Production,+Distribution,+&+Consumption

"People have wants that often exceed the limited resources available to them. The unequal distribution of resources necessitates systems of exchange, including trade, to improve the well-being of the economy, while the role of government in economic policy-making varies over time and from place to place. Increasingly, economic decisions are global in scope and require systematic study of an interdependent world economy and the role of technology in economic growth. As a result, a variety of ways have been invented to decide upon answers to four fundamental questions: What is to be produced? How is production to be organized? How are goods and services to be distributed and to whom? What is the most effective allocation of the factors of production (land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship)?"

Quoted from [].

Essential Question:
Early United States history saw a shift from farming communities and a focus on agriculture to an industrial boom. Cities quickly became overcrowded with people, wages were low, government was corrupt, and big business ran everything. How did the country solve those problems? What solutions still exist today? Can you find any similarities between that time period and the current economic crisis that we are going through right now?

Directions
Below you will find various primary sources that I have provided for you to help you to answer the essential question. Each source is provided digitally with a link to it's original website. To complete this unit, you must individually analyze each provided source using the APPARTS Template. You must also find four (4) more primary sources on your own and analyze them on the same paper as the provided sources. There are several online depositories of primary sources, a couple I recommend are http://digitalvaults.org and http://www.archives.gov. Be sure to put a link to your chosen primary sources on your APPARTS template so you can refer back to them when you are completing your blog post. As you are analyzing your sources, be sure to pay attention to what is //explicitly stated// (stated clearly and in detail, leaving no room for confusion or doubt) and what is //implied//( suggested but not directly expressed). This will help you to reach your best conclusions and answer the essential question.

Required Sources
Second Industrial Revolution

Standard Oil Company

Andrew Carnegie

Boss Tweed

Henry Ford and the Assembly Line

Tenement Housing

Muckrakers

Progressive Movement