Had dominated them as individuals workers efforts to

had dominated them as individuals. Workers' efforts to organize frequently led to
long and violent strikes, rocking the economic landscape and even raising the
frightening specter of outright class warfare.
 America's farmers also suffered during these years. Initially, they too capitalized
on the new technologies and new markets of America's growing economy. But
soon they faced increased competition, saturated markets, and falling prices for
their produce. By the last decades of the century, their share of the national wealth
had precipitously declined and their iconic place in the American imagination was
at risk.
7. What role did American business interest play in imperial expansion between l877-
1900?
Part II Restricted Response Essays (25 points) there will be some choice.
1. What factors shaped the growth of labor unions during the Gilded Age? What
factors delayed or weakened their growth?
2. What were the Black Codes? What role did they play in the early stages of
Reconstruction?
4

on a chain gang. These codes mocked the freedom of the blacks, so abolitionists
wondered if the Civil War was worth it, since blacks were hardly better after than
before the war.