Assignment 1: Industrialization and the Rise of a Regulated Economy 

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[NOTE ON ECREE:  The university is adopting a tool called ecree for helping and doing writing assignments in many classes. In our History 105 class, we will be using the ecree program only for EXTRA CREDIT as a tool for doing work on your rough draft of the paper.  We hope this approach encourages more rough drafting and revision work by students as well as makes students familiar with this useful new tool.  For Assignment 2, in the Week 6 unit, you will see the link “EXTRA CREDIT: ROUGH DRAFT….”—that is where you can get up to 5 points of extra credit.   Instructions will be posted there in the early days of the summer course.  If you try this option, you will be able to use the file developed in ecree as a rough draft; you will then download that draft and edit it further.  Then, once your paper is fully polished and finished  as you see fit, you will then submit it at the next link in the Week 6 unit, which says “SUBMIT ASSIGNMENT 2:  INDUSTRIALIZATION AND THE RISE ……”.  ] 

BACKGROUND FOR THE PAPER: This is a 5-paragraph paper based on research in designated sources.  It is a position paper in which you support a thesis statement by reason and historical examples.  The United States went through dramatic economic change after the Civil War, as industrialization spread rapidly and changed society. This transformation and some of the apparent abuses that developed (monopolistic practices, work conditions, low wages, arbitrary and oppressive expectations) led to an increased role of the government in regulating businesses and society. Government might intervene on the side of business owners for a variety of reasons.  Or it might intervene on the side of workers. Or it might intervene for more general reasons.  This role was heightened as government was viewed as the arbiter between business and organized labor. One can explore these developments from 1865 on through to the end of the 1930s.  Examine the two statements below and drawing from provided sources, present a paper with specific examples and arguments to demonstrate the validity of your position. [Don’t use this background paragraph in your paper.]

Topic and Thesis Statement—choose one of the following as your Thesis Statement:  

THESIS STATEMENT 1.  From the late 1800s to the end of the 1930s, increasing government interventions and regulations of business tended to help the overall economy and the common workers.    

THESIS STATEMENT 2. From the late 1800s to the end of the 1930s, increasing government interventions and regulations of business tended to hurt the overall economy and the common workers.     

Plan to make that thesis statement the last sentence in your introductory paragraph.  The general subject is GOVERNMENT ECONOMIC INTERVENTIONS and regulations in that period of history.  You may moderate the wording slightly to fit more precisely the position you wish to take.  This is NOT a simple statement of a topic; it is a statement of a position you are taking about that topic.  p.s.—Valid arguments and “A” papers can be made with either thesis.  So, you choose the one you think is the stronger position.

After giving general consideration to your readings so far and any research (using sources listed on this sheet), select one of the positions above as your position—your thesis. (Sometimes after doing more thorough research, you might choose the reverse position. This happens with critical thinking and inquiry. Your final paper might end up taking a different position than you originally envisioned.) Organize your paper as follows, handling these issues with this FOUR-PART organization (see TEMPLATE also):