Labor Movements
Teacher Resources
Driving Question: How did workers respond to the conditions of industrial life?
Industrialization remade the world. We might think that the steam engine and coal drove industrialization, but even with these new technologies, it was still human labor—workers—who made industrialization possible. The changes of industrialization reshaped the lives of workers in industrialized societies, producing long days, dangerous work, and low pay. But workers didn’t take this laying down. During the long nineteenth century, labor movements challenged industrial capitalism in the hope of reforming the system.
- Understand and evaluate how certain communities responded to and resisted the changes of industrialization.
- Learn about the rise of the proletariat and assess the impact of new economic theories.
- Use close-reading skills to assess the differences between economic systems in this era.
- Use a graphic biography as a microhistory to support, extend, or challenge the overarching narratives from this time period.
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- How did Evangelical Christianity inspire some reformers?
- What was the connection between the anti-slavery movement and the women’s rights movement?
- What were some effects of industrialization which Upton Sinclair highlighted in his book?
- What was life like in the tenements?
- What were some of the successes of the reform movement?
Evaluate
- How does evidence from this article help you evaluate the production and distribution frame narrative?
Capitalism and Socialism: Crash Course World History #33
Key Ideas
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Before you watch the video, it’s a good idea to open and skim the video transcript. And always read the questions below so you know what to look and listen for as you watch!
While you watch
- What’s the difference between mercantile and industrial capitalism?
- What role did food and agriculture play in the rise of industrial capitalism?
- How did land ownership change in Britain in this period, and how did this affect production and distribution?
- In what ways is capitalism a “cultural system”?
- What were some problems with industrial capitalism? What were two different responses to these problems?
- What two types of socialism were there? How did they differ?
- According to Marx, what is the significance of conflict and struggle?
After you watch
- At the end of the video, John Green raises the question of whether capitalism is natural. Using evidence from this lesson and from your own knowledge, make and defend a claim about whether capitalism is natural.
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- What’s the difference between how workers and capitalists make money under industrial capitalism?
- How did the rise of industrial capitalism impact women?
- What is the proletariat?
- In what context did workers identify with a common struggle and form unions? How did unions help them to advance their interests?
- Why did the British government push for labor protections in colonial India?
Evaluate
- What are the patterns and trends from the article which have importance for later history or for our world today? Can you observe similarities and differences in how labor and labor movements work in your society?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads for Graphic Bios – Introduction activity.
Observe
Skim the full comic, paying attention to things like prominent colors, shapes, and types of text and fonts. How do you know where to start and which direction to read? What’s in the gutters (the space between panels)? Who is the focus of the comic? What big questions do you have?
Understand
- When was Ottilie Baader born, and how old was she when she began school? What did she learn there?
- When did Ottilie begin working, and why? What were her days like at that age?
- What was Ottilie’s job in the wool factory like?
- Why did Ottilie become a labor organizer around 1871?
- How does the artist use design to depict Baader’s life as a factory worker, but also her attempt to change her condition?
Connect
- What evidence does Ottilie Baader’s story provide about industrialization as an engine of change in people’s lives?