 The
paper is about “the labor problem” as Americans saw it during the
Gilded Age and Progressive Era. Grounded
in the assigned readings for the course, the paper will focus on two
strikes, the Homestead Strike of 1892 and the Anthracite Coal Strike of
1902. You will also use
Chapter 10, “A Historic Departure,” from Power and
Responsibility: The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt by William
Harbaugh, available to you at the Reserve Desk in the Main Library and
through the library’s electronic reserves, and The Anthracite Strike of 1902: A Record of Confusion by Robert H. Wiebe in The Mississippi Valley
Historical Review, Vol. 48, No. 2. (September 1961), pp. 229-251
(available through a University IP address at www.jstor.org).You will use at least two on-line primary source databases for this
project, The Nation magazine
and Harper’s Weekly (the two
are available through a University IP address through http://www.lib.ohio-state.edu/hisweb/fullhis.htm
--The Nation is listed as The
Nation Digital Archive ) The
same library web page has links to other magazine literature with
information and opinions about this strike. Other
sources for this paper are available on the World Wide Web.
(See http://www.history.ohio-state.edu/projects/coal/1902anthracitestrike/
and http://www.history.ohio-state.edu/projects/HomesteadStrike1892
--click on these old urls to get to the new ones.) The paper
will be about 5 pages long (1,500 words), double-spaced.
On an additional page you will list and
discuss the individual sources you used in the library or on the
Internet. The paper will
address these questions: ·
What did Americans
mean by “the labor problem,” especially as expressed in the events
surrounding these two strikes? ·
What was the range
of opinions expressed about “the labor problem” during the ·
How did government
respond to these strikes? How
was the governmental response in 1892 and in 1902 similar or different? ·
What was the
public reaction to these strikes, as seen in newspapers and magazine and
cartoon commentary? ·
In addition to the
evidence of public reaction made available to the entire class, what
have you learned about public reaction to one of these strikes from
examining at least one newspaper of your choice? ·
From the sources
you have explored, what is your assessment of “the labor problem” as
a historical phenomenon? How
does your understanding of “the labor problem” during “the
emergence of modern |
