HEALTH ISSUES IN A MILL ECONOMY;
LESSON
PLAN
Estimated Time: Three 90-minute class sessions with out-of-class time for student research, and project writing.
Overview
The 35 years represented in these
lessons reflect a time when
These lessons will allow students
to explore 19th century medicines and medical practices. Using
primary documents and other related materials students will analyze as well as
compare and contrast 19th century medical practices and health
issues to that of the 20th century. The lessons will allow students
to demonstrate their understanding of these issues as they related to the city
of
§
Students will read primary source documents
relating to industrial accidents in
§ Students will be able to describe the impact the lack of health regulations and laws had on the quality of life for people during the 19th century.
§ Students will understand the events that lead up to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act.
§ Students will understand that even though health and medicine were still primitive, and quackery was prevalent, the lack of government regulation may have actually helped foster experimentation, that in the end, brought about much needed medical advancements.
§
Students will demonstrate their knowledge of
what specific health issues the citizens of
MATERIALS
§ Advertisements and Documents
§ “Victorian Vistas” (Fall River, 1865-1885, edited by Philip T. Silvia, Jr.)
§ City Maps
§ City Census and Directories
PROCEDURES
Day
One: Getting an Overall Feel for the City and the Quality of Life
1.
Give a general overview of the time period
1840-1875 in American History to the class. Ask students to write down 3 columns labeled “K”(what I know) “W”(what I want to
know) and “L”(what I learned). Instruct students to fill in the “K” column of
the chart listing what they think life would have been like for a mill
operative living in
2. Pass out 2 articles (primary sources) and have class read (“Railroad Accident”, pg. 72, Victorian Vistas and “Probably Fatal Accident”, pg. 332, Victorian Vistas. )
3. After reading these two articles ask the class to share their thoughts to see if they really understand the harsh realities of health care and 19th century medicine.
4. Divide the class into groups of 4 or 5 and have each group prepare a list of diseases that they think may have been curable and/or not curable during the time period. For the curable list have them write down the actual cure.
5.
Pass out question sheet related to the two articles
and have the class answer and then discuss the questions.
6. Finally
explain to the students the lesson objectives and identify what standards are
being used.
7. Have
class remain in groups to write a brief description of how they imagine the
inside of a factory would have looked and sounded to a mill operative. They
could include a sketch of what they invision the inside of a mill may have
looked like as well.
Day Two: Medicines, Quackery, and Regulations:
1. Pass out two primary source documents showing medical advertisements during the 19th century (pg. 40 Victorian Vistas). Have the students analyze the ads and write down their impressions. (definition of Patent Medicines)
2. Ask them if these ads would be allowed in the newspapers today and have them explain why or why not.
3. Ask students to fill in the “K” column of their sheet they began on Day 1 writing down what they know about the Pure Food and Drug Act.
4. Break the students into groups of 4 or 5 and have them answer this question: Agree or Disagree; “the fact that there was no medical/drug regulations during the 19th century actually helped advance new discoveries? Explain your answers.
5. Ask students to list what changes in society were needed before necessary laws would be enacted to protect people and their health.
6. Pass out two photographs showing workers and the inside of the mills they worked in. Break the class into groups to analyze and to document the possible hazards they can find in each photograph. List some of these on the board.
7. For homework ask the students to research “OSHA.”
8. Ask students to summarize the main points in the Pure Food and Drug Act and ask them to list what changes this act had on the welfare of city mill workers.
Day Three: Health and Living Conditions in
1. Pass out two primary documents (two newspaper articles from Pg.102 and pg. 235 in Victorian Vistas).
2. After having read the two newspaper accounts ask students to briefly list their impressions of parts of the city. Ask them to list what particular diseases could be spread by these conditions. What two particular diseases are mentioned in the articles? (Old medicine bottles/Cholera)
3. For homework ask students to report on the prevalence of these two diseases in the world today and any treatments that are today available; when they became available.
4.
Ask students to break into groups. Ask them to link what they have read in
the two articles today dealing with 19th century
5. Bring students to the media center and have them research the process of bringing a particular medicine to the market today as compared to pre-Pure Food and Drug Act days. Have them write in their “L” columns ("What I Learned") the information they gather from this assignment. (Patent Medicines and Pure Food and Drug Act.)
Day Four: Things Get Better:
1. Have class read and analyze the two web site documents called “The History of Medicine: The 19th Century 1800-1899” and “The History of Medicine: The 20th Century 1900-1999”. From these two documents students should make a timeline depicting major breakthroughs in the field of medicine.
2. Students should read the article on “Patent Medicine” to understand just how unregulated American medicines were during the 19th century. Ask the class to list some of the ingredients found in some of these early medicines. Ask class to name the most successful patent medicine during the late 19th, and early 20th centuries. Why was it so successful? Then ask them to list its ingredients.
PHOTOGRAPHS
ADVERTISEMENTS AND DOCUMENTS
DEATH
CERTIFICATES
From Victorian Vistas, p. 332
From
Victorian Vistas, p. 72
From Victorian Vistas, p. 102
Victorian Vistas, p. 235
The History of Medicine: 1900-1999 AD
The History Place: Child Labor in America 1908-1912
Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906
University of Toledo- Patent Medicines
Victorian Vistas (Fall River, 1865-1885, edited by Philip T. Silvia Jr. )
Victorian Vistas (
STANDARDS
Industrial
b. Important technological and scientific advances
b. the environmental impact of the Industrial Revolution.
c. the expansion of the cities.
The Age of Reform: Progressivism and the New Deal, 1900-1940
Policies:
§ Bans against child labor; the Pure Food and Drug Act (1906).
SOURCE ARTICLES
PROBABLY FATAL ACCIDENT:
§ What can you gain from the description of the inside of the mill that Annie McNeal was working in as to its safety?
§ Why wouldn’t (or shouldn’t) this type of accident happen today? Be specific.
§ What do you find interesting about the form of medical care she received? What outcomes about medical care and the overall state of medicine (19th century) can you deduce from this article?
§ Do you think it would be possible for a person to survive such an accident today? Why or why not?
§ Why do you think that the title of the article is such that it is? (“Probably Fatal Accident”)
RAILROAD
ACCIDENT:
§ From what you can read from this article were children really any different during the late 19th century than children of today? (Explain your answer).
§ Could this type of accident still happen today?
§
Why wasn’t this boy immediately rushed to the
hospital?
Assessments will be standard tests and
quizzes; report writing, journal writing, as well as using rubrics for the
specific assignments.
RUBRICS FOR
ASSESSMENT
