Government Economic Policies—Hits and Misses

Government Economic Policies—Hits and Misses

Assignment 2: Economic Approaches in the Age of Industrialization

(1870-1940)

History 105: Due Week 6 and worth 120 points (Dr. Stansbury)

Submission deadline: 11:59pm Eastern Time; Tuesday night, February 18

(one day extension due to Presidents Day on Feb. 17)

In Assignment 2, we ask you to choose one of two topic choices listed below on the subject of economic change and innovation in the period of the late 1800s and early 1900s, then use the Writing Guide provided in Blackboard to write a paper on the subject. One topic is on the individual level of pioneering entrepreneurs of the period, who developed distinctive strategies for the production and marketing of very different types of products. The other topic is on the macro level, exploring successful and unsuccessful government attempts to shape and regulate the changing industrial economy of the period.

As you prepare and brainstorm your paper, first read and review what our Schultz textbook covers on the subject. Then, consider the other sources listed with each topic below. It is important that you review these sources carefully because you must use a minimum of three sources (from the list below) to write your paper. Besides this instruction sheet and the Writing Guide, be sure to review the other helps (documents or video) provided by your instructor. For information on the SWS format, see the “Strayer Writing Standards” tab on the lower left of your Blackboard course shell.

TOPIC CHOICE ONE: Innovative Entrepreneurs—Walker and Ford

Here you will focus on the business approaches of Madame C. J. Walker and Henry Ford. Both developed innovative and successful approaches in a time of rapid economic change. You will compare them in the way they started their respective businesses and the key innovative features that made each successful. One might find virtues, problems and successes associated with both. You might see elements of each in strategies of later leaders and related issues even today.

Sources: Schultz, p. 396–7 (only Ford is discussed in our textbook). For Madam C. J. Walker (1867–1919), see http://www.madamcjwalker.com/bios/madam-c-j-walker/; and https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/100-amazing-facts/madam-walker-the-first-black-american-woman-to-be-a-self-made-millionaire/ . For Henry Ford, see https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/henry-ford.

TOPIC CHOICE TWO: Government Economic Policies—Hits and Misses

Here you will choose two historical examples from the following list: Prohibition; Hawley-Smoot Tariff; Sherman Antitrust Act; Pure Food and Drug Act; Federal Trade Commission; Civilian Conservation Corps; Agricultural Adjustment Act; the Wagner Act, and the Social Security Act. These are examples of government economic intervention or economic policy in the long period from 1870 to 1940. These might be thought of as burdensome government interference or as needed government regulation, depending on the example and one’s thinking on those things. For your paper, you will explore and describe each of your two examples, its historical context, and the reasons it arose. One might find virtues, problems and successes associated with both. You might see elements of each in examples in our current economy today.

Sources: Schultz, p. 362–4, 367, 401–2, 417, 425–9, 432. Besides the textbook, use any two of these sources that you think relevant to your paper:

http://college.cengage.com/history/wadsworth_9781133309888/unprotected/ps/impact_factory.htm ; and

http://college.cengage.com/history/wadsworth_9781133309888/unprotected/ps/attack_meatpackers.htm ; and https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1884hdlloyd.asp. [instructions continue on next page]

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Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

Use Strayer Writing Standards (SWS). The format is different than other formats like APA. Please take a moment to review the SWS documentation for details.
Be typed, double spaced between lines, using Times New Roman font, Calibri, Arial, or Courier (size 10, 11, or 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and sources must follow SWS format. You must have a Sources list at the end; each source listed must also be cited in the body of the paper with an in-text citation. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
The preferred file software is Microsoft Word (part of MS-Office). Alternatively, a student can use Windows’ WordPad (not NotePad) or OpenOffice. (Please do not submit files in .pdf format or Apple’s Pages or Google docs.)
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the Sources page are not included in the required assignment page length.
The body of the paper should be five paragraphs and a total of 500-to-800 words in length. The 500 minimum is firm; you really have not adequately developed the paper if less than that. The 800 maximum is a loose guideline. The body of the paper is to be double-spaced. Typically, if you follow these instructions, the body of your paper will be 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 pages in length—add a page for your title page and another for your sources list and that then gets to 4-1/2-to 5/1/2. But, the length requirement is evaluated by word count.
The paper must be submitted (uploaded and attached) in the course shell provided online.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

Discuss events after 1865 in terms of social and economic conditions that caused corresponding changes in the attitudes of the people and policies of the government.