List of Benchmarks for United States History |
| Standard 18. | Understands the rise of the American labor movement and how political issues reflected social and economic changes |
| | Level II (Grade 5-6) |
| | 1. | Understands changes in business and labor practices during the late 19th century (e.g., reasons for child labor and it consequences, changes in business operation, how workers lives were affected after the Civil War) A |
| | 2. | Understands characteristics of the labor conflicts of the late 19th century (e.g., causes and effects of escalating labor conflicts, causes and effects of coal mine strikes, the organizing efforts of Mother Mary Jones) |
| | 3. | Understands major political issues and events of the late 19th century (e.g., the issues and results of the 1896 election, why third parties were established, the importance of Thomas Nast's political cartoons, the lives of important political personalities) |
| | Level III (Grade 7-8) |
| | 1. | Understands the conditions affecting employment and labor in the late 19th century (e.g., the change from workshop to factory in different regions; how working conditions changed and how workers responded to new industrial conditions) |
| | 2. | Understands reactions to developments in labor in late 19th century America (e.g., how management and industry responded to efforts to organize workers, the response of management and government to labor strife in different regions of the country) |
| | 3. | Understands the goals of political parties and individuals in the late 19th century (e.g., how Democrats and Republicans responded to civil service reform, monetary policy, tariffs, and business regulations; political, social, and economic roots of Populism; successes and failures of Populism; goals of the Socialist and Populist parties and their leaders; importance of individuals in promoting political reform) |
| | Level IV (Grade 9-12) |
| | 1. | Understands influences on the workforce during the late 19th century (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity, and skill; how big business and the impersonal nature of factory work affected workers; inroads made by women in male-dominated jobs; legal status of women; the type of work children performed; occupations in which children were employed; dangers they faced during the workday) |
| | 2. | Understands labor issues of the late 19th century (e.g., organizational and agenda differences between reform and trade unions, the extent of radicalism in the labor movements, labor conflicts of 1894 and their effects) |
| | 3. | Understands the appeal of various political parties and the positions they took (e.g., the Populist’s Omaha Platform of 1892; problems that prompted the establishment of the Populist Party; the appeal of the Democratic, Republican, and Greenback Labor parties to different socioeconomic groups) |
| | 4. | Understands how economic issues influenced American society (e.g., the causes and effects of the depressions of 1873-1879 and 1893-1897, and how government, business, labor, and farmers responded; the reaction of western and southern farmers to the cycle of falling prices, scarce money, and debt) |
| | 5. | Understands the issues and results of the 1896 election (e.g., the extent to which farmers were unable to adjust to the changing industrial scene and the Populist decision to endorse the Democratic nominee, William Jennings Bryan's "Cross of Gold" speech and how it affected the outcome of the election, arguments and strategies used by William McKinley and Mark Hanna, urban women's support of the Republican party, the major components of the "full dinner pail") |
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A = Assessment items available |
