gild  1:  to overlay with or as if with a thin

covering of gold[L1]  2: to  give an attractive

but often deceptive appearance to

America! 'Gilded'?
An Internet WebQuest on The Gilded Age

created by DJ Newland

Introduction | The Task | The Process & Resources | Conclusion | HyperText Dictionary

Introduction: “What is the chief end of man?—to get rich.  In What way?—dishonestly if we can; honestly if we must.” –Mark Twain-1871

During the “Gilded Age,” every man was out to achieve wealth.  In New York, lavish parties were given.  Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish threw a dinner party in honor of her dog who wore a $15,000 diamond collar. 

 

While the rich wore diamonds, many wore rags.  In 1890, out of America’s 12 million families, 11 million lived in poverty.  Rural Americans and new immigrants moved to the city.  Tenements (dwellings) grew along with crime and filth.  Inventions like the sewing machine, phonograph, and electric lights were in the hand of Americans, yet most people lived in poverty.

 

Corruption extended to the highest levels of government.  The poor turned to political machines for relief.  The rich were getting richer off the poor.  The president, Ulysses S. Grant, and his cabinet were involved in many scandals.

The Quest

You are a member of a film production studio that has recently been hired to produce a documentary about the gilded age of American History.

Historians coined the term 'gilded age' in an effort to illustrate the outward showy, but inwardly corrupt nature of American society during the industrialization of the late 1800's.

The documentary will need to highlight the many aspects of society that made up the gilded age:

Coal Mining
Women's Roles
Big Business and the Rich
Cartoons
'How the Other Half Lives' by Jacob Riis

As a reporter, it is your job to find what will interest your audience the most. Some things to think about are:
*women's movements
*famous women
*laborers and safety
*women's voices
*what was seen outwardly vs. what's going on inwardly
*what were the rich and big businesses doing
*what happened to small businesses
*the craftsman and their trade
*machines
*how did the people live
*kind of apartments
*size and dwelling capacity
*conditions of tenements
*health concerns
*what obstacles did people face
*what were the work hours and wages
*children's jobs
*women's jobs
*where did the laborers live
*who did the laborers include
*how does it impact society in which you live
*what progress is seen
*what needs more work
*movements
*health and safety issues,
and any other research that is eye catching and will make your documentary more interesting.

Your task must be thoroughly researched and presented in a motivating manner; able to bring about discussion.  Your presentation and written paper should reflect knowledge, and draw interest on your documentary piece.

The Process and Resources

Each cooperative learning group of four will work together to produce a documentary over the 'gilded age.'

Students will select a topic (topics may only be used once, all topics must be covered). Each of the five criteria must be used toward your cooperative learning goal. Reporters(through assigned roles) will make a documentary about 1) Industry (coal mining), 2) Women's Roles, 3) Big business and the rich, 4) Cartoons, and 5) Each reporter's research will also include an assigned chapter reading and research from 'How the Other Half Lives' by Jacob Riis.

You will research your topic and assigned chapter reading, prepare individual research papers, and combine the research for the group documentary. You will create an individual and group PowerPoint presentation which will illustrate your research.

You will click on links to access research material, and will include graphics in PowerPoints. Each student within the class will be assigned a different chapter on 'How the Other Half Lives' by Jacob Riis, and information from your chapter will be illustrated through the research paper and PowerPoint.

Individual research papers will be word processed.

Cooperative learning groups will consolidate research and produce a group PowerPoint documentary from their research on the gilded age.

PowerPoints and Oral documentary presentations will be presented before the class.

Phase 1 - Background: Something for Everyone

What roles do women play in your community? Are businesses safe to work at? How is the housing in your community? Does your community newspaper publish political cartoons to make a point? Have you seen any big business come into your community forcing small business to close?  Have you seen corruption within political figures in your nation and community?  Do you know anyone living in poverty, and how are they helped?  Are children permitted to work; why or why not?  These issues and more, become relevant as you search the internet sites that inform you about the 'gilded age.'

Websites listed below will be used for individual research.

• How The Other Half Lives - Jacob Riis
• All information

Phase 2 - Looking Deeper from Different Perspectives

INSTRUCTIONS:  Each cooperative learning group will have an 1) Industry Researcher and Reporter, 2) Women’s Researcher and Reporter, 3) Big Business and the Rich Researcher and Reporter 4) Cartoon Researcher and Reporter, and finally 4) Chapter Researcher and Reporter.  Each group member will be assigned a chapter reading from Jacob Riis’, How the Other Half Lives.

Industry Reporter:
Your research should include the industry of the late 1800's. Focus on coal mining and tell who, what, when, where, and how of the coal miners.

  Women's Reporter:
Your research should include the, who, what, when, where and how of the women of the late 1800's. What impact did they have on America today?

Big Business and the Rich Reporter:
Your research should include the, who, what, when, where, and how of the big business and the rich, and the corruption within these businesses and the rich.

Cartoon Reporter:
Your research should give examples of cartoons during this time period. Be able to explain your cartoons and the impact they had on society. Who were the cartoons about and who were the illustrators.

Chapter Book Reviews-'How the Other Half Lives,' Each group member will be assigned a chapter to read from 'How the Other Half Lives' by Jacob Riis. Your research will involve looking at your chapter of the book off the internet, involving laborers, cheap housing, and roles of women, and so much more. You will integrate chapter research into the research paper and PowerPoint documentary presentation.

Group work: Reporters will combine information and make a documentary PowerPoint presentation on their research, along with a word processed individual report.

 

________________________________________________________________________________

Industry Researcher/Chapter Research

Use the Internet information linked below to answer these questions specifically related to Industry Researcher:

1. Who worked the mines? What was the life as a coal miner like? Under what conditions did they work? What made their work hazardous? What other research interested you that will share?

• Coal Mining  
• Mark Twain's information on the Gilded Age
• Child Labor
• Wages
• How The Other Half Lives - Jacob Riis

Women’s Researcher/Chapter Research

Use the Internet information linked below to answer these questions specifically related to Women Researcher:

1. What role did women play in society? What women helped to make and change history? What did they fight for? How did their lifestyles change? What were they thinking and feeling? What other interesting research about women will you share?

• Women's Roles - Gilded Age
• Women
• How The Other Half Lives - Jacob Riis

Business Researcher/Chapter Research

Use the Internet information linked below to answer these questions specifically related to Business Researcher:

1. Did you find any corruption in the rich and big business? Who was the richest man? What effect did they have on small business? What happened to the independent businessman and his trade? How did this impact America today?  What other interesting research will you share?

• Big Business and the Rich - Gilded Age
• Corruption
• The rich!
• Corruption and the rich
• How The Other Half Lives - Jacob Riis

Cartoon/Chapter Research

Use the Internet information linked below to answer these questions specifically related to Cartoon/Book Review Researcher:

1. What are the cartoons about? Who are the illustrators? What message were they sending? What impact do they have on society today?

• Cartoons - Guilded Age
• Cartoons
• How The Other Half Lives - Jacob Riis

 

Phase 3 - Debating, Discussing, and Reaching Consensus

You have all learned about a different part of The Gilded Age. Now group members come back to the larger WebQuest team with expertise gained by searching from one perspective. You must all now work cooperative as a group, compiling research information, to present your documentary. Each of you will bring a certain viewpoint to the answer: some of you will agree and others disagree. Use information, pictures, movies, facts, opinions, etc. from the Webpages you explored to convince your teammates that your viewpoint is important and should be part of your team's documentary. Your WebQuest team will consolidate research information and produce a documentary on the “gilded age.”

Phase 4 - Real World Feedback

You and your teammates have learned a lot by dividing up into different roles. Now's the time to put your learning into a letter you'll send out for real world feedback. Together you will write a letter that contains opinions, information, and perspectives that you've gained. Here's the process:

1. Begin your letter with a statement of who you are and why you are writing your message to this particular person or organization.

2. Give background information that shows you understand the topic.

STATE THE TASK / QUEST(ION) AND YOUR GROUP'S ANSWER.

3. Each person in your group should write a paragraph that gives two good reasons supporting the group's opinion. Make sure to be specific in both the information (like where you got it from on the Web) and the reasoning (why the information proves your group's point).

4. Have each person on the team proofread the message. Use correct letter format and make sure you have correctly addressed the email message. Use the link below to make contact. Send your message and make sure your teacher gets a copy.

Your Contact is: Newland

Conclusion

American society today stems as a result from the “gilded age.”  Welfare, tax reform, safety inspectors, wages, child labor laws, health and sanitation, industry regulation, women’s movements, and so on, all came about from this time period in the late 1800’s.  What you see today on the outside is a result of what went on inwardly during the “gilded age.” So is an elephant smooth, rough, soft, or hard? Well, when you're blindfolded and only *looking* at one part, it's easy to come up with an answer that may not be completely right. It's the same for understanding a topic as broad or complex as the Gilded Age: when you only know part of the picture, you only know part of the picture. Now you all know a lot more. Nice work. You should be proud of yourselves! How can you use what you've learned to see beyond the black and white of a topic and into the grayer areas? What other parts of The Gilded Age could still be explored? Remember, learning never stops.