Student Handouts
Major Strikes in the American Labor Movement
Have your class organize information about strikes in a handy chart. Pupils take notes on the Homestead Strike, the Lawrence Strike, and the Pullman Strike. Along the left side of the chart are six questions for learners to answer about...
Curated OER
Discovering and Converting the Battle of Homestead
Young scholars study and explore the Homestead strike and locate where the events took place. In this investigative lesson students use several perspectives to write an objective newspaper article on the event.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Robber Barons and Captains of Industry
A very thorough lesson plan from EDSITEment that explores the role of the robber barons in American industry in the 19th century. It explores the question of whether the robber barons were harmful or "Captains of Industry." You'll find...
PBS
Pbs: American Experience: The Richest Man in the World: Meet Andrew Carnegie
PBS provides this five-part, thorough biography of one of the richest men in America, Andrew Carnegie.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Balancing Sources
This is from an American history course designed for teachers to enrich their knowledge and their teaching practice. This interactive is a set of nine exercises where teachers evaluate primary resources related to a specific event in...
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg: Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie
Read about the life of this famous industrialist and philanthropist in his own words in this full-text edition published in 1920.
Harp Week
Harp Week: Elections: 1892 Overview Cleveland v. Harrison v. Weaver
This four-page review of the campaign and election of 1892 includes a review of Benjamin Harrison's term in office from 1888-1892, the controversy in determining a presidential candidate, and the presence of a possibly viable third-party...
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: Immigration and Migration
[Free Registration/Login Required] A lengthy essay discussing the differing opinions about immigration and the role of immigrants in the United States in the latter half of the 19th century and the early 20th century. Find out about the...
Curated OER
History Matters: I Will Kill Frick
Find information about the Homestead strike and the treatment of the workers inspired some labor activists to plot the murder of Henry Clay Frick. Part of the autobiography of Emma Goldman.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: The Industrial Age in America
In this lesson plan from EDSITEment, students will discuss the significance of the labor movement, the industrialists involved and the attitude of the American people toward working conditions in the United States. Contains links to many...
Digital History
Digital History: Samuel Gompers and the American Federation of Labor
A good look at not only Samuel Gompers and the formation of the American Federation of Labor, but also of the course of unionism in general, its successes and failures, its goals, and membership in the late 19th century.
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Comission
Explore Pa History: Henry Clay Frick Historical Marker
Henry Clay Frick was a titan of the steel industry because of his coke business, necessary in the making of steel. Read about his early life and his association with Andrew Carnegie.
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Comission
Explore Pa History: The Great Steel Strike of 1919 Historical Marker
A strike by steel workers in Chicago eventually spread across the United States in 1919. Read about the strike, how was involved, and how the employers turned popular opinion against the strikers.
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Comission
Expore Pa History: Making Steel
A good look at three of the titans of the steel industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Read about Andrew Carnegie and his business relationship with Henry Clay Frick, and the development of Bethlehen Steel by Charles Schwab....
Other
Carnegie Magazine: Henry Clay Frick: The Man Was a Businessman
An interesting look at the business life of steel magnate Henry Clay Frick and his relationship with Andrew Carnegie. Using correspondence among the Captains of Industry at the time, the intricate and often manipulative business lives of...
Other
Nysed: Comparing the Homestead Strike of 1892 With the Great Strike of 1877
As part of a larger lesson plan about the Railroad Strike of 1877, this lesson asks students to compare that strike with the Homestead Strike against Carnegie's steel plant. Activity directions and questions are provided.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Ap Us History: 1865 1898: Labor Battles in the Gilded Age
Discusses the Homestead Strike of 1892 and the Pullman Strike of 1894 and how these ended, as well as responses of the federal government to the labor movement. Includes questions for students at end.
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Comission
Explore Pa History: Andrew Carnegie [Steel] Historical Marker
Andrew Carnegie first made his fortune in railroads, but increased it in his investment in steel. Read about his company, Carnegie Steel, to whom it was sold, and how Carnegie used his money in his later life.
Shmoop University
Shmoop: Labor in the Gilded Age
The Gilded Age was a period of terrible labor violence, as industrialists and workers fought for control of the workplace. Workers organized the first large American labor unions during the Gilded Age, while employers tried to stop the...
NSTATE
People of Pennsylvania: Henry Clay Frick
A brief biography of Henry Clay Frick, partner with Andrew Carnegie in the steel industry in Pennsylvania.
University of Houston
University of Houston: An American Industrial Revolution Unit: Rise of Labor
Students learn about the history of the labor movement in Industrial America, including some of the major unions that emerged and the most well-known strikes. Next, they make connections to the role of unions today. They then work in...