2012 DBQ ExerciseIn the post-Civil War United States, corporations grew significantly in number, size and influence. Analyze the impact of big business on the economy and politics and the responses of Americans to these changes. Confine your answer to the period 1870 to 1900.

2012 DBQ Exercise•The impact of big business on •the economy •and politics •and the responses of Americans to these changes

Confine your answer to the period 1870 to 1900.

2012 DBQ Thesis Statements

The extended period that came to be known as the Gilded Age was largely centered around and influenced by big business and corporations. The newfound efficiency of resources and mass production resulted in a wide variety of available products but also a wide divide between classes and a misdistribution of power that led to the forming of unions and passing of anti-trust legislation.

2012 DBQ Thesis Statements

In the United States from 1870 to 1900 during the period commonly referred to as the “Gilded Age,” the powerful presence of big business caused sharp economic and social class divisions and political corruption that led to the widespread push for progressive reform.

2012 DBQ Thesis StatementsBig business, started in the United States by the Second Industrial Revolution, created a larger disparity of wealth between the aristocracy and the impoverished, and created widespread bribery that would forever tie business and politics together . Several activist such as the Muckrakers and the Progressive Party aimed to curtail the negligence and injury wrought by the corporations. Great thesis. The time period (1870-1900) would be the only issue. The Progressive Era may start around 1890, but the Progressive Party typically is considered to start around 1912. Therefore, it would be better to state something like, “reform measures leading to the Progressive Party” or “progressive measures.”

2012 DBQ Thesis StatementsBig business employed money and power to control and manipulate the economy and politics to their own advantage through dishonest means and exploitation of poor immigrants. Americans such as Samuel Gompers worked on the creation of different labor unions to protect the common people and authors such as Jacob Riis and Stephen Crane published literature to expose the ills of society.