Economic Change and Innovation in the Late 1800s and Early 1900s

Innovative Entrepreneurs - Walker and Ford

In Assignment 2, we ask you to choose one of two topic choices listed below on the subject of economic change and innovation in the period of the late 1800s and early 1900s, then use the Writing Guide provided in Blackboard to write a paper on the subject. One topic is on the individual level of pioneering entrepreneurs of the period, who developed distinctive strategies for the production and marketing of very different types of products. The other topic is on the macro level, exploring successful and unsuccessful government attempts to shape and regulate the changing industrial economy of the period. 

As you prepare and brainstorm your paper, first read and review what our Schultz textbook covers on the subject. Then, consider the other sources listed with each topic below. It is important that you review these sources carefully because you must use a minimum of three sources (from the list below) to write your paper. Besides this instruction sheet and the Writing Guide, be sure to review the other helps (documents or video) provided by your instructor.  For information on the SWS format, see the “Strayer Writing Standards” tab on the lower left of your Blackboard course shell. 

Here you will focus on the business approaches of Madame C. J. Walker and Henry Ford. Both developed innovative and successful approaches in a time of rapid economic change. You will compare them in the way they started their respective businesses and the key innovative features that made each successful. One might find virtues, problems and successes associated with both. You might see elements of each in strategies of later leaders and related issues even today.

Here you will choose two historical examples from the following list: Prohibition; Hawley-Smoot Tariff; Sherman Antitrust Act; Pure Food and Drug Act; Federal Trade Commission; Civilian Conservation Corps; Agricultural Adjustment Act; the Wagner Act, and the Social Security Act. These are examples of government economic intervention or economic policy in the long period from 1870 to 1940. These might be thought of as burdensome government interference or as needed government regulation, depending on the example and one’s thinking on those things. For your paper, you will explore and describe each of your two examples, its historical context, and the reasons it arose. One might find virtues, problems and successes associated with both. You might see elements of each in examples in our current economy today.

In your five paragraph essay using this Writing Guide, use the Schultz class text and at least two of the other sources provided for the topic you chose. Note, you need to include a list of Sources at the end (next page below); also you must cite each of those sources in the body of your paper with short in-text citations. Be sure to review the instruction sheet for Assignment 1.  Also, see the help sheet called “Sources and Tips for Assignment 1”.  That help sheet also explains about length and provides other tips.  

In your introduction section, be concise but include the information listed by the two bullets below. Your introduction should be one paragraph in length:

1. Identify the two different approaches that you will discuss—including people, organizations, and strategies.

2. Describe what you will cover in the paper.

In two paragraphs, describe briefly the development of each view or strategy, any key people or events, and any “success” either side had in seeing that view come to pass. 

In your comparison paragraph, evaluate what you see as the strengths and weaknesses of each view, and the impact of each in that period of history. Explain which approach you favor and why. 

Conclusion

In your conclusion paragraph, identify similar issues or approaches that developed later, and any similar issues today.