We began today's lesson by defining consumerism and discussing how factory workers (and the wealthy) had time off which resulted in leisure time becoming more common in the late 1800's. We reviewed examples of how society encouraged consumerism and listed some of the activities that became popular. Our reading took us into a discussion of corruption in the gilded age and the form it took and the 'political machines such as New York's Tammany Hall, led by William Magear "Boss" Tweed, who is said to have stolen millions of dollars from the city. We also began to reading about the progressive movement and the form it took, noting that many of the most active Progressives were middle-class women and we discussed the reasons why many reform movements grew during this time. Subject-specific vocabulary included the terms "muckrakers." We began to review reformers and their projects before our session ended but we will discuss the reform movements that were created in greater detail tomorrow. Ben agreed to work/collaborate on our next homework assignment covering Chapter 27 "New Immigrants/New Cities." I gave him a copy to prepare for it.