Captains of Industry or Robber Barons?

Introduction

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, America's dominance and influenece was not just beginning militarilly, but also industrially, which, in fact helped America create such a dominate military. At the forefront of this rise of Industrialism in America were three men, Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and John D. Rockefeller where they were able to build economic and business empires in America whose influence stretched throughout the world. However, arguments can be made that these men didn't grow these empires in the most friendly of ways and were rather cruel to thier workers and competiting businessmen. Nevertheless, their importance to rise of Industry and American cannot be debated. The question becomes, should their importance to the rise of Industry in America, and America in general trump any of the immoral methods they may have used as they made their way to the top? It's up to you to find out.

Task

You and your partner will be engaging IN A BATTLE OF EPIC PROPORTIONS!! You enter a debate regarding one of the three of the biggest and most influential businessmen in American History. Here you and your partner will settle one of the biggest questions ever to present themselves. Are these three men heros or villians, are they Captains of Industry or Robber Barons??  

Here is your task if you choose to accept it. In order to win your debate you must be prepared. So please conduct the following research...

  • Choose one of the three Industrialists described in the introduction and research him to learn the extent to which he modernized the world and impacted Society for the better during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
  • Research the Industrialist to learn about how they became such powerful businessmen. Be sure to keep in mind how they started their business, what risks they took to be successful, how big their companies were, how many employees they employed, and how they treated their employees.
  • Lastly, research the Industrialist to see if they used their wealth or their businesses for any charitable endeavors. 

Process

1. Research each Industrialist focusing on the following

  • What the Industrialist's business was?
  • What the business' impact on America and Society was?
  • How extensive of a business did he run?
  • How many people did he employ and how he treated his employees?
  • Was this individual charitable? 

2. What do to with your research?

  • Answering the questions above will give you a good idea whether or not these men were Robber Barons or Captaians of Industry. After conducting your research, create arguements for either why the man is a Robber Baron or Captain of Industry.
  • Please write out your arguents and hand them in to me.
  • Use these argument points for when you debate your partner.

3. What happens next?

  • Using your newfound knowledge on the industrialst you researched, please answer the questions in the conclusion tab. These are due the day after the debates.
  • I will choose 3 (one for each Insturtialist) partner groups to renenact their debates in front of the class so that the rest of the students can learn about the other Industrialists and decide who won the debate.

To conduct this research, consider some of the following website.

http://www.history.com/topics/andrew-carnegie

http://www.history.com/topics/john-d-rockefeller

http://www.history.com/topics/cornelius-vanderbilt

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/rockefell…

http://www.biography.com/people/andrew-carnegie-9238756#videos

https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/gilded-age/essays/robber-b…

Evaluation

You and your partner will be evaluated in two manners, how you prepare for your debate, which includes your written arguments either for Captains of Industry or Robber Baron for each industrialist, and your actual debate performance, which relates to how well you articulated your argumemnts.

Please note: You will submit your debate prepartion and argument points to me online which I will grade for the prepartion grade of the assignment. After I receive all the debate material, we will have a class where you will debate your partner for the performance grade of the assignment.

For more information please review the following rubric. 

Research and Preparation

Performance

Unsatisfactory

  • Student includes few or irrelevent facts about the industrialists and has few or irrelevant arguments as to whether they are Captains of Industry or Robber Barons.

Unsatisfactory

  • The student articules few or irrelevant arguments to his partner about whether the Industrialists are Captains of Industry or Robber Barons. The student displays very little engagement in the debate.

Satisfactory

  • Student includes relevent facts about the industrialists and includes relevent arguments as to whether they are Captains of Industry or Robber Barons.

Satisfactory

  • The student is engaged in the debate, articules relevent arguments to his partner about whether the Industrialists are Captains of Industry or Robber Barons. 

Exceptional

  • Student includes numerous  facts and key details about the industrialists and includes muliple arguments as to whether they are Captains of Industry or Robber Barons. 

Exceptional

  • The student is engaged in the debate, articules multiple relevent arguments and counter arguments to his partner about whether the Industrialists are Captains of Industry or Robber Barons. 

Conclusion

Now that you have leared about these three famous Industrialists that lived during the late 19th and early 20th centuries and decided which ones you considered either a Captain of Industry or Robber Baron, please answer the following questions.

After reading about these three men and deciding which ones were Captains of Industry or Robber Barons, are there any of them that you would actually consider both a Captain of Industry or a Robber Baron? Why? 

Of the three men, which one do you consider the most important to America's rise in Industrialism during the late 19th and early 20th centuries? Why?

Put your self in the shoes of one of these men, who's shoes would you most like to be in and why? Also, if you were this person, what would you do differently so that nobody considered you a Robber Baron?  

In today's business/techonolgy world, who do you consider to be a Captain of Industry? Who do you consider to be a Robber Baron? Why?

Teacher Page

Information: This WebQuest was made as a lesson plan as part of The Rise of Big Business and American Imperialism unit of an 8th Grade U.S. History Class. 

Lesson Duration: This lesson will take place over the course of three days. The first two day will be spent in the computer lab where the students will conduct thier research and the final day will see the students partake in thier debates.   

Materials: Since some students might not have computers at home, I choose to do this WebQuest in the computer lab. The students are encouraged to do additional research at home if they have a computer or complete their research at home if they run out of time.

Standards: NCSS Standards- Individuals, Groups, and Institutions ;Production, Distribution and Consumption:Science, Technology and Society