Lesson 4: Perspectives on the New Economy

What were the effects of financial panics and economic downturns on the developing perspectives of the economy and labor?

Financial Panics

Choose 3 banking panics from the article and tie it to another event during the current period of study. Be prepared to confer with your table group and share your work on the board.

Banking Panics of the Gilded Age.pdf

History of the Gold Standard

Source: https://vaulted.com/nuggets/history-of-the-gold-standard-in-america/

Click or tap the icon for the reading.

Reading Questions

"Capital and Labor"

How did industrialization remake the American economy?
How did industrialization affect American workers?
How did Social Darwinism shape many Americans’ attitudes toward inequality? [Lesson 5]
How did American workers attempt to improve their condition?
How did workers’ and farmers’ movements shape American politics?

The "New South"

Henry Grady's "New South" speech reflects a post-Reconstruction vision for the Southern states, promoting economic development, industrialization, and a renewed sense of unity and progress.

The New South Analysis

Labor Unions

Make a copy of the document in the shared drive folder named "Labor Unions." Compete the document with your table group.

Labor Unions and Strikes

Chinese Exclusion

In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act restricted Chinese immigration into the United States. It's important to know the terms of restriction / immigration under the act as well as the attitudes of U.S. citizens over the combined issue of immigration and labor.

Read more about Chinese Exclusion

A White Labor Leader Attacks Chinese Immigration

Read the following documents, and summarize the differences. Include specific evidence to support each document.

A Defense of Chinese Immigration

What fostered anti-Chinese sentiment during the period leading up to Chae Chan Ping’s lawsuit?

Why might it matter that the U.S. Supreme Court, and as a corollary the federal appellate and trial courts, defers generally to the policies and laws that emerge from the executive and legislature?

Skills Packet

"Turning Points: Chinese Exclusion ... "