Honors American History

This project will be emailed to me at david.freer@gmail.com. It will be worth two grades and due January 30th 2006.

Ninth Web Project- Modern America Emerges

A. Do a search for the following information. Be sure to summarize the important information concisely. Five points each.

1. Interstate Commerce Act
2. Hepburn Act
3. Esch-Cummins Act
4. Sherman Antitrust Act
5. Clayton Antitrust Act (emphasize how it differs from the Sherman Antitrust Act)
6. Federal Trade Commission
7. Federal Power Commission
8. Meat Inspection Act
9. Pure Food and Drug Act
10. Federal Communications Commission

B. Search for William Jennings Bryan on the web. Once he is reported as saying: “Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country.”

·        Write a paragraph explaining the meaning of Bryan’s statement and whether you agree or disagree with Bryan’s statement. Fifty points

C. In class we discussed labor movements to combat the low pay, long working hours, and unsanitary, dangerous working conditions. Look up the following words and simply copy and paste their definitions (DEFINITIONS CAN BE NO MORE THAN TWO LINES LONG): Five points each.

1.      Blacklist

2.      Boycott

3.      Checkoff

4.      Closed shop

5.      Collective Bargaining

6.      Company Union

7.      Injunction

8.      Lockout

9.      Strike

10.  “Yellow-Dog” Contract

D. Essay questions: Twenty five points each.

·        Explain how both the workers and the employer may be harmed when a factory closes down during a labor dispute.

·        Between 1865 and 1965 working hours in manufacturing plants generally declined from over 65 hours a week to 40 hours per week. Explain how each of the following helped to cause this decline: legislation, collective bargaining, changes in manufacturing methods.