Contemporary History Pre-1900: Industrialization and Imperialism

Learning Objectives

Students will understand that the industrial revolution brought sweeping change to many aspects of daily life.

Length

Two 45-minute periods

Grade Level

High School

Have students read What are the Origins of Modern Production? and complete Part 1 of the guided reading handout.

(5 minutes) Homework Debrief
(10 minutes) Activity: In groups or as a full class, have students identify objects in the classroom that were manufactured in factories. (Examples might include clothing, pens and pencils, computers and phones, furniture, windows.) How might these objects be different in the pre-industrial era? (Possible answers might include that they would be more expensive, less plentiful, or not available at all.)
(30 minutes) Introduce Homework: Instruct students to keep a diary for twenty-four hours, noting events in their lives that were made possible by the Industrial Revolution or that occurred differently than they might have in the pre-industrial world.

Students complete diaries as necessary.
Have students read What is Colonialism and How Did It Arise? and complete Part 2 of the guided reading handout.

(15 minutes) Share Diaries: Possible questions for reflection:
1. How has the Industrial Revolution affected how you work, in terms of schoolwork and/or at a job? Do you think your work would have been easier or harder in the pre-industrial world?
2. How has the Industrial Revolution affected your time? Do you think you would have had more or less free time in the pre-industrial world?
3. How has the Industrial Revolution affected your relationships with other people such as your family, friends, and neighbors?
4. How has the Industrial Revolution affected your happiness? Do you think you would have been happier or less happy in the pre-industrial world?
(5 minutes) Homework Debrief: Colonialism reading
(15 minutes) Activity: In small groups, have students discuss the connections between colonialism and industrialization. Have them submit to a Padlet, Google Jamboard, or similar tool posts that identify:
1. A connection between colonialism and industrialization
2. An example of this connection given in one of the readings
3. An example of the lasting impact of the connection they found
(10 minutes) Share: Have groups share out their answers

alliance: an official partnership between two or more parties based on cooperation in pursuit of a common goal, generally involving security or defense.
governance: the tasks and activities of governing, or running, a country.
gross domestic product: a measure of a country’s economic output determined by the value of goods and services it produces in a given year.
industrialization: the process by which the balance of production shifts from agriculture toward manufacturing and industry.
Industrial Revolution: a transition, beginning in the eighteenth century, from small-scale, largely agricultural economies to more industry-intensive ones.