US History II_01 Inequality Debate in Gilded Age

February 18, 2021

Us History II_01 Inequality Debate in Gilded Age

One of the biggest debates of the Gilded Age was whether economic freedom is a threat to freedom and democracy. Wealthier individuals, the Supreme Court and many others argued that extreme wealth was something to be celebrated. Many of them said that economic inequality was “natural” and was part of the “natural order of things” such as in Social Darwinist Philosophy. Others, especially the labor movement, argued that economic inequality could not co-exist with healthy democracy. These labor organizers, reformers and Social Gospel Christians argued that the government must act to curb economic inequality in order to save democracy.

Who was right? Who’s argument was more convincing? Why do you think so?

Grading Rubric

	Excellent (4)	Good (3)	Needs Improvement (2)	Poor (1)
Language/Spelling/ Grammar	Response has no spelling or punctuation errors and very few grammatical errors. Very well written and excellent use of business language.	Response has a few punctuation or spelling errors. Few grammatical errors that don’t affect meaning. Well written and use of business language is acceptable.	Response has some punctuation or spelling errors. Some grammatical errors but generally don’t affect meaning. Language is satisfactory overall but use of more appropriate business language is required.	Response has numerous punctuation or spelling errors. Numerous grammatical errors that affect meaning. Language used is unprofessional and not appropriate for business use.
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