Progressive Era and Imperialism Webquest
Introduction:
The Progressive Era in the United States was a period of reform that lasted from the 1890s to the 1920s. The Gilded Age guided America from an agricultural nation to a nation booming with industry. However such success came at the expense of many. Hidden underneath the surface of economic success the United States was riddled with corruption, poverty, and many wondering if they would ever taste the American dream. Inspired by movements such as the social gospel movement or the photography of Jacob Riis many Americans, called Progressives, advocated a wide range of middle class economic, political, social, and moral reforms to clean up the problems that plagued the United States.
Overlapping with the Progressive Era was the age of imperialism. During the later part of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the United States pursued a forceful policy of expansion. One of the biggest motivators for expansion was the need for resources and markets for our industrial products. The United States for the first time exerted its political and economic muscles around the globe.
Continuing to expand her boundaries the United States soon realized that it had to become a major player in the global empire to continue prospering. The concept of overseas expansion erupted, war broke out, and the US found itself owning new land and ruling many subjects.
Task:
America is in a state of turmoil. The changes brought by industrialization have corrupted American politics, overcrowded American cities, and led to Big Business controlling the country. The conditions worsen with each day, and the public needs to know about these atrocities. Furthermore the United States has decided to pursue forceful expansion policies, exerting its political muscle around the globe. You have been called upon by the American public asked to assemble a news team of experts to expose these issues to society. As a team of investigative reporters, editors, photographers, and cartoonists, you will bring the issues of the progressive era to life and capture the achievements of imperialism right before the public eye.
Your team of experts has two goals:
1. Inform the nation (your classmates) about your particular area of expertise.
2. Persuade the nation (your classmates) to support your particular area of expertise.
Process:
In order to achieve these goals your group will complete the following.
1. Use this webquest to research your particular area of expertise.
2. Create a PowerPoint presentation that informs the nation (your class) about your area of expertise.
Keep in mind, the nation (your class) is a blank slate and knows absolutely nothing about your topic therefore your PowerPoint presentation will need to be organized and detailed, discussing all the major events, people, places, actions, etc… revolving around your topic.
3. As a part of your PowerPoint presentation, you need to persuade the nation (your class) to support your cause. The nation (your class) is skeptical about your topic and needs to be convinced that it’s worth supporting. To persuade them, you need come up with a solution to the problems and explain the likely outcomes.You can achieve this by inserting various aspects of creativity, such as photographs, political cartoons, graphs, or any other piece of creativity that will help promote your topic, throughout the PowerPoint presentation.
Formula: What is the problem—Why is this a problem---The solution to the problem
4. Lastly your team while informing and persuading the nation to support your cause must answer a few mandatory questions related to your topic (see “Roles” section). These questions will serve to guide your research and help to develop your PowerPoint presentation. If these questions go un-answered the webquest will be considered incomplete.
5. The group presentation should last approximately 9-12 minutes, with each individual speaking for approximately 3 minutes. Individuals will be graded individually on their presentation, ability to work collaboratively, quality of the PowerPoint, accuracy of information, etc. No group grades will be given.
Roles:
Each group has been assigned to a particular area of expertise listed below. It will be your task, as a group, to create an informative and persuasive PowerPoint presentation to the nation (your class). In order to successfully educate the nation about your specific area of expertise you must answer ALL three questions listed underneath your topic’s heading. These questions will serve to guide your research and help your group develop an organized PowerPoint presentation.
Under each area of expertise there are specific people, events, dates, etc., listed that will also help to direct your research. Each of these bullet points is specific to your topic and must be addressed at some point in the PowerPoint. However your group will NOT be limited to just these bullet points, your research should spread beyond these topics in order to create the most effective and persuasive PowerPoint presentation. (In others words; do not simply create 1 slide for each bullet point and think that you are done. These topics are here to get you started, expand upon them and you will have completed your task.)
1. Government Reform Experts
a. How will the Progressives reform our local and state governments?
Terms to include in your presentation:
i. Political Machine
ii. Robert M. La Follette
iii. Election Reform (ex. initiative, referendum and recall, 17th Amendment)
iv. Civil Service Reform
b. Why is reform needed at the federal level?
Terms to include in your presentation:
i. Roosevelt and the modern presidency
ii. Square deal
iii. President Taft
iv. Election of 1912
c. Why should your fellow citizens be convinced that these reforms will positively benefit the United States?
2. African-American Rights Experts
a. What were the ways African-Americans were segregated and discriminated against throughout the Reconstruction and Progressive Eras?
Terms to include in your presentation:
i. Voting restrictions
ii. Jim Crow laws
ii. Plessy v. Fergusson
b. In what ways did African-Americans combat segregation and discrimination throughout the reconstruction and progressive eras?
Terms to include in your presentation:
i. Booker T. Washington
ii. W.E.B. Du Bois
iii. NAACP
c. The United States has been prosperous since the end of the Civil War. African Americans are now free from slavery and have opportunity to succeed in the United States. Why should we the American public stop segregating and discriminating against African-Americans?
3. Women’s Rights Experts
a. How did women see social change during the Progressive Era?
Terms to include in your presentation:
i. Women in the workplace
ii. Settlement House
iii. role of women in social change (ex. prohibition, consumer protection, etc.)
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b. What strides to women make toward political equality during the Progressive Era?
Terms to include in your presentation:
i. Suffrage
ii. NAWSA
iii. Susan B. Anthony
iv. Carrie Chapman Catt
v. 19th amendment
c. The United States has grown a considerable amount throughout the Gilded Age with the women fulfilling traditional roles. Why should we the citizens of the United States change the role of women in society?
4. Business Reform experts:
a. How did reformers seek to change child labor laws and working conditions during the Progressive Era?
Terms to include in your presentation:
i. Keating-Owen Act 1916
ii. Regulating labor (working hours and child labor)
iii. Eugene V. Debs
iv. Upton Sinclair (“The Jungle” )
b. How did the government start to regulate and reform big business during the progressive era?
Terms to include in your presentation:
i. Meat Inspection Act
ii. Pure Food and Drug Act
iii. Federal trade commission
iv. Federal Reserve system
v. Trust-busting
c. The government has kept its hands of business and it flourished during the Gilded Age. Why should we allow the government to get involved in business now?
5. American imperialism—Spanish Front Experts:
a. Why and how did the United States begin to expand its borders in the late 19th century-early 20th century time period?
i. Spanish-American War
ii. imperialism
iii. Cuba
iv. Treaty of Paris
v. Philippines
b. What role did Progressive journalists play in the Spanish-American War?
i. Remember the Maine
ii. William Randolph Hearst
iii. Joseph Pulitzer
iv. Cuba’s “re-concentration” camps
c. The United States is still a young country. Why should be sticking our hands in other countries around the world? Should we be supporting the United States’ efforts to expand or is this merely propaganda written by journalists to sell newspapers?
6. American imperialism—Pacific/Asian Fronts Experts:
a. Why and how did the United States begin to expand its borders in the Pacific in the late 19th century-early 20th century time period?
i. William Seward
ii. The Great White Fleet
iii. Hawaii
iv. Queen Liliuokalini
v. The Open Door Policy
b. Why and how did the United States begin to expand its borders in Asia in the Pacific in the late 19th century-early 20th century time period?
i. China
ii. Boxer Rebellion
iii. Open Door Policy
iv. Anti-Imperialist League
c. The United States is still a young country. Why should be sticking our hands in other countries around the world?
The Process (Checklist):
The task ahead of you may seem daunting. Informing the nation and persuading it to support your area of expertise will not be easy. Listed below are 15 steps that will guide you day by day and help you achieve your goal of completing an effective PowerPoint presentation. It is critical that you follow this checklist. This checklist will also be included in your final grade. Make sure to follow these steps, this may require you to do additional work outside of class.
____1. By the end of day one (Sept. 29) students, in their groups, will decide how their research will be divided amongst the members of the group. Each group will document their decisions and turn a hard copy into the teacher.
____2. By the end of day two (Sept. 30) each group will have visited and collected information from at least two websites and read the section of the textbook pertaining to their topic. Each group member will document their visits to each website and turn a hardcopy into the teacher.
____3. By the end of day three (Oct. 1) each group will have visited three more websites (brings total to five). Each group member will document their visits to each website and turn a hardcopy into the teacher.
____4. By the end of day three (Oct. 1) each group will have started their PowerPoint presentation. Each group will display evidence of a PowerPoint to the teacher before the end of the class period.
____ Before leaving for the weekend, the group should share what they have found in research and make a final plan for the PowerPoint presentation.
____5. Homework (for the weekend): Each group member will complete a peer evaluation sheet. This sheet will be due on Monday during the mini-conference with the teacher. You will be grading the work ethic and ability of team members to work together.
____6. Homework (for the weekend): By Monday each group should be extremely close to finished with the creation of their PowerPoint presentations. Groups must use the weekend to further develop their PowerPoint presentations.
____ 7. On day four (Oct. 4): Groups will meet and discuss the presentation. They will show each other research and work completed over the weekend. Further work should be completed on PowerPoints and presentations.
____8. On day five (Oct. 5) the teacher will conduct a mini-conference with each group. At this time the teacher will be checking for the following:
a. Documented research
b. Evidence of PowerPoint construction
c. Evidence of cooperative learning amongst groups (peer evaluation sheet).
d. Group comprehension of their specific topic
____Each group must also be prepared to display further development of their PowerPoint presentation during the mini-conference.
____Each group must also be able to elaborate on what they plan to do next to further develop their presentation.
____9. By the end of day six (Oct. 6) each group must have their PowerPoint presentations near completion and be able to provide evidence of this as the teacher circulates the classroom. If group members have worked separately on PowerPoint slides, they should be combined into one PowerPoint presentation.
____10. Homework: Groups will need to finish their PowerPoint presentations by the end of the next day. This may require groups to work on their PowerPoint presentations for homework
____Groups are also required to provide the teacher with a copy of their PowerPoint. This must be finished by the end of the following day (Oct. 7) which may require additional work at home.
____11. By the end of day seven (Oct. 7) each group will have finished their PowerPoint presentations. Each group must provide evidence that they have completed the PowerPoint presentation as the teacher circulates the classroom.
____12. By the end of day eight (Oct. 8) each group will have started to create a guided notes worksheet for their classmates to follow during their presentation.
____13. By the end of day nine (Oct. 11) each group will have finalized how they will present their PowerPoint to the classroom and have rehearsed their presentation
____14. Students will use day ten (Oct. 12) to conclude their PowerPoint and begin practicing the presentation with the group.
____15. Day eleven (Oct. 13) Group Presentations!