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Society and the Industrial Age

Driving Question: How did industrialization reshape social hierarchies and impact standards of living?

As industrialization spread, employers needed more workers, leading many women and children to join the workforce. Working-class women faced harsh working conditions and were also often left out of public and political life. Over time, growing ideas about gender equality helped spark women’s rights movements. These movements used activism and global connections to fight for voting rights and other important reforms.

Learning Objectives

  1. Explain how industrialization caused a change in existing social hierarchies and standards of living.
  2. Use the historical thinking practice of claim testing to comprehend the transformation of gender and class relations in the long nineteenth century.

Vocab Terms:

  • bourgeoisie
  • class-consciousness
  • collective bargaining
  • Marxist
  • proletariat
  • reform
  • union
STEP 1

Opener: Society and the Industrial Age

Teaching Tools

To teach this lesson step, refer to page 3 of the Lesson 5.9 Teaching Guide Locked .

Teachers—and students—love the Urbanization Game. Check out these resources External link on ways to tweak the activity and this thread External link for additional resources.

Explore how industrialization impacts where people move and what the physical environment looks like—part of a process called urbanization.

STEP 2

Class Structure

Teaching Tools

To teach this lesson step, refer to page 6 of the Lesson 5.9 Teaching Guide Locked .

The divide between rich and poor grew exponentially during industrialization. But what led to this huge chasm?

STEP 3

Claim Testing: Social Class and Gender

Teaching Tools

To teach this lesson step, refer to page 7 of the Lesson 5.9 Teaching Guide Locked .

Use this Claim and Focus Worksheet to support students in their claim making!

STEP 4

Changing Gender Roles

Teaching Tools

To teach this lesson step, refer to page 12 of the Lesson 5.9 Teaching Guide Locked .

The idea of gender changed radically during the nineteenth century. How was the idea of what a man or a woman was influenced by empire, nationalism, and industrialism?

STEP 5

Contextualizing: Child Labor

Teaching Tools

To teach this lesson step, refer to page 13 of the Lesson 5.9 Teaching Guide Locked .

Check out this one-pager on contextualization for tips on how to teach this important skill.

Child labor still exists around the today. Read more about how to connect the Sadler report to today in this Community Forum thread External link .

What it means to be a kid now is radically different than what it meant to be a kid during the nineteenth century. Using the materials below, practice contextualization by examining child labor and changing attitudes towards childhood.

STEP 6

CCOT: Transoceanic Interconnections to Revolutions

Teaching Tools

To teach this lesson step, refer to page 20 of the Lesson 5.9 Teaching Guide Locked .

Want to know more about OER Project’s approach to CCOT? Take a look at this one-pager.

STEP 7

Closer: Society and the Industrial Age

Teaching Tools

To teach this lesson step, refer to page 23 of the Lesson 5.9 Teaching Guide Locked .

The Themes Notebook can be used at the end of the year for AP Exam Review. Check out this post External link on reviewing resources for the AP Exam.