Discussion Questions

September 16, 2008

NOTE:  In answering these questions it is necessary to use the specifics of the readings in your answers!

1. What is benevolent paternalism and what is its role in the Gilded Age?
2. Does the concept of "the commercial value of beauty" of Pullman typify the Gilded Age?
3. To what extent is Pullman the antithesis of the 'American Dream' discussed last week?  What values, or whose values, are those of the Pullman system?
4. According to the writer, what are the "certain unpleasant features of social life in the place"?  Why does he consider the town of Pullman to be "un-American"?
5. The towns of Homestead and Pullman are, at initial glance, seemingly at opposite ends of the urban spectrum.  But a careful examination indicates that these towns have more in common than the first glance might suggest.  Where do the towns and their inhabitants share a common ground?  Could it be argued that Homestead was more desirable than Pullman?  If so, how?  On what grounds could such an argument be based? 
6. Why are children considered so important in any consideration of problems and reform in the Gilded Age?
7. What is a tenement?  What are its key features?  What does Vellier mean in his article when he refers to them as "the root of social evils"?
8. What does the development of a "pleasure periphery" tell us about the Gilded Age?  Why does it develop?
9. What does the article about the commercial street in Chicago tell us about the urban environment?
10. Taking the readings together, what are the key features of the urban environment in the late Gilded Age?