Some considered the industrialists of the late nineteenth century captains of industry while others considered them robber barons. Which view is correct?
What will be an ideal response?
This question is a good opportunity to push students to write opinionated essays. While the answers should be balanced, they should also reach a firm conclusion. Students should have little trouble identifying the more unsavory aspects of Gilded Age industrialization. Business leaders ruthlessly exploited their workers, bribed government officials, and flouted the legal system to create empires. Moreover, some used theories such as Social Darwinism to justify such predatory practices. But students should also understand that the business environment of the era left little room for compassion. Students should further consider the positive effects that industrialization brought to the United States. Finally, some business leaders expressed a feeling of obligation to better society, as shown in the Gospel of Wealth.
You might also like to view...
The economic crisis of the 1870s, that temporarily blighted working women's prospects,
was the ________. Fill in the blank(s) with correct word
Priests in the Middle Ages were __________.
A. often forced to take on second jobs for money B. well compensated by church authorities C. paid through heavy taxes levied on a parish D. often well supported by local tithes
After disappearing from the map of Europe in the 18th century, what European nation was reconstituted after World War I?
a. France. b. Ukraine. c. Russia. d. Serbia. e. Poland.
The Cuban missile crisis ended after President John Kennedy agreed to
A. provide economic aid to Cuba. B. withdraw American troops from West Berlin. C. remove American missiles from West Germany. D. not invade Cuba. E. restore diplomatic ties with Cuba.