#500 Shifting Gears: From Reconstruction to Industry and Empire

Evaluating Reconstruction

In this short video below, Professor Eric Foner explains Reconstruction's legacy and points to one specific example.

• As you watch, can you think of other ways Reconstruction might have impacted the present?
• As a historian yourself, what is your verdict on Reconstruction? Was it a success? A failure? Or somewhere in between?

Industry and empire

To kick off our new unit, we will break up the class into four investigation groups. Our goal in this exercise is to solidify what we already know and frame some productive questions for the unit ahead.

First, your group will investigate a key term that relates to our next unit (two groups will look at imperialism and another two groups will look at industrialization). Your team is free to use any tools you would like to help address the three following sets of questions:

• How would you define this term? What are some elements are you confident must be present? What aspects are you unsure about?

 

• How did this pattern play out in U.S. history? What about in other parts of the world? Can you give an example of a country you think would be most likely to mirror the American experience with this pattern? What about a country that is least likely to mirror the American experience? Explain your reasoning.

 

• How might we as historians go about weighing the costs and benefits of this particular tendency in U.S. history? What factors do you think would be important to consider?

Next, combine your team with the other team that looked at the same theme. Compare your responses and listen carefully for differences in your approaches. When a difference appears, make a note of it and think about how it can be turned into a question for further inquiry.

Finally, the two combined groups will share out to the class.

Unit 5 goals:

By the end of this unit, you will understand:

• How the Industrial Revolution reshaped American society, particularly in urban contexts.
• How the labor movement and other popular movements sought to respond to the challenges created by growing concentration of wealth.
• The motivations for and consequences of American imperialism at the end of the turn of the twentieth century.

You will also have developed skills in areas including:

• Analyze textual and visual primary source documents.
• Draw connections between past and present in relation to key social, political, and economic trends.
• Critically examine media portrayals of past and present events.
• Communicate arguments in discussion and writing while drawing on appropriate evidence.

​Homework: Assignment #501