Writing Assignment

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The Gilded Age in America

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Writing Assignment Option I-- additional resources

The Gilded Age in America

WRITING ASSIGNMENT

Your paper should be 5-7 printed pages. Footnotes must be used to "indicate the source of particularly important facts and opinions, expressed either directly as quotations or as paraphrases, that are not original to the author." Papers are due Wednesday, July 15. Papers may be submitted in class or electronically. An automatic one-week extension will be granted upon request. However, any papers handed in after this date (without prior arrangement) will be penalized.

(Note: Those students taking this course for graduate credit may have different requirements and options available to them. Please consult with me before beginning your assignment.)

You have a choice of three separate exercises for your writing assignment. Choose ONE of the following options:

I. Your first option is an exercise in reconstructing, through available primary sources, the life of a single individual from the Gilded Age. The basis for your research will be information from both federal and state census schedules (available on microfilm at the State Historical Society of Iowa, 402 Iowa Avenue, Iowa City), but other sources, such as county histories, city directories, county records, military records, ect., may be consulted. The State Historical Society has copies of federal census schedules for 1870, 1880, and 1900, and state census schedules for 1885 and 1895.

You will soon receive the name of your pre-selected "subject", as well as information on where to find his entry in the 1870 census records and his Soundex code for locating his entries in future censuses. After receiving the identity of the individual to be "traced" through the years and the starting point for your research, you should use the relevant sources to construct a basic "biography" of your subject. However, in addition to detailing the basic facts concerning your subject, your paper should attempt to highlight significant changes in your subject's status over the years. For example, if your subject was a farmer, and the size of his acreage fluctuated over the years, you may speculate as to what circumstances caused this. If your subject lived in an urban area and moved from renting to owning a home, or reported a rise in the value of his property, you may speculate on which conditions might have led to this.

Your paper should also attempt to present a speculative but plausible account of your subject's reactions to the major events and trends of the times in which he lived. In the case of the farmer mentioned above, what (if any) might have been his involvement in the agrarian discontent of the late 1800's? Based on his place of residence, occupation, and national origin, what might the city dweller's political affiliation have been, and what might have been his reactions to important issues of the time? In short, your paper will be judged not only on the details assembled about an individual, but also on the extent to which you can make your subject "breathe" and come alive by placing these details into the context of a life history and relating them to larger historical patterns.

II. Your second option is a variant on the theme of Looking Backward: 2000-1887. Just as, in the book, Dr. Leete explains to Julian West how the utopia of the year 2000 came to be, in this exercise you will select an "alternative" state of affairs for the year 1900 and explain what events occurred to create this situation.

In some circles, this type of exercise is known as "counterfactual" historical speculation. The idea is to assess the impact that one event has had upon the course of historical development by assuming that it had not occurred, and reasonably projecting the ways in which the "ripple" effect affected the future. For example, economic historians have attempted to gauge the importance of railroads on American economic growth by assuming that railroads never developed, and estimating the level of market growth if the only transportation outlets were canals and river traffic. The "counterfactual" option for your writing assignment reverses the usual speculative process. Instead of proceeding forward in history from one pivotal event, you will be presented with the "outcomes" of counterfactual history, and go backward from 1900 to explain how they came about. All facts and conditions as of the mid-1870's should be assumed, so any developments which alter historical trends should be placed between the mid-1870's and 1900.

Although this is not primarily a research paper, as in the case of option I, in order to present a plausible and convincing account of the alternative history of the Gilded Age you may want to consult secondary sources for more information on the period. If these sources are the basis for conclusions in your paper, you should indicate this by the use of footnotes or citations. Otherwise, you are free to present your "counterfactual" history in any manner you wish, whether explaining to an uninformed visitor as in the case of Dr. Leete and Julian West, in the form of a narrative as might be found in a history text, or in a variety of other formats. Your paper will be graded according to the level of plausibility that your paper demonstrates in detailing (within space limitations) how the alternative world of 1900 came to be. Your account should, if possible, address developments over the complete period of the Gilded Age, not just a portion of this time period.

If you choose option II, select one of the following "counterfactual" headlines from 1900 as your starting point for "looking backward":

a. Terence Powderly Elected President On Labor Party Ticket, Calls For Reforms

b. Congress Completes Nationalization of U.S. Rail Lines

c. Immigration Restriction Passed By Congress; U.S. Borders Closed To World

d. Agricultural Profits Reach New High; Golden Age for U.S. Farmers

e. North American Political Union of U.S., Canada, And Mexico Finalized; New Capital to be Chicago

f. Rockefeller, Standard Oil Declare Bankruptcy; End Of "Robber Baron" Era?

III. Your third option is to follow the unfolding events of an important period of American history through the daily coverage in a newspaper.

In writing your paper, you should focus on the coverage of one of the following topics, and concentrate on what kind of information is being presented and what attitude is being conveyed. It is important that you should attempt as much as possible to “block” any pre-existing knowledge of your chosen topic. You should be trying as much as possible to replicate the experience of a reasonably well-informed reader of the time, and summarizing the impressions of that observer. For most options, you should present your summaries in a weekly format, and show how the coverage of the event is evolving over time.

Although the main portion of your paper should be focused solely on media coverage, you should include a concluding section where you assess the ways in which the contemporary coverage of the given event was accurate, and the ways in which it was inaccurate or misleading. With the ability to look back on the event, what things were given too much or too little emphasis at the time?

Ideally, you should choose one single source for your research on this paper. Obviously, there are many options for source materials in the Main Library, but the Internet offers several excellent sites for research as well. For two of the most prominent examples, both the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune are available for the period covered by the following options, and are available through this link (<http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/eresources/indexes.asp>). You may access the material using your HawkID information.

SCENARIOS: Select ONE of the following scenarios as the subject for your research. You may want to browse through the coverage surrounding several options before settling on a final choice. (Since this option is a relatively new one, it is possible for other scenarios to be used for this option-please consult with me if you have a request.)

1. The immediate aftermath of the 1876 election was marked by confusion as to the results. Examine newspaper coverage for roughly one month following Election Day (November 7, 1876).

2. The Railroad Strike of 1877 began to develop in mid-July. Look at newspaper coverage of the event from July 15, 1877 until mid-August.

3. President Garfield was shot on July 2, 1881. Examine newspaper coverage of the event until the end of July, 1881.

4. In May, 1886, labor unrest in CityplaceChicago was highlighted by the “Haymarket Riot” on May 4. Look at coverage of the story through the end of May, 1886.

5. The U.S.S Maine exploded in CityplaceHavana harbor on February 15, 1898. How did newspaper coverage of the story develop for the next month, until mid-March 1898?

6. President McKinley was shot on September 6, 1901. Examine newspaper coverage of the event through the end of September, 1901.


	mark-carlile.com \| home The Gilded Age in America General Course Information Schedule of Classes and Reading Assignments Lecture Summaries Image Gallery Review Sheets Writing Assignment Option I-- additional resources The Gilded Age in America WRITING ASSIGNMENT Your paper should be 5-7 printed pages. Footnotes must be used to "indicate the source of particularly important facts and opinions, expressed either directly as quotations or as paraphrases, that are not original to the author." Papers are due Wednesday, July 15. Papers may be submitted in class or electronically. An automatic one-week extension will be granted upon request. However, any papers handed in after this date (without prior arrangement) will be penalized. (Note: Those students taking this course for graduate credit may have different requirements and options available to them. Please consult with me before beginning your assignment.) You have a choice of three separate exercises for your writing assignment. Choose ONE of the following options: I. Your first option is an exercise in reconstructing, through available primary sources, the life of a single individual from the Gilded Age. The basis for your research will be information from both federal and state census schedules (available on microfilm at the State Historical Society of Iowa, 402 Iowa Avenue, Iowa City), but other sources, such as county histories, city directories, county records, military records, ect., may be consulted. The State Historical Society has copies of federal census schedules for 1870, 1880, and 1900, and state census schedules for 1885 and 1895. You will soon receive the name of your pre-selected "subject", as well as information on where to find his entry in the 1870 census records and his Soundex code for locating his entries in future censuses. After receiving the identity of the individual to be "traced" through the years and the starting point for your research, you should use the relevant sources to construct a basic "biography" of your subject. However, in addition to detailing the basic facts concerning your subject, your paper should attempt to highlight significant changes in your subject's status over the years. For example, if your subject was a farmer, and the size of his acreage fluctuated over the years, you may speculate as to what circumstances caused this. If your subject lived in an urban area and moved from renting to owning a home, or reported a rise in the value of his property, you may speculate on which conditions might have led to this. Your paper should also attempt to present a speculative but plausible account of your subject's reactions to the major events and trends of the times in which he lived. In the case of the farmer mentioned above, what (if any) might have been his involvement in the agrarian discontent of the late 1800's? Based on his place of residence, occupation, and national origin, what might the city dweller's political affiliation have been, and what might have been his reactions to important issues of the time? In short, your paper will be judged not only on the details assembled about an individual, but also on the extent to which you can make your subject "breathe" and come alive by placing these details into the context of a life history and relating them to larger historical patterns. II. Your second option is a variant on the theme of Looking Backward: 2000-1887. Just as, in the book, Dr. Leete explains to Julian West how the utopia of the year 2000 came to be, in this exercise you will select an "alternative" state of affairs for the year 1900 and explain what events occurred to create this situation. In some circles, this type of exercise is known as "counterfactual" historical speculation. The idea is to assess the impact that one event has had upon the course of historical development by assuming that it had not occurred, and reasonably projecting the ways in which the "ripple" effect affected the future. For example, economic historians have attempted to gauge the importance of railroads on American economic growth by assuming that railroads never developed, and estimating the level of market growth if the only transportation outlets were canals and river traffic. The "counterfactual" option for your writing assignment reverses the usual speculative process. Instead of proceeding forward in history from one pivotal event, you will be presented with the "outcomes" of counterfactual history, and go backward from 1900 to explain how they came about. All facts and conditions as of the mid-1870's should be assumed, so any developments which alter historical trends should be placed between the mid-1870's and 1900. Although this is not primarily a research paper, as in the case of option I, in order to present a plausible and convincing account of the alternative history of the Gilded Age you may want to consult secondary sources for more information on the period. If these sources are the basis for conclusions in your paper, you should indicate this by the use of footnotes or citations. Otherwise, you are free to present your "counterfactual" history in any manner you wish, whether explaining to an uninformed visitor as in the case of Dr. Leete and Julian West, in the form of a narrative as might be found in a history text, or in a variety of other formats. Your paper will be graded according to the level of plausibility that your paper demonstrates in detailing (within space limitations) how the alternative world of 1900 came to be. Your account should, if possible, address developments over the complete period of the Gilded Age, not just a portion of this time period. If you choose option II, select one of the following "counterfactual" headlines from 1900 as your starting point for "looking backward": a. Terence Powderly Elected President On Labor Party Ticket, Calls For Reforms b. Congress Completes Nationalization of U.S. Rail Lines c. Immigration Restriction Passed By Congress; U.S. Borders Closed To World d. Agricultural Profits Reach New High; Golden Age for U.S. Farmers e. North American Political Union of U.S., Canada, And Mexico Finalized; New Capital to be Chicago f. Rockefeller, Standard Oil Declare Bankruptcy; End Of "Robber Baron" Era? III. Your third option is to follow the unfolding events of an important period of American history through the daily coverage in a newspaper. In writing your paper, you should focus on the coverage of one of the following topics, and concentrate on what kind of information is being presented and what attitude is being conveyed. It is important that you should attempt as much as possible to “block” any pre-existing knowledge of your chosen topic. You should be trying as much as possible to replicate the experience of a reasonably well-informed reader of the time, and summarizing the impressions of that observer. For most options, you should present your summaries in a weekly format, and show how the coverage of the event is evolving over time. Although the main portion of your paper should be focused solely on media coverage, you should include a concluding section where you assess the ways in which the contemporary coverage of the given event was accurate, and the ways in which it was inaccurate or misleading. With the ability to look back on the event, what things were given too much or too little emphasis at the time? Ideally, you should choose one single source for your research on this paper. Obviously, there are many options for source materials in the Main Library, but the Internet offers several excellent sites for research as well. For two of the most prominent examples, both the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune are available for the period covered by the following options, and are available through this link (<http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/eresources/indexes.asp>). You may access the material using your HawkID information. SCENARIOS: Select ONE of the following scenarios as the subject for your research. You may want to browse through the coverage surrounding several options before settling on a final choice. (Since this option is a relatively new one, it is possible for other scenarios to be used for this option-please consult with me if you have a request.) 1. The immediate aftermath of the 1876 election was marked by confusion as to the results. Examine newspaper coverage for roughly one month following Election Day (November 7, 1876). 2. The Railroad Strike of 1877 began to develop in mid-July. Look at newspaper coverage of the event from July 15, 1877 until mid-August. 3. President Garfield was shot on July 2, 1881. Examine newspaper coverage of the event until the end of July, 1881. 4. In May, 1886, labor unrest in CityplaceChicago was highlighted by the “Haymarket Riot” on May 4. Look at coverage of the story through the end of May, 1886. 5. The U.S.S Maine exploded in CityplaceHavana harbor on February 15, 1898. How did newspaper coverage of the story develop for the next month, until mid-March 1898? 6. President McKinley was shot on September 6, 1901. Examine newspaper coverage of the event through the end of September, 1901.