The Muscatine, Iowa Strike | Teaching Iowa History

General Information
Grade	9th -12th Grades	Class	U.S. History	Length of Lesson	45 Minutes

Lesson Title	The Muscatine, Iowa Strike
Unit Title	Post Industrial Revolution and Early 20th Century Technology
Unit Compelling Question	Did rapid industrial revolution make peoples' lives better or worse?
Historical Context: 2018.010.009 This bulletin encouraged all members of the Button Workers' (Protective) Union to attend a meeting on September 28, 1911. The bulletin states that all real members of the Union would attend the meeting. It also states that a dance would be held after the meeting. During July of 1899, disagreements rose over the costs of tools and wages paid to employees. Between 1899 and 1900, nine strikes took place. Eventually the Button Workers' Protective Union was formed in November, 1910. The Union helped organize a large strike in February of 1911 following the closure of 43 sites. They blamed overproduction as a reason and organized picket lines outside the factories. A total of 2,300 protesters went on strike and during the following months, the strike gained national attention. Muscatine police along with hired police from Chicago and St. Louis worked with the union to sign a peace agreement in May of 1911. The strike officially ended in in the spring of 1912.
Lesson Supporting Question
Lesson Overview	Students will be in groups and begin by examining this bulletin. They will read it and write an assumption about what is the problem. The date should be a hint. We have covered a little bit of industrialization so this is not a surprise. Teacher will ask what they believe this to be about. Each group will share out. This will be followed by the rest of the information they do not know yet. Disagreements between costs of tools and payments to workers. Creation of Unions to help.
Primary Sources Used	2018.010.009
Resources Needed	https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EJr1YMNoY6wNqmBKo842lAYka7NaJoxwXLF3atDFeew/edit http://www.iptv.org/iowapathways/artifact/pearl-button-factory-muscatine-ia-ca-1912
Standard	SS-US.9-12.22: United States History SS-US.9-12.24: United States History
Lesson Target	Students will be able to make an argument for, or against, rapid industrialization.
Lesson Themes	Types of Business and Industries, Workers, Cities, Innovators

Lesson Procedure

Step	Procedure	Time	Differentiation plan / Additional Information
1	Students will be split into groups, handed the document, and asked to read it. They will write down and assumption about what the workers and union could be fighting for and what the meeting could be about. They will also be shown this picture as a visual reference.
	The students will be given this information.
2	This bulletin encouraged all members of the Button Workers' (Protective) Union to attend a meeting on September 28, 1911. The bulletin states that all real members of the Union would attend the meeting. It also states that a dance would be held after the meeting. During July of 1899, disagreements rose over the costs of tools and wages paid to employees. Between 1899 and 1900, nine strikes took place. Eventually the Button Workers' Protective Union was formed in November, 1910. The Union helped organize a large strike in February of 1911 following the closure of 43 sites. They blame overproduction as a reason and organized picket lines outside the factories. A total of 2,300 protesters went on strike and during the following months, the strike gained national attention. Muscatine police along with hired police from Chicago and St. Louis worked with the union to sign a peace agreement in May of 1911. The strike officially ended in the spring of 1912.
3	Students will finish their worksheet
4	Students will share what they got out of the documents and what it tells us about industrialization, who was helped, and who was hurt.

Assessment
Formative Assessment (How will you use the formative assessments to monitor and inform instruction?)	When the students are asked to present their ideas about what the document could be about, they will be showing me how well they can interpret document and bring back information from previous lessons about industrialization.
Summative Assessment (How does the lesson connect to planned summative assessment(s)?)	The worksheet will be the summative assessment, primarily focusing on what the document is saying, what we can take away from it, what working in the factory conditions were like, and the results on the population.

Author Information
Author	Caleb Hovenga	Created	09/27/2023 - 17:01	Last Edited	03/23/2024 - 09:09
Reviewer: Chad Christopher, History Education, University of Northern Iowa
Lesson Plan Development Notes: Teaching Methods, University of Northern Iowa, Fall 2019

Bulletin

2018.010.009 [Bulletin]