Democracy & Civic Participation IN THE GAPE

The Problem of The People in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
by Robert Johnston, UIC Department of History
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​The periods known as “The Gilded Age” and “The Progressive Era” were some of the foundational in American history, in large part because of their robust and hugely contentious conflicts over democracy. The very definition of democracy was consistently up for debate, with politicians, activists, and ordinary citizens fighting (not infrequently violently) over foundational principles of democratic governance. The heart of American democracy–the ballot box–was definitely up for grabs, as a variety of small “d” democrats pushed for a more vigorous form of direct democracy at the same time that white southerners and elite northerners sought to disfranchise Black citizens, immigrants, and the poor. The economy, moreover, was also a primary subject of democratic debate, with working-class unionists, labor radicals, and populists seeking a more democratic “cooperative commonwealth” in the face of growing corporate power. The democratic, as well as the anti-democratic, visions of this period require us to fundamentally rethink what was “Gilded” about the late 19th century and what was “Progressive” about the early 20th century. These visions also continue to speak in important ways to our own times.     

Bibliography
Ida B. Wells and Intersectionality in the Progressive Era
Lesson by Nate Zuckerman, Highland School

Participants in the Summer 2023 NEH Institute “Rethinking the Gilded Age and Progressivisms: Race, Capitalism, and Democracy, 1877-1920” had the opportunity to visit the Ida B. Wells-Barnett House in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, research primary sources from the Gilded Age and Progressive Era at the University of Illinois Chicago Special Collections, and take a deeper dive into Wells’s life and work with Michelle Duster. The great-granddaughter of Wells, Duster is the author of Ida B. the Queen: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells, an accessible and visually appealing overview of the major moments and achievements of Wells’s social justice activism. These sources combined to inspire a lesson plan aimed at honoring Wells's major accomplishments and multifaceted leadership in social reform efforts of her day. This lesson also helps to clarify and vividly illustrate the concept of intersectionality that has become more commonplace in contemporary sociopolitical discourse, as a way to help students identify and reflect more deeply on issues of discrimination and inequality faced by communities today.
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Black Activism and Philosophies of Empowerment: Racial Uplift in the Time of the Nadir
Lesson by Elizabeth Anderson, Flint Hill School

This lesson was inspired by many lessons, readings, and discussions at the Institute. The initial spark came from the opening two days with Dr. Jeff Helgeson who framed the Gilded Age and Progressive Era as a time of seeking to define freedom in a post-slavery society which ultimately led to the expansion of freedom for some and the creation of new forms of exclusion and oppression for others. This idea was furthered in class sessions spent exploring the topics of lynching with Dr. Kidada Williams and the story of Ida B. Wells with Michelle Duster, along with in-depth primary and secondary source readings, some of which are used in this lesson. This lesson centers around competing ideas of freedom for the Black community in light of increasing oppression during the time of the nadir of race relations. It is also a part of my revised approach to teaching my APUSH unit on GAPE, which now centers on the very idea first posed by Jeff Helgeson–how do a wide variety of peoples define freedom in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era  and how do those competing ideas of freedom lead to exclusion and oppression?
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Lesson Plan Overview || Detail