HST-3140

Dr. Ryan K. Anderson

Midterm Exam

Please take answer the question below by writing a six-page essay. Do not use any direct quotes,
provide an omnibus note at the end of each body paragraph that accounts for the material you
used in that paragraph, adhere to all formal writing guidelines, use one-inch margins, twelve-inch
font, double-space, and put your name and “HST-3140 Midterm” in the upper left-hand corner.

I EXPECT you’ll make use of the Painter text, the documents we discussed, and lecture material.
Under no circumstances are you to use internet tools such as: Wikipedia, Encyclopedia
Britannica Online, etc…, if you employ anything other than your notes and the readings you are
subject to failure.

You must state a thesis, use the aforementioned material as sources of evidence that illustrate
your argument, and offer up an analysis of historical significance. The most successful essays
will demonstrate meaningful organization of historical evidence, sound grammar, strong
sentences, and clarity of thought.

Between roughly 1877 and 1896, Industrial Capitalism changed America. People of the day
believed they could harness this change and retain some fundamental qualities of what they
considered an American life. Your job is to explain how two groups of people did this, and to
explain the relationship between their efforts.

1. How did the capitalists of the day become powerful, and how did they explain and/or justify
their vaunted place in society?

2. Why and how did middle-class people redefine gender roles, and how did people begin
continue insisting that individualism was important to gender?