Immigration and Populism
In-Class Debate:
Turn-of-the-Century America
Four groups will debate the nature of American society at the end of the nineteenth century. Allies of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, as well as workers and populists (farmers) will respond to the following three questions:
- What is right with American today (1900)? Consider not only material conditions but ideology and potential for growth and change.
- What is wrong with America? How is America not living up to its potential? What are the great evils besetting American society?
- How should Americans work to change society? What should the nation's response be to its challenges and short-comings? What are your priorities for activism in the new century?
Bring a brief written response, from the point of view of your group, with you to the debate.
Important Moments in the Rise of Populism
Declaration of Purposes of the National Grange (1874)
Munn v. Illinois (1877)
The Omaha Platform of the Populist Party (1892)
Internet Resources
- Resources on Populism compiled by Worth Robert Miller
- Immigration: The Perpetual Controversy
- Compare articles for and against immigration published in the Atlantic Monthly at the turn of the century and in the 1990s.
- Ethnic Mosaic of the Quad Cities
- An on-line exhibit of immigrant life in the cities of Rock Island and Moline, Illinois; and Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa.