The purpose of this exercise is to provoke analytical thought and insight concerning American labor relations during the Gilded Age. Using the Homestead Lockout and Strike of 1892 as a guide, students should be able to describe the conditions most industrial workers faced in the late-19th century as well as discuss the rationale used by business owners to keep their employees in a subservient position.
Assignment directions:
Please review both websites provided for this exercise below.
In three or more typed pages (750+ words), please answer the following questions as completely as possible.
Ideal papers will use several examples from the websites, PowerPoint lectures, and textbook to defend their perspectives or to support their arguments. Additional outside resources may be used in preparing your paper. If using outside resources, proper citation is required (any citation format is acceptable).
Papers will be graded according to content, accuracy, and the degree of knowledge and analytical insight produced in your responses. Proper grammar and spelling are expected!
Reaction papers must be submitted to the dropbox below by Saturday, November 9, 2013. It is your responsibility to verify that you received a confirmation receipt from ANGEL that your paper was submitted successfully. Late papers will be accepted up to ONE WEEK after the due date, but will be penalized one full letter grade. Papers not received by the end of the grace period will receive ZERO points. Good luck!
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œThe right of the workingman to combine and to form trade unions is no less sacred than the right of the manufacturer to enter into associations and conferences with his fellows. “Andrew Carnegie
1) How did the Homestead lockout and strike of 1892 impact the labor movement of the late-19th century? In your response, please define the ideas of laissez-faire and social Darwinism as they specifically relate to this event.
2) In what ways does this strike symbolize the growing frustrations between labor and management during the Gilded Age? In your response, please discuss the struggle for control over the workplace“in particular, the rights that the working classes believed they deserved, and management’s contrary attitude toward those perceptions.
3) Since this event occurred during America’s transition into an industrial society, how did it’s outcome affect working conditions in the United States over the course of the next century? In other words, what consequences of this struggle between management and labor can we still see today?
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Scholarly information on the Homestead Lockout and Strike can be found at the following websites:
http://www.battleofhomesteadfoundation.org/battle.php
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/peopleevents/pande04.html
