph system allowed information to flow from place to place more
quickly than the speed of a horse. A transportation system based largely on steam
power allowed goods to be shipped great distances at reduced expense. Also of
great consequence was the development of the American System of Manufactures;
this system, in which individual workers were responsible for only part of a finished
product, helped make store-bought goods more affordable. As a result, people began
to buy goods from stores rather than making them--the American consumer was born.
Impressive achievements to be sure, but revolution
means dramatic, rapid change. Are the changes that took place in manufacturing
and distribution during this period best described as a "revolution" or as steady
change over time? What research tools can help students judge the nature of change
during the First
Industrial Revolution? Can answers be found in census data? This lesson provides
students with the opportunity to form, revise, and research questions for an investigation
of the First Industrial Revolution, using resources available on EDSITEment-reviewed
websites and links. Note: This lesson
may be taught as a stand-alone lesson or in combination with the complementary
EDSITEment lesson plan Was
There an Industrial Revolution? New Workplace, New Technology, New Consumers.
Guiding Questions:What changes occurred
in the United States during the period of industrialization before the Civil War?
Do the changes that occurred in the lives of Americans from about 1790 to 1860
suggest a revolutionary or evolutionary process? Learning ObjectivesAfter
completing the lessons in this unit, students will be able to - Cite examples
of change in the lives of Americans during the era of the First Industrial Revolution
- Discuss positive and negative effects of early industrialization on the
lives of Americans
- Take a stand as to whether the early period of industrialization
should be considered a revolution based on evidence from first-hand accounts.
Preparing to Teach this Lesson- Review
the lesson plan. Locate and bookmark suggested materials and other useful websites.
Download and print out selected documents and duplicate copies as necessary for
student viewing.
- Download the set of worksheets, Americans
at Work, available here as a PDF file. Print out and make an appropriate number
of copies of any handouts you plan to use in class.
- For background information
on the First Industrial Revolution, consult the following EDSITEment resources:
- This lesson
features 23 potential role assignments, first-hand accounts through which students
enter the lives of working Americans. Having many assignments allows flexibility—some
can be assigned to individuals, others to pairs or small groups. Two assignments
(17 and 18) require little reading but do offer the opportunity to gather information
and make conclusions. Students must judge whether or not an account indicates
dramatic, rapid change. It is not expected or essential that every article be
covered. Students should read the introductions to the passages, when present,
as they are useful.
A chart is provided for students to use in compiling
notes and coming to conclusions on the cases of six individuals. This handout
could also be adapted to suit your own individual classroom goals. Decide how
students will be assigned (or choose) cases on which to take notes.
It
should be noted that there is a built-in bias in the readings in that totally
contented workers would be less likely to compose some of the kinds of first-hand
accounts offered here. Stress to the students the need to look for indicators
of change when arriving at conclusions for the central question, "Was the First
American Industrial Revolution really a revolution?" Dissatisfaction, while often
widespread in times of rapid change, should not by itself be taken to signify
evidence of change in the absence of other evidence. The chart does dedicate some
space to quality of life issues, which are interesting and can be discussed as
desired. - For further reading, consult the Recommended
Reading List provided here as a PDF file.
Suggested
Activities
1. Reading First-Hand
Accounts 2. Role Playing and
Class Interviews 3. Drawing
Conclusions 1. Reading
First-Hand Accounts In this activity, students
will read "First-hand Accounts from the Industrial Revolution" on pages 1-4 of
the PDF file (see Preparing
to Teach This Lesson, above, for download instructions), which detail experiences
of individuals during the period of early industrialization in the U.S. Depending
on your class, these passages can be assigned to individuals, pairs, or small
groups. After the passages have been carefully read, one student will play the
role listed while being interviewed by class members. 2.
Role Playing and Class Interviews For each
reading assigned, one student will be interviewed briefly by the class. Answers
must come from the article or be reasonable extensions of it. The interview subject
can pass on some questions. Interviewees should be introduced according to the
role they have been assigned. Questions should focus on that role. As the interviews
are conducted, students can fill out the chart "The Lives of Americans During
the First Industrial Revolution" on page 5 of the PDF file (see Preparing
to Teach This Lesson, above, for download instructions). 3.
Drawing Conclusions What conclusions
have the students drawn? Based on the interviews and other knowledge of the period
students have gained, were working Americans living in a period of dramatic and
rapid economic change? Was the First American Industrial Revolution really a revolution?
If desired, let any disagreement among students lead to a class debate.
Selected EDSITEment Websites
- American
Memory
[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ammemhome.html] - American
Studies at the University of Virginia
[http://xroads.virginia.edu/] - At
Home in the Heartland
[http://museum.state.il.us/exhibits/athome/] - History Matters
[http://historymatters.gmu.edu]
- David
Johnson Recalls the Shoemakers' Shops
of Lynn, Massachusetts [http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6382/]
- "Factories are talked
about as schools of vice:
Elias Nason Considers Careers" [http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5831/]
- "The Happiest Laboring
Class in the World:
Two Virginia Slaveholders Debate Methods of Slave
Management, 1837" [http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5801/] - "I
Must of Course Have Something of My Own Before
Many More Years Have Passed
Over My Head: Sally Rice Leaves the Farm," 1838 by Sally Rice [http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5789/]
- I Was a Cabinet Maker
by Trade, 1825-1835
[http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5818/] - Lowell
Girls Go on Strike, 1836
[http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5714/] - Manager
N. B. Gordon Tends to the Union Cotton
and Woolen Manufactory in Mansfield,
Massachusetts, 1829 [http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5792/] - "The
Natural Tie Between Master and Apprentice
has been Rent Asunder: An Old
Apprentice Laments Changes in the Workplace," 1826 [http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6622/]
- The Canal Boat: Nathaniel
Hawthorne
Travels the Erie Canal (1835) [http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6212/]
- "No One Ever Hurried
During 'Cake-time':
Work and Leisure a New York Shipyard," 1835 [http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6218/]
- "So Cheapened the White
Man's Labor:
White Artisans Contest the Labor of Black Workers," 1838
[http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6376/] - "They
Must Work Harder Than Ever:
A Working Man Remembers Life in New York
City," 1830s [http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5839/] - "The
Treatment of the Help in Those Days Was Cruel:
Hiram Munger Remembers
Factory Life" by Hiram Munger (early 19th century) [http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5830/]
- "We Call on You to Deliver
Us from the Tyrant's Chain:
Lowell Women Workers Campaign for a Ten-Hour
Workday" (circa 1845) [http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6217/] - "Are
We Nothing But Living Machines? A New York
Sewing Woman Protests Wages
and Working Conditions," 1863 [http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6539/] - "Elevate
Us to a Free and Independent Position:
William J. Brown (a free black)
Looks for Work," 1831 [http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6537/] - Liberty
Rhetoric and 19th Century Women
[http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/americanstudies/ lavender/liberty.html]
- Drawing
of a Mill Girl, from the Cover of
the Lowell Offering, 1840 [http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/americanstudies/ lavender/graphics/lowell.gif]
- Fabric
Label for Merrimack Power Loom
Jeans Yardage, c. 1830 [http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/americanstudies/ lavender/graphics/merrjean.jpg]
- Timetable
of the Lowell Mills
[http://scholar.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/americanstudies/ lavender/graphics/ttable.jpg]
- Tintype
of Two Woman Weavers, 1860
(Merrimack Valley Textile Museum) [http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/americanstudies/ lavender/graphics/spinners.jpg]
- Title
Page of the Lowell Offering, 1840
[http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/americanstudies/ lavender/graphics/loffer.jpg]
- Life on the Farm
[http://www.usda.gov/history2/text8.htm] - United
States Historical Census Browser
[http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/census/]
- Internet
Medieval History Sourcebook
[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html]
- Internet
Public Library [http://www.ipl.org]
- The
American Experience
[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/index.html] - Anesthesia
[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lincolns/nation/ gal_tech_5.html] - Cotton
Gin
[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lincolns/nation/ gal_tech_1.html]
- McCormick
Reaper
[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lincolns/nation/ gal_tech_3.html]
- Sewing
Machine
[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lincolns/nation/ gal_tech_7.html]
- Steam
Engine
[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lincolns/nation/ gal_tech_2.html]
- Technology
Timeline
[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/telephone/timeline/ f_timeline.html]
- Telegraph
[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lincolns/nation/ gal_tech_4.html]
- Links
to the Past [http://www.cr.nps.gov/]
- Whole
Cloth
[http://www.si.edu/lemelson/centerpieces/whole_cloth/] - Alexander
Telfair, "Plantation Rules," from Ulrich Phillips, ed.,
Plantation and
Frontier, Volume 1 (New York, Burt Frantlin, 1910) [http://www.si.edu/lemelson/centerpieces/whole_cloth/u2ei/ u2materials/prules.html]
- Plantation
Management, De Bow's xiv
(February 1853): 177-8 [http://www.si.edu/lemelson/centerpieces/whole_cloth/u2ei/ u2materials/deBow.html]
- Regulations
to Be Observed by All Individuals
Employed in the Lewiston Mills [http://www.si.edu/lemelson/centerpieces/whole_cloth/u2ei/ u2images/act9/Lew_rules.html]
- Unit
Two: Early Industrialization
[http://invention.smithsonian.org/centerpieces/whole_cloth/u2ei/index.html]
- Tsongas Industrial History Center
[http://www.uml.edu/Tsongas/] (NOTE: According to the Resources Section
of Whole Cloth, the Tsongas Center is an interactive museum about the
Industrial Revolution, geared for students in grades 4-12.) - Curriculum
Materials Page
[http://www.uml.edu/Tsongas/curr.html] - "Workers
on the Line"
[http://www.uml.edu/Tsongas/pdfs/WOL.pdf]
Standards Alignment
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