Traces the history of American laborers from the Colonial Period to the present in the contexts of social group character, industrial unionism, and the responses to the changing conditions of the broader American society.
Goals, Topics, and Objectives
- Colonial Farming
- Colonial Artisanship
- Colonial Indentured Servitude
- Colonial Slavery
- The New Market Economy
- Work in the New Market Economy
- Gilded Age Industrialization
- Gilded Age Labor
- The Rise of Unions in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
- The Bureaucratization of Work
- The Rise of White-Collar Professions
- The Heyday and Decline of Unionism
- The Microelectronic Revolution and the Rise of the Service Economy
- White-Collar and Blue-Collar in the Service Economy
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
1. Outline time and chronology in American Labor History.
2. Identify, summarize, and analyze major elements of American Labor History.
3. Analyze cause and effect in American Labor History.
4. Trace elements of change and continuity in American Labor History.
5. Emphasize parallelism by describing the impact of major events, personalities, and places upon American Labor History.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
1. Identify the Major Aspects of Colonial Farming.
2. Analyze the Major Tenets of Colonial Artisanship.
3. Compare and Contrast Colonial indentured servitude with Colonial slavery.
4. Identify the Major Aspects of the New Market Economy, especially the Impact on Farmers and Workers.
5. Explain how Gilded Age Industrialization changed Labor at that time.
6. Analyze the Rise of Unions in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.
7. Explain the Bureaucratization of Work.
8. Compare and Contrast the Rise of White-Collar Professions in the United States with the Rise and Decline of Unionism.
9. Explain the Microelectronic Revolution and the Rise of the Service Economy.
10. Compare and Contrast White Collar and Blue Collar in the New Service Economy.
Assessment and Requirements
Assessment of academic achievement will be identified and implemented by the class instructor. Methods will include, but will not be limited to, individual projects, vocabulary, class participation (discussion and critiques), and tests.
Outcomes
- Social Sciences
- Humanities and Fine Arts
- Civil Society and Culture - U.S. and Global
- Category 4: Social Sciences
- Category 5: Humanities and Fine Arts