I know I should focus on how women's roles changed, but I am appalled at the working conditions that the women had to endure. Slavery ended, but the conditions remained somewhat the same. The major difference is that the women got paid minuscule wages. The workers worked 12 hour days, 7 days a week. I have no idea if they were given breaks including a lunch break. They worked in one-room buildings where the temperatures were extreme depending on the season. The machinery used was very dangerous. Many workers died under normal working conditions. When the workers realized how poor the working conditions were, they tried to stand up for their rights. Many were fired rather than given better working conditions. It is amazing that greed is more important than the lives of the people who were working to make the owners the money they were making.

To engage students, I would show them pictures of the tools and people that were used to do the work on the farms in the beginning. I would have the groups talk about the efficiency of the work that was done by hands and hand tools. Then, I would show them pictures of different farming tools. I would have the students try to figure out what the tool is used for. Once they determine the use of the tool, they will figure out how it made farming easier and more efficient.

To engage my students, I would bring in a few modern nails of varying sizes. I would have my students handle them and compare them. Then, I would ask them to think about how nails are used. Why do we use them? How do we use them? Why do we need different types of nails? Once the students have been given the opportunity to discuss these nails, I would show them pictures like the nails in the beginning of this module. The students would compare those nails to the modern nails. Then I would explain how important the nails were and how difficult it was to get them. The students would gain a new appreciation for something as simple as a nail.