The Robber Baron Era
About
4/12/2016
This discussion covers the period from the end of the Civil War (1868) to the end of World War I (1918).
Why was the Civil War fought? The general conception was to abolish slavery, but Professor Sheehan covered the economic reasons for the Civil War and the influence such powers had on the government. Just after the repercussions of the Fourteenth Amendment began to take hold and personal liability for corporate actions began to vanish, the National Board of Homeland Ministries of the Methodist Church established a summer program at Lake Chautauqua, near Buffalo, New York. This summer program turned into the Chautauqua Movement, which influenced the rise of labor unions, the women’s suffrage movement, the public school system, child labor laws, safety standards at the workplace, and the first environmental movement.
Professor Sheehan then went on to discuss Worldviews, as Talcott Parsons initially proposed and their adaptation through philosophy and political philosophy.
Readings:
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Andrew Chamberlin Reiser, The Chautauqua Movement: Protestants, Progressives & The Culture of Modern Liberalism: 1874-1920, p. TBD
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Jackson Lears, Rebirth of A Nation: The Making of Modern America – 1877 to 1920 p. 52-91 and p.276-326;
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Michael McGerr, A Fierce Discontent: The Rise & Fall of the Progressive Movement in America: 1870 to 1920 p.48-74, p.118-146 and p.147-181