Discuss the image. What do we already know about Standard Oil and John D. Rockefeller?
Questions of the Day:
1. Why were certain
men in the 19th century able to amass immense wealth?
2. Who were the
Populists? What did they believe? Why were they able to gain millions of
supporters?
Film excerpts: The Rockefellers
1. Describe John D. Rockefeller's ideology concerning the acquisition of wealth.
2. Do you see the film as biased? Neutral? Deconstructed? Why? Give evidence from the film to support your answer.
Who were the Populists?
Mary Elizabeth Lease: Speech to the Temperance Union (1890)
Discussion:
- Why do you think speeches like this were appealing to certain audiences in the 1890s?
- What images and rhetorical devices did she use to excite her audience?
- What ideological economic position does she espouse?
- Does her rhetoric remind us of anything that we hear in political discourse?
Brief Mini-lesson on Populism
HOMEWORK:
See yesterday's post for weekend homework