Students learn how early workers responded to harsh industrial conditions by organizing, striking, and forming unions, and how changing court decisions shaped their ability to act together and push for fair wages, safer workplaces, and better treatment.
Students review key vocabulary related to labor reform and early industrial work, then read a brief introduction explaining how industrialization reshaped work and daily life. They examine an image of women working in a match factory and contribute one descriptive word to a word cloud to characterize factory and mill working conditions in the mid-1800s. Finally, they read an overview of the experience and the learning objectives.
Teacher MovesPre-teach and reinforce the vocabulary terms so students can use them confidently in later scenes. Prompt students to connect their word cloud responses to details in the image and to prior learning about industrialization, asking questions that surface patterns such as harsh or unsafe conditions and changing ways of earning a living. Review the lesson objectives and frame the experience as an investigation into how workers responded to these conditions and how the law shaped their options.
Students view an image of 19th-century workers in a northern factory and read background text about how industrialization created new pressures on workers. They read The Labor Movement in the United States During the First Half of the Nineteenth Century to learn how workers organized, formed associations, struck, and supported one another as industrialization reshaped their work lives. Using inline-choice items, they complete fill-in-the-blank questions to check understanding of key ideas and vocabulary. They then complete a drag-and-drop matching activity to connect specific labor reform actions with the groups that carried them out.
Teacher MovesClarify the historical context of early industrial workplaces and ensure students understand how the article’s examples illustrate collective responses to workplace problems. After students complete the inline-choice and matching tasks, lead a discussion that identifies the problems workers faced (such as low wages, wage cuts, long hours, and exclusion from unions) and the solutions they attempted (forming associations, striking, and mutual aid). Ask students which actions seemed effective and why, using evidence from the text, and connect these labor efforts to the broader reform spirit of the era.
Students read History of the Labor Reform: Two Significant Court Cases to examine how legal decisions shaped workers’ ability to organize. They complete a Venn diagram graphic organizer comparing Commonwealth v. Pulis and Commonwealth v. Hunt, focusing on what workers wanted, why each case went to court, the courts’ decisions, and the impact on labor reform. Next, they read Adapted Excerpt from the Preamble of the Mechanics' Union of Trade Associations and answer multiple-choice questions about its main message, its view of steady wages and the economy, and the best supporting evidence from the text. Finally, they respond to a discussion-wall prompt explaining the role of solidarity in the early labor reform movement, using at least one example from the lesson texts.
Teacher MovesSupport students in unpacking the two court cases by highlighting Venn diagram entries that clearly describe worker goals and legal outcomes. Guide them to notice how judicial responses changed over time and how these shifts expanded possibilities for lawful organizing. In discussing the Mechanics’ Union preamble, prompt students to explain how steady wages benefit workers, families, sellers, and business owners, and connect these ideas to broader themes of fairness and equality in other reform movements. When reviewing discussion-wall responses about solidarity, emphasize examples that show how standing together helped workers confront long hours, unsafe conditions, and unfair treatment, and connect these actions to the unit’s larger theme of civil disobedience and collective resistance.
Students learn that this scene is an optional extension, then read background text about mill work and the emergence of reformers like Sarah Bagley. They watch Mill City Minute - Sarah Bagley and read Excerpt from Sarah Bagley’s First Letter to Reformer Analique Martin to explore how mill women described their challenges and reform goals. Using two hot-text items, they select sentences that best show how the women spread their reform message and how they demonstrated solidarity in their organizing. Students then respond on a discussion wall to explain how Sarah Bagley’s activism connects industrialization’s changes with the broader spirit of mid-nineteenth-century reform, and they add an additional example to support a classmate’s response.
Teacher MovesFrame the scene as an opportunity to apply earlier concepts to a specific reform leader and context. After students complete the hot-text questions, discuss how the mill women used tools like the press and publications to spread their ideas and how their mutual support reflects solidarity seen elsewhere in the labor movement. When reviewing discussion-wall posts, highlight responses that clearly link industrial problems, worker activism, and reform goals, and invite students to explain the examples they added to peers’ answers. Help students see how Sarah Bagley and the Lowell mill women fit into the wider age of reform as individuals who turned shared hardships into organized efforts for change.
Students complete the exit quiz by answering all the questions.
Teacher MovesFacilitate the assessment and use student data to evaluate understanding, address misconceptions, and identify areas for growth.
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