APAH Name: _____________________________
Zinn Ch. 11
Chapter 11 “Robber Barons and Rebels”
A People’s History of the United States: 1492 to the Present.
1. What was the technology that transformed the work-place from 1865-1900? What economic and social effects did the
new technology have on American society?
2. Why did it “take money to make money” during the period of rapid economic expansion after the Civil War? What are
the implications of this for the potential for social mobility?
3. How many railroad workers were killed or injured in 1889?
4. How did JP Morgan justify his methods of doing business?
5. What methods did each of the following use to build his fortune:
A) Morgan (banking, railroads, and steel)
B) Rockefeller (oil)
C) Carnegie (steel)
6. Are there any facts surrounding the presidential election of 1884 and its outcome (Cleveland defeats Blaine) that
supports Zinn’s assertion that “Whether Democrats or Republicans won, national policy would not change in any
important way.” Do the policies or legislation during either of the two Cleveland administrations or Benjamin Harrison’s
administration support any or all parts of Zinn’s statement above? How persuasive in Zinn on this point? Explain.
7. How does Zinn argue that the Supreme Court cannot possibly act in a neutral fashion?
8. What was Henry George’s solution to the unequal distribution of wealth? What was Edward Bellamy’s? What
evidence indicates that these ideas were popular at the time?
