Unit 3: We're Not Gonna Take It!
A Unit on the Progressive Era
A Unit on the Progressive Era
Lesson Module 15
The Oppressed
Focus Activity - Determining a Purpose for Reading
Lesson Outcomes
Outcomes are what you (the student) will be able to do after the lesson is over.
1. I can define the items in the Lesson Module 15 Toolbox.
2. I can describe the oppressed groups of the Gilded Age.
3. I can explain who Progressives were and why they stood up against oppression.
1. I can define the items in the Lesson Module 15 Toolbox.
2. I can describe the oppressed groups of the Gilded Age.
3. I can explain who Progressives were and why they stood up against oppression.
Lesson Missions
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The lesson missions are the activities that you will complete to achieve the lesson outcomes. The missions for this lesson are:
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Teaching Activity - Guided Reading
The Progressive
The Gilded Age was a time of incredible inventions and innovations. It was a time when immigrants poured into the United States. These things combined had made the U.S. a world industrial power. But the U.S. had many problems. Soon brave men and women known as Progressives would address America's problems. Problems such as government corruption; political machines; and unfair treatment of African-Americans, Native Americans, immigrants, children, women, and workers. These brave men and women also addressed the rights of the poor, the right to the truth, and protection of the consumer and the environment. They stood up for the oppressed. It was not an easy fight. These brave men and women won this fight. Because of them we can enjoy equal rights and fair treatment under the law today.
The Tenant
As industry in America grew, urbanization occurred. Urbanization is when large numbers of people migrate or immigrate to a city and the city becomes larger and larger. Industrialization, or the time in which the U.S. moved from a farming nation to an nation of industry, had led to urbanization. Industries needed great amounts of people to work for them. African Americans from the south migrated North in hopes of equal treatment. Immigrants came from many countries for a better life and more opportunities. These people poured into the cities. As they did, tenement homes were built quickly and poorly and rented out to tenants by slum landlords. Slum neighborhoods developed in poor and overcrowded sections of towns. The poor suffered from illness, hunger, cold, and terrible living conditions. They had to deal with political machines and criminals of all kinds.
The Worker
Working conditions were not much better. Factory workers worked long 10 to 12 hour days in horrible conditions for low pay. If you got sick of it and quit, there were ten workers begging for your job, willing to replace you. Employers did not care for their workers. Workers got no compensation for being hurt on the job and employers did nothing to try to keep workers safe. They employed children and women at much lower wages than men. Children were not given any special treatment. They were expected to work adult machinery for the same amount of hours as an adult. If a child was hurt on the job, they were immediately fired and replaced. Many factory working families relied on their children's income, as little as it was, for survival.
The Consumer
The unsafe working conditions in which children worked were not only unsafe for children but for the consumer as well. At this time, there was no federal organization that inspected the packaging and safety of our processed foods. Food products that were improperly handled or packaged made the consumers who bought them sick and sometimes caused death. Because the urban poor were the major purchasers of processed foods, they were the primary group who suffered the illnesses this food caused.
The Woman
As living and working conditions became worse, there were many women who had great ideas about how to help the urban poor. Unfortunately, women still did not have the right to vote. A country founded on democracy still denied half of its population suffrage. After a woman was married, anything that she owned or inherited was the property of her husband. She could not get a college education or sign contracts.
The African American
But women were not the only ones left out of voting and treated unfairly. African American males had been given the right to vote after the Civil War with the passing of the 15th Amendment. But whites in power in the South after the Civil War created Jim Crow Laws. These laws prevented African Americans from voting in legal ways. For example, white leaders in the South began charging a tax at the voting polls. This tax was not charged to raise money. These men knew that blacks were too poor to afford the tax. The tax was a legal way to keep African American men from voting and gaining any political power.
The Immigrant
Racism was not just a problem in the South, but in the North too. In the North, immigrants faced discrimination. Many Americans blamed the problems of urbanization and the problems with the economy on immigrants who had moved to the U.S. They felt these immigrants who were eager to find jobs were taking away jobs from American born workers and making it difficult to organize strikes. These immigrants also brought unfamiliar religious faiths with them. This scared many Americans so they treated those with other faiths; such as Catholics and Jews with extreme hostility.
The Robber Baron
Racism was a problem during this time, but greed was the main reason for most of the suffering of the Gilded Age. Rich industrialists like Rockefeller and Carnegie did what ever they wanted to make themselves richer no matter how their actions affected anyone else. They bought up large areas of beautiful American land and ripped it of its natural resources for profit. These "Robber Barons" were able to rise to the top through dishonesty. Working Americans were angry. They wanted the true nature of these industrialists to be made known. And they wanted these industrialists to pay for their cruel treatment of the working class and their violation of the environment.
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Tool Box
Remember, anything in the Tool Box could be on the Topic 2 test!
People To Knowimmigrant: a person who moves from their home country to live in a new country permanently
Political Machines: a group that provided help for the poor and jobs in exchange for votes. Progressives: people who believed that the problems society faced such as poverty, violence, greed, racism, and class could best be addressed by providing good education, a safe environment, and an efficient workplace. They lived mainly in the cities, were college educated, and believed that government could be a tool for change. They worked actively in the slums and with the poor to help them rise out of poverty. They concentrated on exposing the evils of corporate greed, combating fear of immigrants, and urging Americans to think hard about what democracy meant. They also encouraged Americans to register to vote and fight political corruption. Robber Barons: a wealthy person who tries to get land, businesses, or more money in a way that is dishonest or wrong Vocabulary To Knowcompensation: something that is done or given to make up for an injury, damage, or trouble
consumer: a person who buys goods and services discrimination: unfairly treating a person or group of people differently from other people or groups of people dishonesty: being untruthful environment: nature federal: something under the control of the U.S. Government - and concerns the whole country not state or local government greed: a selfish desire to have more of something (especially money) hostility: unfriendly or threatening behavior or feelings toward someone industrialization: the time in which the U.S. moved from a farming nation to an nation of industry inherited: to gain money, property, or valuables from someone upon their death migrated: to move from one place to another oppressed: to treat a person or group of people in a cruel or unfair way political power: power held by a political party or by a person within the government to influence the way the government works or makes decisions processed food: when food is preserved (kept from decaying) and packaged so that it will last for a long time protest: when people gather together to show they are very upset about something racism: poor treatment or violence against people because of their race (color) or the belief that some races (colors) of people are better than others slum landlord: a person who owns a building with apartments that are in bad condition and rents them to poor people strikes: a period of time when workers stop work in order to force an employer to agree to their demands suffrage: the right to vote tenant: a person who rents a home or an apartment from a landlord urban: to do with a large city urbanization: when large numbers of people migrate or immigrate to a city and the city becomes larger and larger violation: the act of ignoring or interfering with a person's rights or the act of showing disrespect for something usually by damaging it Places To Knowslum: an area of a city where poor people live and the buildings are in bad condition
tenement: a large building that has apartments or rooms for rent and that is usually in a poorer part of a city Events To KnowThe Progressive Era
The progressive era in the united states was a period of social activism and political reform that flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s. * Look under People to Know - Progressives - to see more of what people did during the Progressive Era. Women's Suffrage Movement: the campaign to earn women the right to vote that picked up in the Gilded Age, was the center of heated arguments in the Progressive Era, and was finally achieved with the 19th Amendment in August of 1919.
Other Things to Know15th Amendment: an Amendment to the Constitution that guaranteed Americans the right to vote regardless of race, color, or class. It is known as the Amendment that gave African American men the right to vote.
Jim Crow Laws: laws created in the South after the Civil War that allowed discrimination of African Americans
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The Stand
It was not long before these mistreated people grew angry and fed up. Soon they used this anger as fuel to protest this mistreatment. They stood up against those who attempted to keep them down. They screamed, "We're Not Gonna Take It, Anymore!" ... And they didn't! These people were Progressives. The next lessons are their stories.
Teaching Activity - Class Notes 25 Points
We take notes so that you can get the knowledge you need to meet our lesson. You get points for taking notes because you are showing that you can pick out the main ideas and important details of what you have read.
Small Group Activity: Discussion Questions 25 Points
We discuss the text to make sure you understand the main ideas and important details. We do it in groups so that you have a chance to gain knowledge and understanding from others. You get points for discussion questions because you are showing that you can understand the main ideas and important details of what you have read and you can build upon your knowledge and understanding from others.
Individual Activity: Who Are We Polls 25 Points
We do polls and surveys to check our own understandings of the main ideas and important details. We do it in groups so that you have a chance to gain knowledge and understanding from others. You get points for polls and surveys because you are showing that you can understand the main ideas and important details of what you have read and check the level in which you understand compared to others.
On the polls, some of the groups will be obvious. Other groups you will need to make inferences or educated guesses. By the end of the unit, you will know them all.
On the polls, some of the groups will be obvious. Other groups you will need to make inferences or educated guesses. By the end of the unit, you will know them all.
Who Are We Discussion Poll 1
ow them all.
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Individual Activity - 100 Points
Lesson Module 15: The Oppressed Pass Off Quiz
We pass off so that you can prove you know and understand the lesson on your own before we move to applying, analyzing, creating, or evaluating the information. You get points for passing off because you are showing the level at which you know and understand the information of the lesson.
You only have one shot at the pass off quiz. Make sure to check your answers before submitting.
You only have one shot at the pass off quiz. Make sure to check your answers before submitting.
Reflection Checklist -
Did You Complete Lesson Module 15: The Oppressed
Activities for Topic 3 Lesson 15 Module: The Oppressed
- Did you read the lesson text and complete notes?
- Did you complete the group discussion questions?
- Did you complete the polls?
- Did you take the pass off quiz?
No?Why Not? Don't Fail Lesson Module 15: The Oppressed. Finish Your 15th Mission! Get It Done Today!
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Yes!Congratulations! Victory is yours! You have completed Lesson Module 15: The Oppressed and have succeeded in your 15th Mission!
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