In this activity, you will examine the continuities and changes from Era 5: The First Global Age to Era 6: The Long Nineteenth Century to craft a thesis statement and compose a multi-paragraph response that answers a CCOT prompt. This will help you solidify your ability to conduct CCOT analysis, which will not only help you think more like a historian, but will also prepare you for the final CCOT activity: writing a CCOT essay about the major changes and continuities across multiple eras.

Your teacher will either hand out or ask you to download the CCOT – First Global Age to the Long Nineteenth Century worksheet. Then, you’ll work either in pairs or on your own to complete the tool questions. Start by adding the timeframe you’re investigating (1200–1914 CE) and identifying the continuities and changes that took place between Era 5: The First Global Age and Era 6: The Long Nineteenth Century. Remember that you can use any of the articles and videos from these eras to help identify continuities and changes— the Eras 5 and 6 overview articles are a good place to start.

Once you have identified the continuities and changes, write these on sticky notes (one change or continuity per note). Then, decide if the continuities and changes you identified are positive or negative and place them on the graph in the tool. If you complete the graphing portion of the tool on your own, your teacher may ask you to pair up with a classmate and discuss how you chose to graph your continuities and changes.

Next, complete the remaining questions on the tool. Remember that you can use the acronym ADE to determine historical significance. Consider if most people’s lives were affected by these changes and continuities (amount); if people living in this time period were deeply affected by these changes and continuities (depth); or if these changes and continuities were long lasting (endurance).

Then, craft thesis statements in response to the following CCOT prompts:

• To what extent were the changes that occurred from 1200 to 1914 CE positive?
• To what extent were the continuities that occurred from 1200 to 1914 CE positive?

Finally, you’ll use your thesis statements to individually write a multi-paragraph response that fully answers the following question: To what extent were the changes and continuities that occurred from 1200 to 1914 CE positive?

Your teacher will collect your worksheets and paragraphs to assess how your CCOT skills are progressing.

Although it took a while, the abolition (ending) of slavery in the Atlantic world, which was then adopted more widely around the world, was a major transformation in labor. Why did it happen? Was it because capitalism made slavery inefficient and obsolete? Was it because of a shift in cultural values in European and Euro-American societies? Or was it because of the actions of enslaved people themselves?

Abolition is one of the transformations in the ways people lived and worked that created our “modern world”. This article will help you explore why that change happened and respond to the Era Problem. In doing so, it will help you to connect abolition to other transformations during the long nineteenth century. This article will also help you to tie abolition to the communities, networks, and production and distribution frames in order to help you evaluate the narratives in those frames.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads Worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. According to the article, which countries in the Atlantic abolished the slave trade early? Which countries abolished slavery early? Which countries abolished it late?
2. How might capitalism have helped end slavery? How did this connect to production and distribution during the Industrial Revolution?
3. How might changing morality have helped end slavery? How did this connect to the transformations in human communities caused by the Enlightenment and changes in religious and political communities?
4. How might networks of Africans and descendants of Africans have helped end slavery?
5. Does the author argue that slavery actually ended when it became illegal? Use evidence from the text to back up your answer.

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. Earlier in this era, you learned about liberal and national political revolutions as well as the Industrial Revolution. In this lesson, you’re learning about networks of reformers who tried to change the world. This article presents you with political, economic, and reform arguments for why slavery ended. Based on what you’ve learned in this era, which argument seems most convincing? Which is the least convincing?

The abolition of slavery around the world took almost two centuries. In this article, Dr. Kym Morrison explores some of the key moments in this process. Abolition was a big deal, freeing millions from legal bondage. But in many post-abolition societies, those in power found new ways to repress and exploit the formerly enslaved. This legacy of racism and slavery continues to reverberate in our world today.

The institution of slavery on a racist model was central to the creation of the modern world. Beginning in the eighteenth century, movements for abolition brought about an end to legal slavery in many places. Did the abolition of slavery end systems of racism? This article provides you with evidence to help answer this question.

Preview—Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas—Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. Where was the first large-scale post-abolition society created and how did it come about?
2. When the British abolished slavery in their Caribbean colonies, to whom did the government pay compensation?
3. How did societies in the British Caribbean continue to repress formerly enslaved people?
4. After abolition in the US, how did the government treat African Americans? How was inequality enforced?
5. Why did European companies abolish slavery in their African colonies?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. How does this article support, extend, or challenge the narratives you have already studied about reform movements in the long nineteenth century?
2. Can you think of any ways in which your own society is still impacted by the history reviewed in this article? What are they?

Industrial capitalism radically transformed society. Many people became wage laborers who had to sell their labor in order to make a living, and this often happened in factories, mines, and mills. The people who owned these places controlled the resources, or capital, and were called capitalists. They bought labor from workers, who manufactured goods. Capitalists sold these goods for profit. This new system created opportunities, but it also had its problems. Many workers began to see themselves as a unified group with shared problems and organized together to push for change. But there were also obstacles to making alliances.

In an earlier lesson, you read about industrialization. Now, you’ll build on that knowledge, but you’ll now take a closer look at labor specifically. You’ll learn about how labor changed under industrial capitalism and how a new class called the proletariat emerged. This knowledge is key for activities and other articles and videos in this lesson, especially ones about capitalism and communism and child labor. This article describes a major change during this era, so understanding it will help you tackle the Era 6 Problem: What were the engines of change that created our “modern” world? As capitalism continues to shape our economic system to this day, this history may be very relevant to your life.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads Worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. What’s the difference between how workers and capitalists make money under industrial capitalism?
2. How did the rise of industrial capitalism impact women, according to the author?
3. What is the proletariat?
4. In what context did workers identify with a common struggle and form unions? How did unions help them to advance their interests?
5. Why did the British government push for labor protections in colonial India?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. How can information from this article help you support, extend, or challenge the production and distribution frame narrative?
2. Can you observe similarities and differences in how labor and labor movements work in your society?

In this era, you’re examining changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution, such as the rise of the proletariat class. This activity will introduce you to some economic theories that gained popular support amid industrial transformations in the late nineteenth century. The simulation will help you make foundational comparisons between economic systems.

Causation, comparison
You’ll be drawing comparisons between the principles and practices of economic systems. While considering the benefits and drawbacks of each system from the point of view of different groups in society, you’ll also be establishing causes for socialist-inspired reform movements and socialist revolutions.

In this activity, you will play two separate rounds of rock-paper-scissors. This quick simulation should help you reflect on principles of equity and fairness, as well as help you understand capitalism and socialism.

Round 1

You’re going to play rock-paper-scissors. Your teacher is going to give you some treats to use as part of the game (don’t eat them until your teacher tells you to!), and for each game you lose, you have to give your competitor one of your treats. If you win, you can collect one treat. However, if you run out of treats, you have to sit down. Start by pairing up with someone in your class and continue to play until your teacher tells you to stop.

Once time is up, as a class, tally how many of you ended up with lower, middle, and upper ranges of treats. Now, turn your treats into your teacher, take a couple of minutes to reflect, and answer the Round 1 questions on the Economic Systems Simulation Worksheet.

Round 2

Your teacher will redistribute the treats. This round, you can choose to keep your treats and have them later, or, you can play another round of the game and try to get more. Your teacher will start the timer, and once time is up, again tally how many in the class ended up with lower, middle, and upper ranges of treats, including anyone who chose not to play. Then, answer the Round 2 reflection questions on the worksheet. Be ready to discuss your answers with the class.

After you’ve had a class discussion, complete all of Part 3 of the worksheet. Again, be prepared to discuss your responses with the class. Make sure to ask questions if you are at all confused about the differences between capitalism and socialism, but by now, you’ve probably figured it all out! Your teacher will collect your worksheet to review your answers.

Industrial capitalism was pretty different from mercantile capitalism, in scale and style. In Europe, governments regulated the economy differently, and agricultural productivity meant that there was less of a need for farm workers and more of a demand for consumer goods—and the workers that make them. At the same time, farmers were looking for work. The end result was a major overhaul in the way things were made and consumed, and workers pushed for better conditions by forming unions or even revolution!

You’ve learned about capitalism in earlier articles, and this video builds on that knowledge and introduces you to some responses to capitalism, specifically socialism. Capitalism and socialism were both major engines of change that contributed to our modern world, so being able to understand these two systems and make comparisons between them and their effects will be crucial for dealing with the Era 6 Problem. They’ll also help you understand later articles on child labor and responses to industrialization in this lesson. Both capitalism and socialism still shape the world today, so you’ll be able to analyze patterns in your own society by better understanding them.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

As a reminder, open and skim the transcript, and read the questions before you watch the video.

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

Think about the following questions as you watch this video:

1. What’s the difference between mercantile and industrial capitalism?
2. What role did food and agriculture play in the rise of industrial capitalism?
3. How did land ownership change in Britain in this period, and how did this affect production and distribution?
4. In what ways is capitalism a “cultural system”?
5. What were some problems with industrial capitalism? What were two different responses to these problems?
6. What two types of socialism were there? How did they differ?
7. According to Marx, what is the significance of conflict and struggle?

Evaluating and Corroborating

Think about the following questions as you watch this video:

1. At the end of the video, John Green raises the question of whether capitalism is natural. Using evidence from this and earlier eras, make and defend a claim about whether capitalism is natural.
2. What are the patterns and trends in the data presented that might have importance for other studies or later history?

In this final activity of the contextualization progression, you’ll use your contextualization skills to understand how and why ideas about childhood began to change during this period. People today generally think of childhood as a distinct stage in the development process to becoming adults; however, this is actually a relatively new way of thinking. By contextualizing this period, you’ll understand why these changes took place in the nineteenth century, prompting industrial societies to see child labor as problematic in a way previous societies had not.

Claim testing, causation
You will use your claim-testing skills to determine the best information to use to answer the prompt and contextualize the changes that occurred regarding child labor. You’ll also examine the time period in which these changes occurred to determine what historical events or processes caused these reforms to take place.

In this activity, you’ll use the event cards to complete the Contextualization Tool, which is included in the Contextualization – Child Labor worksheet. Then, you’ll use the information from your completed tools and evidence from the article “Child Labor” to write a three-paragraph mini-essay that answers the prompt:

What historical context related to the time period, location, and culture changed people’s ideas about childhood and child labor in industrialized societies?

First, look at the pictures and read the passage below:

Imagine you’re 8 years old and living in the nineteenth century. But instead of getting up and getting ready to go to school, you are getting up to go to work. At 4:00 AM! If you were a boy, there was a good chance you were headed off to a coal mine, where you would put in 13 hours or more. Coal mines were extremely dangerous and unhealthy with cramped passages, toxic coal dust, and explosive coal gas. And if you were a boy or girl who lived in the city, you were probably headed off to a textile (clothing) factory, also very unhealthy and dangerous. Now, that might sound awful—and to be clear, it was—but before the second half of the nineteenth century, the concept of “childhood” didn’t really exist. Children were expected to contribute to the economic well- being of the family. For most of human history, that meant helping secure and produce food. After the Industrial Revolution, it also meant mine or factory work to earn a meager wage for your family, but a nice profit for the mine or factory owner.

Next, your teacher will either hand out or have you download the Contextualization – Child Labor worksheet. You should be a pro at completing the Contextualization Tool, so your teacher may have you complete the full tool on your own. Start with writing the dates and locations where child labor occurred in industrialized societies (from c. 1750 to c. 1914, mainly in Europe and North America). Divide the event cards into broad and narrow context, place them on the funnel, and then finish answering the remaining questions on the tool.

Finally, use your descriptions of broad and narrow context from the tool and information from the “Child Labor” article to individually write a three-paragraph mini-essay that answers the following prompt:

What historical context related to the time period, location, and culture changed people’s ideas about childhood and child labor in industrialized societies?

• Paragraph 1 should be an introduction to the essay that includes the broad context and the thesis statement (either at the start or the end of the paragraph).
• Paragraph 2 should focus on the narrow context and include evidence that explains why people’s ideas about childhood and child labor began to change in industrialized societies in this era.
• Paragraph 3 should be the conclusion with an analysis of how understanding context improves the ability to interpret changing ideas to child labor.

Your teacher will collect your completed tools and mini-essays to assess your understanding of this topic and your contextualization skills.

Children have worked for most of human history, but child labor started to look very different under industrial capitalism. The need for labor in large-scale production pulled many children into unsafe working situations. Many reformers pushed to reform these practices for moral reasons, but change was slow. Regulations that made child labor expensive eventually led to the decline of child labor in some regions, though it’s still a problem today.

One feature of the “modern” world is that kids are in schools, so this transformation can’t be ignored when responding to the Era 6 Problem: What were the engines of change that created our “modern” world? This lesson looks at major social changes that happened as a result of industrialization, and this article focuses specifically on changes in child labor. It presents evidence and arguments that can help you consider how labor conditions have improved over time.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads Worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How did views about children change in this period in some places, according to the author?
2. What limitations does the Matthew Crabtree source have?
3. What economic factors made some child labor regulations effective?
4. How did children’s work change over time in industrialized societies, as a result of these changes?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. According to the article, over a hundred million children still have to work, but child labor is less common than it once was. Based on evidence from this article and other material in this lesson, do you think labor conditions today are better for children—and adults—than they were a hundred years ago? For whom are they better? Explain your reasoning.
2. How do the transformations described in this article affect you, today?

The experiences of women throughout history differ between regions and time periods. However, by using a historical investigation tool like comparison, we can view how women in history confronted similar challenges and common social expectations, regardless of place and time. By zooming in on the stories of women in specific societies, we can better understand the challenges women faced throughout history and continue to face in many parts of the world. You will question which groups get rights in our society, perhaps revealing who is included and excluded from our systems of government.

Contextualization, CCOT, writing
In this activity, you will examine the context in which women’s roles were defined, and how women sought to challenge the traditional power structures in different regions. Additionally, you will need to identify how women’s suffrage changed over time within the regions, why that change was possible, and how those changes inform women’s roles in society today. Finally, you’ll be writing thesis statements in response to two comparison prompts.

In this activity, you will compare and contrast women’s road to suffrage in two of the following six regions: New Zealand and Australia, Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America, and Africa.

First, your teacher will either hand out or have you download the Comparing Women’s Suffrage Movements worksheet. With your class, review the questions that you are being asked to respond to in the Comparison Tool, included in the worksheet. This will ensure you’re focusing on the right details when reading the article.

Then, individually read “A World Tour of Women’s Suffrage.” As you read, think about the most important similarities and differences in how women achieved suffrage across all of these regions. Once everyone’s finished reading the article, your teacher will divide the class into pairs and assign each pair two regions from the article. You’ll focus on these two regions and complete Part 1: identifying and Describing of the Comparison Tool.

Once you and your partner have completed Part 1 of the tool, you’ll work together on Part 2: Analyzing to write two thesis statements in response to the following prompts:

• What is the most significant similarity when comparing how women achieved suffrage across these regions?
• What is the most significant difference when comparing how women achieved suffrage across these regions?

After you’re finished writing your thesis statements, join with another pair of students to form a group of four. Share and discuss your thesis statements in your new group and build upon or revise your thesis statements based on these discussions.

Then, return to your seat and (working alone) write an exit slip on the back of your worksheet answering the following question (remember to support your answer with evidence from today’s class):

• To what extent are women’s rights in the region and period you studied similar to women’s rights in your nation today?

Your teacher will collect your worksheets at the end of the activity to assess your understanding of the topic and this historical thinking practice.

Women’s suffrage, or the right to vote in elections, didn’t happen all at once across the globe. Women pushed for the right to vote for many different reasons, and they achieved it at very different times. Whether through campaigns to ban alcohol or fights to gain independence, women played an important role in social change in this era. However, that didn’t always mean they had equal rights. And even when some women did win these rights, other groups remained excluded.

The Era 6 Problem asks: What were the engines of change that created our “modern” world? This article will help you answer this question at both a regional and a global level, because you’ll learn about how a global movement like the right for women’s suffrage had a very different look and timeline in different regions. It’ll also help you understand women’s suffrage in the context of other major engines of change, like changes in labor and government.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads Worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How did women’s suffrage differ between New Zealand and Australia?
2. How did the Enlightenment contribute to the growth of the women’s suffrage movement?
3. Why did many Central Asian states grant women suffrage at a similar time in the early twentieth century?
4. What derailed women’s suffrage in China and Japan for a period?
5. What groups of women were excluded from voting in North America? Why?
6. What did the struggles for women’s suffrage in Latin America and Africa have in common?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. In this lesson, you’ve learned a lot about major changes in labor, with both industrial capitalism and socialist movements growing during this era. How did these changes affect the course of women’s suffrage? Use evidence from this article and other material in this lesson to defend your claim.

Industrial capitalism changed how people worked and lived, and it affected people of different ages, genders, classes, and occupations. People with diverse experiences had various responses to industrialization, but many fought for reforms. Women fought for equal rights, and many activists pushed for protections for children. Workers called for better working and living conditions. The fight didn’t end during this era, but it certainly got off to a good start.

In this lesson, you’ve seen how economic systems changed during this era, changing with them the lives of workers, women, and children. In this article, you’ll take a look at how people responded to these changes and pushed for reforms. You’ll read about how specific groups and individual activists were able to contribute to changes. This focus will allow you to approach the Era 6 Problem of identifying the engines of change at different scales.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads Worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How did Evangelical Christianity inspire some reformers?
2. What was the connection between the anti-slavery movement and the women’s rights movement?
3. What were some effects of industrialization which Upton Sinclair highlighted in his book?
4. What was life like in the tenements, according to the author?
5. What were some of the successes of the reform movement?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. How does evidence from this article help you evaluate the production and distribution frame narrative?

This activity will help you to pull together some of your ideas for responding to the Era Problem: What were the engines of change that created our “modern” world? You will look back on what you have learned during this era by exploring the geography of revolution. You’re also going to review your predictions about revolutions during the long nineteenth century. Finally, you’ll be able to look at other revolutions, and discuss what patterns might connect them!

This activity begins with an identification opening in which you will identify 13 revolutions and rebellions. Next, you will revisit your predictions about where revolutions would happen from Part 1 of this geography activity, which you completed at the beginning of the unit. Finally, you will look for additional patterns in the location of revolutions and rebellions around the world.

Step 1

Individually, identify the revolutions associated with the numbers on the black-and-white maps of Afro-Eurasia and the Americas and record your answers on the worksheet. You will likely complete this part of the activity without referencing outside sources or the rest of the maps in this activity, or your teacher might provide you with access to the Empires, Enslavement, and Revolutions Thematic Map at this stage.

Step 2

Review the Empires, Enslavement, and Revolutions Thematic Map and correct your identifications. Next, in small groups examine the map more closely. You will compare this map with the predictions you made at the beginning of the unit. Were you correct at guessing where revolutions would take place?

Step 3

Remaining in small groups, you will answer three questions, and write a short paragraph or bullet list in response to the prompt below. Be prepared to share your answers with the class:

What kinds of geographic and political patterns contributed to the spread of revolutions around the world? What other factors have you learned about that were important, but that are not shown on this map?

In this lesson, you learn about child labor and the efforts made by the British Parliament to enact legislation to improve working conditions for factory workers—especially children. This activity will allow you to take on roles in a re-enactment of the parliamentary inquiry into child labor that took place during the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain. By doing so, you’ll be able to develop an understanding and appreciation for the impact of industrialization on children, as well as the significance of the legislation that improved their treatment and position as workers. In addition, you’ll research areas of the world where child labor is still used today. Armed with that information, you’ll craft legislation that might help change these practices today.

In this activity, you’ll read the Sadler Report (a report on child labor practices submitted to the British Parliament in 1832) and take on roles in a simulation to write and debate child labor laws. Then, you will apply this knowledge to research and craft laws about the issue of child labor in the world today.

Part 1

First, think about any local or national laws that affect you as a minor (which is usually defined as anyone under the age of 18, but in some cases refers to those under the age of 16). Then, have a discussion about these laws and how they might protect minors.

Part 2

Now, you’re going to take part in a simulation that will help you better understand what child labor was like in the 1800s. This simulation will mimic a parliamentary hearing that occurred during this time in history. To mimic this hearing, you will each be assigned a role in society, and you’ll have to write legislation based on that role to present to Parliament for a vote.

Your teacher will either choose three students or ask for student volunteers to read the Sadler Report aloud. One student will play the role of Michael Sadler, the member of Parliament (MP) who led the inquiry into child labor. A second student will be assigned the role of Michael Crabtree, a factory worker who began working at the age of eight. A third student will be Thomas Bennett, a factory worker who supervised many of the children in the factory and whose own children worked at the factory. As these students read the excerpts from the Sadler Report, everyone else in the class will take notes based on the following roles: members of Parliament, child factory workers, adult factory workers whose children also work at the factory, factory owners, and union members. Think about the following questions as you listen to the reading of the Sadler Report and take notes on these roles.

1. If you think about what you’re hearing from the point of view of an MP, what do you think life is like for children who work in the factory? What might be the best form of legislation to pass to help child workers? Also, many MPs might have a financial stake in factories, so how might these MPs respond to legislation that might affect child labor in factories?
2. From the points of view of child and adult factory workers, what were the working conditions like in the factories? At what age did many children begin working in the factory? How long was their work day? What were the punishments for poor work or falling asleep on the job?
3. If you were a factory owner, why would the hiring of child labor and the long working hours be necessary?
4. Finally, from the perspective of a union member, how might a union and collective bargaining benefit you and other workers like you?

Part 3

Once the reading of the Sadler Report is done and everyone has taken notes, your teacher will break the class into five groups with four or five students in each group, and assign each group one of the roles (child factory workers, adult factory workers, factory owners, union members, and MPs).

Each group will then discuss the notes you all took during the reading of the report and use the worksheet to craft one or two pieces of legislation to protect child laborers. However, you’ll also be writing the legislation based on your assigned role. Think about how your assigned role would write legislation to protect child laborers. For example, if you are a factory worker, you would obviously want laws to help improve working conditions. But if you are a factory owner, you might want to create legislation with minimal protections for laborers because more regulation generally means less profit.

Use the guiding questions on the worksheet to help you craft your legislation. Each piece of proposed legislation should have a brief introductory paragraph outlining the reforms that should be made. After this introduction, your group should craft a bulleted list of proposed legislation that would help your particular group. Your group should be able to justify your proposed legislation with evidence from the Sadler Report.

Next, you’ll arrange the class to resemble a Parliamentary debate. The MPs will sit at the front of the class. The workers and union members will sit on one side of the room facing the MPs, and the factory owners will sit on the other side of the room, also facing the MPs. Each group will then present their proposed laws to the MPs. The members of Parliament are allowed to ask questions of each group. Then, the MPs will present their laws to the class.

Once all groups have presented their laws, the MPs will vote on which law or laws will be passed. The MPs will also have to explain their reasoning for choosing these laws. Your teacher will then present the legislation that was actually passed by Parliament after the British government called for a more official inquiry into child labor practices with witnesses testifying under oath.

Part 4

Now, your teacher will break the class into new groups to research areas of the world that continue to use child labor. A good place for you to begin your research is the website Our World in Data. This research should include information on the following topics:

• What nations or regions of the world still have a high incidence of child labor?
• What is the age range for these child workers?
• What types of work are these children performing?
• Are these children paid for their work? If so, is it the same as adult workers? If not, why aren’t they being paid for their work?
• Why is child labor still used in these parts of the world?

Once your group has completed your research, you’ll craft two or three laws that might help reform these child labor practices. Once all groups are done, you’ll present these laws to the class. Finally, you’ll vote on the best laws and have a discussion about why these laws were chosen as the best. To extend this activity, your teacher might have you send these laws to your state representatives to inform them of these practices and ask what they can do to help remedy this situation globally.

Download the Sentence Starters worksheet (optional)

As you did in the last writing activity, you will identify and revise aspects of a student-written essay to improve it. Specifically, you’ll look at the Analysis and Evidence and the Applying WHP Concepts rows of the WHP Writing Rubric. As with all the writing progression activities, the goal is to help you improve your writing skills so you are able to clearly communicate your position on different topics.

Here we go again! In this writing activity, you will again analyze and revise a student essay to improve upon that essay. Today, you will be focusing in on Analysis and Evidence and Applying WHP Concepts in an essay that was the response to the Era 5 DBQ, “Evaluate the extent to which the Columbian Exchange transformed the Americas from c. 1500–1750 CE.” As needed, review the criteria for these sections of the rubric with your class.

Then, take out the Writing – Analysis and Evidence and WHP Concepts Part 2 Worksheet and annotate and revise the essay according to the worksheet instructions. Your teacher may also hand out Sentence Starters Worksheet to give you some ideas about how you might revise some of the writing in this essay. As usual, first find the major claim or thesis statement. Then, look for analysis and evidence, note where these could be improved, and revise those areas. Then, grade and comment upon the use of WHP concepts in the essay. Be prepared to share your answers with the class!

DBQ Prompt: Develop an argument that evaluates which revolution of the long nineteenth century caused the greatest enduring change for the most people.

Have the Comparison, CCOT, and Causation tools available (find all resources on the Student Resources page)

This DBQ is another opportunity for you to show how your historical thinking skills and reasoning practices are developing. This will help you become better at making and supporting historical claims and will also help you on standardized tests that ask you to analyze documents in response to a specific prompt.

Day 1

It’s time for another DBQ. The prompt is: Develop an argument that evaluates which revolution of the long nineteenth century caused the greatest enduring change for the most people. Start out by using the Question Parsing Tool to help you figure out what this question is really asking so you can write an appropriate response.

Then, take out the DBQ and skim the documents quickly. Pick the thinking tool you want to use to help you analyze the documents (comparison, causation, or CCOT). Then, read each document a bit more closely and write down or underline the information you think you might use in your essay, along with any additional sourcing you have time for. Write your ideas in your chosen tool as you work through the documents.

Next, create a major claim or thesis statement that responds to the prompt. The notes you have taken should help you form a defensible thesis statement. Finally, it’s time to contextualize. As you likely know, all historical essays require this. If needed, you can use the Contextualization Tool to help you decide what to include.

Day 2

This second day is your writing day. Feel free to use your tools and notes from any prewriting work you completed as you craft your essay response. Make sure you have a copy of the WHP Writing Rubric available to remind you of what is important to include in your essay. And don’t forget to contextualize: Think of the entire time period, not just the time immediately preceding the historical event or process you are writing about. Your teacher will give you a time limit for completing your five- to six-paragraph essay responding to the DBQ.

In order to improve your writing skills, it is important to read examples—both good and bad—written by other people. Reviewing writing samples will help you develop and practice your own skills in order to better understand what makes for a strong essay.

Your teacher will provide sample essays for this era’s DBQ prompt and provide instructions for how you will use them to refine your writing skills. Whether you’re working with a high-level example or improving on a not-so-great essay, we recommend having the WHP Writing Rubric on hand to help better understand how you can improve your own writing. As you work to identify and improve upon aspects of a sample essay, you’ll also be developing your own historical writing skills!