Students make observations about a drawing of twelve women sitting on a jury in 1902. Then they watch a video about continuity and change in the Gilded Age, and apply the concepts to four groups: African Americans, immigrants, women, and children. Next they focus on the Chinese Exclusion Act and infer why Congress singled out Chinese immigrants. Finally they choose one of the four groups and predict what Progressive Era activities would try to “fix” the social problems of that group.
Students read an introduction connecting prior learning about Gilded Age economic and political developments to new learning about social issues for minority groups. They examine the drawing Studies in Expression: When Women are Jurors (1902) and post observations describing the women in the image.
Teacher MovesReview the lesson objectives and briefly outline the experience. Use the Library of Congress description of the Gibson drawing to highlight the diversity of women’s social backgrounds and expressions, then prompt students to predict how this jury of women represents the Gilded Age.
Students watch the video Continuity and change in the Gilded Age to understand how technological and economic shifts coexisted with persistent ideas about race, immigration, and the economy. They then read about African Americans in the Gilded Age, including a short biography of Booker T. Washington, and summarize the Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson in three words. Next, they study an image of immigrants arriving in New York Harbor, read The Rush of Immigrants to learn about “Old Immigration” and Gilded Age immigration, and complete a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting these immigrant groups.
Teacher MovesClarify the video’s thesis about major economic changes alongside continuity in racial and immigration attitudes. Note that students will revisit these issues in more depth later. After students complete the Venn diagram, summarize how the sources of immigration shifted over time and ask students to connect this to current immigration patterns by identifying today’s main regions of origin.
Students examine artwork depicting women in the home and read Women in the Gilded Age and Victorian Values in a New Age to explore how class and economic status shaped women’s lives. They write and post a thesis statement about continuity and change in the status of women during the Gilded Age. Then, after viewing photographs of child laborers, they read Child Labor During the Industrial Revolution and review a photo collection on child labor in early 1900s America. Working in small groups, they select one photograph, upload a screenshot, and add a caption that summarizes the state of child labor during the Gilded Age.
Teacher MovesHighlight an interesting or exemplary thesis statement about women’s status and use it to prompt discussion, emphasizing that although some educated women entered the public sphere, most women continued to work long hours for low pay. After students create and share child-labor captions, give them time to review one another’s work, then organize them into small groups for the next two scenes.
In small groups, students examine an image of the Chin Quan Chan family applying to re-enter the United States in 1911 and read background text on rising hostility toward Chinese immigrants and U.S.–China relations. They then read about the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and collaboratively post an inference explaining why Congress singled out Chinese immigrants, using the image and prior lesson content as evidence.
Teacher MovesBe sensitive to students of Asian heritage and, if appropriate, invite them to share personal experiences with discrimination. After groups post their inferences, share an interesting or exemplary response and explain that nativists viewed Chinese immigrants as racially inferior and religiously different, and that Congress also saw Chinese immigration as a foreign policy concern.
Working in their small groups, students choose one social group—African Americans, immigrants, women, or children—and post predictions about what Progressive Era activities might have emerged to “fix” the social problems that group faced, drawing on what they have learned about Gilded Age conditions.
Teacher MovesClarify that students are not expected to know specific Progressive Era reforms yet; instead, their predictions should logically address the social issues studied. As needed, reference examples such as African American migration and the NAACP, immigrant union activity and assimilation, women’s suffrage and reform leadership, and child labor and compulsory education laws to ground discussion.
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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