AskSia

Plus

Grading Rubric: A successful short-answer response accomplishes all three tasks ...

Aug 29, 2023

*Question*"Distance and inadequate training in agricultural pursuits closed the frontier to eastern workingmen; instead America was settled by successive waves of farmers who were already skilled in wresting a living from the soil. Farming, even before the day of mechanization, was a highly technical profession; frontiering required a knowledge of even more specialized techniques. Clearing the land, building a home, fencing fields, solving the problem of defense, and planting crops on virgin soil all demanded experience few workingmen could boast " trappers and leatherclad 'Mountain Men.' Romantic characters took part [in frontier migration]: starry-eyed prospectors and hard-riding cowboys, badmen and vigilantes. But the true hero of the tale was the hard-working farmer who, ax in hand, marched ever westward until the boundaries of his nation touched the Pacific." Ray Allen Billington, historian, Westward Expansion: A History of the American Frontier, 1949 "The rapid expansion of wagework in the United States and the most intensive phase of the exploitation and settlement of the western third of the continent were roughly contemporaneous processes that occurred during a seventy-year interval [beginning in 1848]. Yet, at first glance, the terms frontier and wagework seem In actuality, one such conjunction [of these terms] was the to describe mutually exclusive conditions wageworkers' frontier. " The wageworkers' frontier was foremost a predominantly male community of manual labor dependent upon others for wages in the extractive industries of the sparsely settled Rocky Mountain and Pacific regions of the United States It also represented a zone of extremely rapid transition from The wageworkers' frontier was a fragile entity forever at the wilderness to industrial, post-frontier society. mercy of the outside world's pricing of its basic [export] commodities All [commodities] were shipped to constitute a out of the west because the Rocky Mountain and Pacific regions contained too few people viable home market. Settlements on the wageworkers' frontier tended to resemble factory towns in Pennsylvania or Massachusetts." Carlos A. Schwantes, historian, "The Concept of the Wageworkers' Frontier," 1987 1. Using the excerpts, respond to parts a. b. and c. a. Briefly describe one major difference between Billington's and Schwantes' historical interpretations of the American West. b. Briefly explain how one historical event or development from 1848 to 1898 that is not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support Billington's interpretation. c. Briefly explain how one historical event or development from 1848 to 1898 that is not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support Schwantes' interpretation. *Question**Answer*a Billington explains that farmers were primarily responsible for westward expansion in the United States. However, Schwantes' interpretation places wageworkers at the forefront of westward expansion. b After the Civil War, the Homestead Act allowed veterans to gain western farming land. This caused more farmers to move west and cultivate the land, supporting Billington's interpretation. C The California Gold Rush caused a huge influx of people in the extractive industry. This large increase in population proves that wageworkers were pushing America's frontier thereby proving Schwantes interpretation *Answer*

Grading Rubric: A successful short-answer response accomplishes all three tasks set forth by the prompt. Each part of the prompt is worth 1 point, for a total of 3 possible points. (a) To earn the point, the response must describe a significant difference between the authors' interpretations, specifically addressing the claims of both passages. For the first passage, the response should describe Billington's argument about the American West being settled by skilled farmers and romanticized figures like cowboys and prospectors. For the second passage, the response should describe Schwantes' argument that the American West was a wageworkers' frontier, a zone of rapid transition from wilderness to industrial society, dependent on the extractive industries and vulnerable to the outside world's pricing of its basic commodities. (b) To earn the point, the response must identify a specific historical event or development from 1848-1898 and use reasoning or evidence to explain how that event or development supports Billington's claim that the American West was settled by skilled farmers and romantic figures. Examples could include the Homestead Act of 1862, which provided free land to settlers willing to farm it, or the California Gold Rush of 1849, which drew a wave of prospectors to the West. (c) To earn the point, the response must identify a specific historical event or development from 1848-1898 and use reasoning or evidence to explain how that event or development supports Schwantes' claim that the American West was a wageworkers' frontier. Examples could include the construction of the transcontinental railroad, which relied heavily on wage labor and transformed the West into an industrial society, or the rise of mining towns, which were dependent on the extractive industries and vulnerable to fluctuations in commodity prices. The same example(s) could be used for both (b) and (c), as long as a reasonable explanation of how the evidence supports each author's claims is provided. The student's answer earns all 3 points according to the grading rubric. For part (a), the student correctly identifies a major difference between Billington's and Schwantes' interpretations of the American West, earning 1 point. For part (b), the student identifies the Homestead Act as a historical event that supports Billington's interpretation, providing a reasonable explanation of how this event supports Billington's claim, earning 1 point. For part (c), the student identifies the California Gold Rush as a historical event that supports Schwantes' interpretation, providing a reasonable explanation of how this event supports Schwantes' claim, earning 1 point.

*Question*Question:"Distance and inadequate training in agricultural pursuits closed the frontier to eastern workingmen; instead America was settled by successive waves of farmers who were already skilled in wresting a living from the soil. Farming, even before the day of mechanization, was a highly technical profession; frontiering required a knowledge of even more specialized techniques. Clearing the land, building a home, fencing fields, solving the problem of defense, and planting crops on virgin soil all demanded experience few workingmen could boast " trappers and leatherclad 'Mountain Men.' Romantic characters took part [in frontier migration]: starry-eyed prospectors and hard-riding cowboys, badmen and vigilantes. But the true hero of the tale was the hard-working farmer who, ax in hand, marched ever westward until the boundaries of his nation touched the Pacific." Ray Allen Billington, historian, Westward Expansion: A History of the American Frontier, 1949 "The rapid expansion of wagework in the United States and the most intensive phase of the exploitation and settlement of the western third of the continent were roughly contemporaneous processes that occurred during a seventy-year interval [beginning in 1848]. Yet, at first glance, the terms frontier and wagework seem In actuality, one such conjunction [of these terms] was the to describe mutually exclusive conditions wageworkers' frontier. " The wageworkers' frontier was foremost a predominantly male community of manual labor dependent upon others for wages in the extractive industries of the sparsely settled Rocky Mountain and Pacific regions of the United States It also represented a zone of extremely rapid transition from The wageworkers' frontier was a fragile entity forever at the wilderness to industrial, post-frontier society. mercy of the outside world's pricing of its basic [export] commodities All [commodities] were shipped to constitute a out of the west because the Rocky Mountain and Pacific regions contained too few people viable home market. Settlements on the wageworkers' frontier tended to resemble factory towns in Pennsylvania or Massachusetts." Carlos A. Schwantes, historian, "The Concept of the Wageworkers' Frontier," 1987*Question**Answer*Billington and Schwantes' the both have different interpretations of American west. Billington believes that agriculture and forming was a main success in the American West. He believes that farming was a high technical profession and helped America to thrive. Schwantes' historical interpretation was the opposite. He believed wageworkers and manual labor was needed and expand economic growth development B) A historical - that supports Billington's interpretation would be trading because America was able to prosper well since farming progressed of lots of foods and crops were exported and imported, helping economically c) An increase in labor workers and migration supports Shwantes historical interpretation that industry is what expanded American West there were loads of factory workers helping increase the economy. *Answer*

Grading Rubric: A successful short-answer response accomplishes all three tasks set forth by the prompt. Each part of the prompt is worth 1 point, for a total of 3 possible points. (a) To earn the point, the response must describe a significant difference between the authors' interpretations, specifically addressing the claims of both passages. For the first passage, the response should describe the author's argument about how the frontier was settled by skilled farmers who were able to overcome the challenges of the land. For the second passage, the response should describe the author's argument that the frontier was settled by wageworkers who were dependent on wages from extractive industries and were at the mercy of the outside world's pricing of its basic commodities. (b) To earn the point, the response must identify a specific historical event or development from 1848-1918 and use reasoning or evidence to explain how that event or development supports the author of the first passage's claim that the frontier was settled by skilled farmers. Examples could include the Homestead Act of 1862, which provided land to settlers for a small fee if they improved it by building a dwelling and cultivating crops, or the development of agricultural machinery, which made farming more efficient and required technical knowledge to operate. (c) To earn the point, the response must identify a specific historical event or development from 1848-1918 and use reasoning or evidence to explain how that event or development supports the author of the second passage's claim that the frontier was settled by wageworkers dependent on wages from extractive industries. Examples could include the California Gold Rush of 1848, which attracted many people to the West in search of wealth, or the construction of the transcontinental railroad, which required a large workforce and led to the creation of many new settlements. The same example(s) could be used for both (b) and (c), as long as a reasonable explanation of how the evidence supports each author's claims is provided. The student's answer would receive 2 out of 3 points according to the grading rubric. (a) The student successfully describes a significant difference between the authors' interpretations, addressing the claims of both passages. This earns them 1 point. (b) The student attempts to identify a historical event or development that supports Billington's interpretation, but their example of "trading" is too vague and does not clearly connect to a specific event or development from 1848-1918. Therefore, they do not earn the point for this section. (c) The student identifies an increase in labor workers and migration as a development that supports Schwantes' interpretation. While they do not name a specific event, they do provide reasoning that connects this development to Schwantes' claim about the importance of industry and wageworkers in the expansion of the American West. This earns them 1 point.