Assignment 2: Economic Approaches in the Age of
Industrialization (1870-1940)
Due Week 6 and worth 120 points
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 parts
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.
Be sure to review the other help (documents or
video) provided by your instructor. For information on the format, see the
“Writing Standards” tab on the course menu.
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
http://college.cengage.com/history/wadsworth_9781133309888/unprotected/ps/attack_meatpackers.htm
and https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1884hdlloyd.asp.
Your assignment must follow these formatting
requirements:
Use the Writing Standards (). The format is
different than other formats like APA. Please take a moment to review the
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 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.
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.