Website Spotlight: John D. Rockefeller

Website URL: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/index.html

Introductory Note:

Welcome to one in a series of posts which spotlight quality websites that I use with my U.S. History survey course students at Azusa Pacific University to enrich the regular material in our learning modules.

In this post, I limit myself to those specific aspects of the website which I find fit particularly well within our face-to-face class sessions (each student is required to bring a laptop to class) or as the basis for the students' regularly-assigned written reactions.

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I ask the students to work through the following links:

Introduction
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/filmmore/pd.html

Biography of John D. Rockefeller, Senior
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/peopleevents/p_rock_jsr.html

Online Poll
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/sfeature/sf_1.html

Clash of Titans: Rockefeller vs. Tarbell
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/sfeature/sf_6.html

Biography of Ida Tarbell
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/peopleevents/p_tarbell.html

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Interview with economist Paul Krugman:

How does Rockefeller’s dominance compare to companies today?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/sfeature/sf_3_krug_1.html

Do mergers occur in the same way today as they did then?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/sfeature/sf_3_krug_2.html

Was Rockefeller’s monopoly necessary?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/sfeature/sf_3_krug_3.html

Do you see a comparison with how Rockefeller and Gates leveraged their power?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/sfeature/sf_3_krug_4.html

Who are the new robber barons?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/sfeature/sf_3_krug_5.html

Rockefeller was a case study in developing antitrust laws.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/sfeature/sf_3_krug_6.html

What is Rockefeller’s current status among experts?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/sfeature/sf_3_krug_7.html

What do people not realize about Rockefeller?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/sfeature/sf_3_krug_8.html

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Concluding Note:

I hope you will use this blog post in conjunction with both the modules on my Learning Professor wiki and the numerous other posts in my Website Spotlight series.

1. The website spotlighted in this post fits within the following U.S. History survey course module on the wiki:
http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/Industrialization

2. The other blog posts in my Website Spotlight series--chronologically displayed by U.S. History survey course module-- can be found on this wiki page:
http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/WEBSITE+SPOTLIGHT