AP US History Reading and Writing Workshop
This workshop continues to scaffold the writing process adding another document for the DBQ along with an SAQ Stimulus. Group work provides differentiation and peer support.
Unit 6 — The Gilded Age: Industrialization, Urbanization, and Reform (1865–1898)
Structure
Session 1 – SAQ Practice
SAQ 1 (No Document)
Answer all parts using your knowledge of U.S. history from 1865–1898.
a) Identify and explain ONE way industrialization transformed the U.S. economy during the Gilded Age.
b) Identify and explain ONE way labor responded to industrialization in this period.
c) Identify and explain ONE way the federal government responded to economic change in this period.
SAQ 2 (Stimulus-Based)
Stimulus:
Andrew Carnegie, The Gospel of Wealth (1889)
“The problem of our age is the proper administration of wealth, so that the ties of brotherhood may still bind together the rich and poor in harmonious relationship… The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.”
🔗 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16335/16335-h/16335-h.htm
Prompt:
a) Identify and explain ONE way Carnegie’s view reflects broader ideas of the Gilded Age.
b) Identify and explain ONE way reformers challenged Carnegie’s view of wealth and responsibility.
c) Identify and explain ONE government policy or action during this period that related to wealth and inequality.
Session 2 – LEQ Practice
Prompt:
Evaluate the extent to which industrialization and urbanization transformed American society during the Gilded Age (1865–1898).
Rubric Alignment (6 pts):
Session 3 – DBQ Practice
Prompt:
Evaluate the extent to which industrialization and urbanization created opportunities and challenges in the United States from 1865 to 1898.
Documents Provided (4)Document 1 — Andrew Carnegie, The Gospel of Wealth (1889)
“The duty of the man of Wealth… to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds… administered… for the community. Thus is the problem of Rich and Poor to be solved.”
🔗 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16335/16335-h/16335-h.htm
Document 2 — Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives (1890)
“In the tenements all the influences make for evil; because they are the hot-beds of the epidemics that carry death to rich and poor alike… They are the nurseries of pauperism and crime.”
🔗 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/45502/45502-h/45502-h.htm
Document 3 — Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
“Whereas, in the opinion of the Government of the United States the coming of Chinese laborers endangers the good order of certain localities… it shall not be lawful for any Chinese laborer to come… for ten years.”
🔗 https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=47&page=transcript
Document 4 — U.S. Supreme Court, United States v. E.C. Knight Co. (1895)
“The act of manufacturing is not commerce… Commerce succeeds to manufacture, and is not a part of it… the regulation of commerce applies only to commerce among the states, and not to manufacture within the states.”
🔗 https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep156/usrep156001/usrep156001.pdf
DBQ Rubric Alignment (7 pts)
Group Roles
Structure
- Session 1: SAQ Practice (two prompts; one with a stimulus)
- Session 2: LEQ Practice (rubric aligned)
- Session 3: DBQ Practice (rubric aligned, 4 documents provided)
- Group Roles: Content Expert, Connector, Writer, Reviewer
Session 1 – SAQ Practice
SAQ 1 (No Document)
Answer all parts using your knowledge of U.S. history from 1865–1898.
a) Identify and explain ONE way industrialization transformed the U.S. economy during the Gilded Age.
b) Identify and explain ONE way labor responded to industrialization in this period.
c) Identify and explain ONE way the federal government responded to economic change in this period.
SAQ 2 (Stimulus-Based)
Stimulus:
Andrew Carnegie, The Gospel of Wealth (1889)
“The problem of our age is the proper administration of wealth, so that the ties of brotherhood may still bind together the rich and poor in harmonious relationship… The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.”
🔗 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16335/16335-h/16335-h.htm
Prompt:
a) Identify and explain ONE way Carnegie’s view reflects broader ideas of the Gilded Age.
b) Identify and explain ONE way reformers challenged Carnegie’s view of wealth and responsibility.
c) Identify and explain ONE government policy or action during this period that related to wealth and inequality.
Session 2 – LEQ Practice
Prompt:
Evaluate the extent to which industrialization and urbanization transformed American society during the Gilded Age (1865–1898).
Rubric Alignment (6 pts):
- Thesis/Claim (1)
- Contextualization (1)
- Evidence (2)
- Analysis & Reasoning (2)
- Contextualization: Situate in post–Civil War context, rise of railroads, corporate consolidation, urban growth, immigration.
- Thesis: Frame with “extent” phrasing (e.g., “To a significant extent, industrialization reshaped American society through new technologies, urban growth, and immigration, but it also deepened class divisions and provoked reform movements.”).
- Evidence: Examples include railroads, trusts, tenements, immigration, labor unions, political machines, Interstate Commerce Act, Sherman Antitrust Act.
- Analysis: Weigh benefits (growth, innovation, opportunity) against costs (inequality, labor conflict, corruption).
Session 3 – DBQ Practice
Prompt:
Evaluate the extent to which industrialization and urbanization created opportunities and challenges in the United States from 1865 to 1898.
Documents Provided (4)Document 1 — Andrew Carnegie, The Gospel of Wealth (1889)
“The duty of the man of Wealth… to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds… administered… for the community. Thus is the problem of Rich and Poor to be solved.”
🔗 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16335/16335-h/16335-h.htm
Document 2 — Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives (1890)
“In the tenements all the influences make for evil; because they are the hot-beds of the epidemics that carry death to rich and poor alike… They are the nurseries of pauperism and crime.”
🔗 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/45502/45502-h/45502-h.htm
Document 3 — Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
“Whereas, in the opinion of the Government of the United States the coming of Chinese laborers endangers the good order of certain localities… it shall not be lawful for any Chinese laborer to come… for ten years.”
🔗 https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=47&page=transcript
Document 4 — U.S. Supreme Court, United States v. E.C. Knight Co. (1895)
“The act of manufacturing is not commerce… Commerce succeeds to manufacture, and is not a part of it… the regulation of commerce applies only to commerce among the states, and not to manufacture within the states.”
🔗 https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep156/usrep156001/usrep156001.pdf
DBQ Rubric Alignment (7 pts)
- Thesis/Claim (1): Defensible argument about opportunities and challenges of the Gilded Age.
- Contextualization (1): Situate in Reconstruction aftermath, rise of big business, immigration waves.
- Evidence from Documents (2): Use all 4 documents to support argument.
- Evidence beyond Documents (1): Add outside evidence (Knights of Labor, Pullman Strike, political machines, Hull House, Sherman Antitrust Act).
- Sourcing (1): Analyze POV, audience, purpose, or context for at least 2 docs (e.g., Carnegie’s justification of wealth, Riis’s reform agenda).
- Complexity (1): Recognize both prosperity and inequality; reform vs. resistance.
- Assign each student one document to analyze (sourcing + argument).
- Thematic Grouping:
- Wealth & Responsibility → Carnegie
- Urban Poverty → Riis
- Immigration & Exclusion → Chinese Exclusion Act
- Big Business & Law → E.C. Knight decision
- Draft thesis and outline connecting docs + outside evidence.
- Add complexity by weighing the period’s contradictions: innovation vs. inequality, opportunity vs. exclusion.
Group Roles
- Content Expert: Supplies historical facts and examples (strikes, legislation, immigration data).
- Connector: Ties evidence to APUSH themes (WXT, MIG, POL, CUL).
- Writer: Drafts thesis and organizes group outline.
- Reviewer: Checks alignment with rubric and completeness of evidence.