12 questions- 5 sentences per question
Chapter 18
1) Why were railroads so important during the Second Industrial Revolution? Did they have any substantial impacts socially or economically?
2) Why did organized efforts of farmers, workers, and local reformers largely fail to achieve substantive change in the Gilded Age?
3) Describe how the “robber barons” attained their God-like wealth, and make comparisons between their triumphs and today’s billionaire class. Do you see similarities in wealth, influence, and power? How so?
4) How did the Sherman Antitrust Act curtail the greedy practices of businesses? Is this law still effective in the present-day when analyzing large and powerful corporations, or have they found loopholes?
5) How did the emergent consumer culture change what it meant to be American at the turn of the century?
Chapter 19
1) What were the effects of urbanization on the working, middle, and elite classes of American society?
2) How was Darwins work on the evolution of species exploited by proponents of the industrial age? Why might they have latched onto this idea in particular?
3) Fun question to give you all a little break! (Can be short answer) What is your favorite piece of modern technology that you CANNOT live without?
Chapter 20
1) How does the term Gilded Age characterize American society in the late nineteenth century? In what ways is this characterization accurate or inaccurate?
2) With farmers still representing a significant segment of American society, why did government officialsDemocrats and Republicans alikeprove unwilling to help find solutions to farmers problems?
3) Upon reflection, did the Populist Party make a wise decision in choosing to support the Democratic Partys candidate in the 1896 presidential election? Why or why not?
4) Despite its relative weakness during this period, the federal government made several efforts to provide a measure of relief for struggling Americans. What were these initiatives? In what ways were they more or less successful?
