Paper3-Populism

History 17B De Anza College

Paper #3: Populism and Reform

American society saw tremendous social and economic changes in the second half of the 19^th century, but with those changes came problems. What objections did some people have to the idea of social reform? Read your textbook about industrialization, politics, and life in the “Gilded Age,” then read about the Progressive movement, and finally read the two documents listed below. What were the abuses that reformers were particularly concerned about in late 19^th century America? What did they want to do about it? How did the capitalist class view those reform efforts? Did any populist ideas become reality? Are there parallels between these debates and current political debates?

Populist Party platform, 1892

William Graham Sumner, The Absurd Effort to Make the World Over

Use examples from the documents to explain your answer.

You must cite your sources, and list them at the end of your paper as a List of References. Please do not “borrow” material from the web without providing proper citations and enclosing direct quotations in quotation marks. Otherwise, it will be considered plagiarism, and the penalties will be severe.

Typed, double-spaced, 12-point type, 800-1000 words, formatted according to MLA standards, and to be submitted to Turnitin.com. (For aid on formatting, see the Purdue Owl Website.) Note: before sending the assignment, please rename the file in the following format: LastnameFirstname-paper1.doc. Example: JacksonChristopher-paper1.doc. That allows me to better keep track of the many papers that I received during the quarter.