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John D. Rockefeller. Greasy robber baron, or philanthropic saint? Why not both? Boy, that's a weird combination... 

Today we'll learn about why you shouldn't phone it in after inventing the phone (or anything else for that matter). Whoever files their patent firs...

Think your chores are bad? During the first Industrial Revolution, children as young as ten often worked more than eight hours a day for less than...

Steel yourself. That big rich guy who paid for Carnegie Hall, Carnegie Mellon University, and hundreds of libraries all around the country...used o...

Today we'll learn about how electricity jump-started mass production and eventually led to electronic books named after rain forests that currently...

Hm...working and contributing to society, or eating bonbons at home? Tough choice for us at here at Shmoop. Maybe we should work at a bonbon factory?

Today we're going to learn about Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and their roles in the First Great Awakening. Awakening to some guys screamin...

Have you ever thought about how thankful you are that you don't have to drink sewer water? Or walk through garbage every day? Or meet pigs and hors...

Communism aside, Karl really did make his mark with that epic beard. We're jealous every time we see it.

Have you ever told one of your siblings to stop poking you, only to have them do something like hold their hand right in front of your face instead...

Today we'll learn about plans to assimilate the American Indian population after reconstruction. If you've ever seen Star Trek, you'll know that fo...

While Booker T. Washington was happy with any sort of progress at first, W. E. B. Du Bois was carrying more of a "Go Big or Go Home" philosophy. Le...

According to George Washington, political parties may just be why we can't have nice things. Let's learn about an early (and very corrupt) politica...

First Industrial Revolution. Second...Industrial...Revolution... Ugh, how many more? We're getting dizzy here.

Believe it or not, people used to have to work just as fast as the machines told them to. Yikes. Sounds more like a dystopian future movie. Where's...

Born with a silver mustache on his mouth, J.P. Morgan grew up to be one of the biggest, richest bankers on the block. He made so much money that it...

Anarchy is kind of like being left at home without parental supervision for the first time. It's all fun and games til the Guy Fawkes masks come out.

What do you do when your war material factory loses all of its customers? Make the factory even bigger. ...Well that sounds ridiculous, but so...

It's a good thing muckrakers brought about political reform, because raking muck doesn't really seem all that productive. Didn't they have shovels...

The "Captains of Industry" were a super team of businessmen known for empowering the US's economy through industrial production. We know it's not q...

Today's lesson will be about the Wobblies. No, it's not the hot new kids show of the day, this was a socialist movement back in the early 1900s. Yeah, we're not sure how they gained so much traction with such a silly name either.

Today we're going to learn about how bullying can be a good thing, but only when specific Teddy bears are involved.

J.P. Morgan was like a money superhero. Money...man? The Spendinator? Morganius Terrificu—okay we'll stop.

Today we're going to learn about Social Darwinism. Originally we were going to teach you about Antisocial Darwinism, but we couldn't get anyone to talk to us about it.

Historians don't always get things right. Did you know that Pocahontas never actually had conversations with talking trees? Yeah, we were shocked too.

Let's learn about the new wave sweepin' across the Atlantic in the 1700s: The Great Awakening. Think for yourself, leave the rich, established churches, and don't listen to that guy. He isn't screaming and fainting during his sermons, like, at all.

The Jim Crow laws remind us of one of the most shameful periods in our nation's history. At least we changed, and grew, and are no longer racist. (laugh/sob)

We've got your back when it comes to sourcing. And before we start, no, Uncle Moe's dreams about his past life as Queen Victoria won't cut it..for history at least.

The Jungle was basically the Food, Inc. of the early 1900s, and it got people thinking that they just might need someone inspecting meat to see if it was rotten or diseased before shipping it out all over the country. Seems like common sense to us...

Today's lesson: deforestation and early conservation. Didn't any of these people hear the story of the three little pigs? Brick houses save trees...and pigs.

Today we're going over the extreme crowding in tenement houses. And you probably thought sharing a room with one sibling was bad enough. Try ten siblings and you all have to share one bathroom with the people next door. Yikes.

Taft may be most famous for bathtubs these days, but he did tons of other important things as well like breaking up Standard Oil, levying income taxes, and establishing that state senators would be elected by popular vote. And okay...yes, he did have a custom bathtub built that could fit four normal sized men inside it. So what?

Ever wonder if they called voting suffrage to trick people into thinking they didn't want it? Well even so, it certainly didn't work on women in America. Today we'll learn about women's changing roles in society during the Gilded Age and women's suffrage.

People seem to panic enough when they run low on money, but when the banks started running out? Pandemonium. And who ya gonna call when there's pandemonium in 1907? Well, not the Ghostbusters...because they didn't exist yet.

The Knights of Labor is a pretty awesome name for a labor organization. Especially with groups like "The Wobblies" popping up around the same time.

There were all kinds of riots before and during the U.S. Civil War. Except for laugh riots...and unfortunately those are the only ones we support.

Whether you know what triangle shirtwaists are or not (and we most certainly do not), setting them on fire is bad news. It eventually paved the way to better fire safety regulations, but not before a tragic disaster or two.

Woodrow may have had a silly name, but it's because of him that children aren't working on the railroad all the livelong day. He also brought about the federal reserve system, and women's right to vote. It's fair to say he wasn't holding office just to pass the time away.

Being well-organized isn't just an arbitrary skill your parents like to nag you about. In today's lesson, we'll learn about how labor unions were able to actually fight back against huge mega-corporations through organizing together. And striking. A lot of striking.

Suffragists had to endure a whole lot of suffering to convince the U.S. to give women the right to vote. Contrary to popular belief, the name was just a coincidence.