Chapter Chronology

Quiz for Seeking the American Promise: “Making the Workplace Safer: Alice Hamilton Explores the Dangerous Trades”

Select the best answer for each question. Click the “submit” button for each question to turn in your work.

Question

1. Before the advent of occupational safety laws, who or what did industrial employers blame for the poor health of their workers in the early twentieth century?

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Correct. The answer is d. In the early twentieth century, most employers blamed their employees’ poor health on the workers themselves. Employers insisted that workers were in poor health because they did not take good care of themselves: they drank too much, or they failed to wash their hands before eating. In reality, as Alice Hamilton demonstrated, working conditions were often to blame for workers’ poor health.
Incorrect. The answer is d. In the early twentieth century, most employers blamed their employees’ poor health on the workers themselves. Employers insisted that workers were in poor health because they did not take good care of themselves: they drank too much, or they failed to wash their hands before eating. In reality, as Alice Hamilton demonstrated, working conditions were often to blame for workers’ poor health.

Question

2. In her efforts to improve occupational health for industrial workers in the early twentieth century, Alice Hamilton focused especially on

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Correct. The answer is c. Thanks to her efforts to study workplace health and shape legal protections for workers, by 1915 Alice Hamilton had become the top American authority on lead poisoning. Hamilton documented how industrial workers with prolonged exposure to lead in the workplace experienced damaged nervous systems, fatigue, high blood pressure, and even premature senility.
Incorrect. The answer is c. Thanks to her efforts to study workplace health and shape legal protections for workers, by 1915 Alice Hamilton had become the top American authority on lead poisoning. Hamilton documented how industrial workers with prolonged exposure to lead in the workplace experienced damaged nervous systems, fatigue, high blood pressure, and even premature senility.

Question

3. How did Alice Hamilton gather evidence to demonstrate the connections between work and illness in the early twentieth century?

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Correct. The answer is d. Alice Hamilton conducted studies at the state and national level to demonstrate the connection between work and illness, and her methods brought her directly into the places where such illnesses occurred: dangerous industrial workplaces, and to workers' homes. By directly witnessing the workplace conditions her subjects’ experienced, Hamilton became a widely-respected expert on lead poisoning and industrial disease.
Incorrect. The answer is d. Alice Hamilton conducted studies at the state and national level to demonstrate the connection between work and illness, and her methods brought her directly into the places where such illnesses occurred: dangerous industrial workplaces, and to workers' homes. By directly witnessing the workplace conditions her subjects’ experienced, Hamilton became a widely-respected expert on lead poisoning and industrial disease.

Question

4. Why might immigrants have been particularly vulnerable to the occupational diseases that public health reformers like Alice Hamilton tried to prevent in the early twentieth century?

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Correct. The answer is b. The industrial workforce Alice Hamilton aimed to help by reforming workplace safety practices was largely composed of immigrants. Hamilton described how these workers “accepted the risks” of their dangerous work “with fatalistic submissiveness as part of the price one must pay for being poor.” In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, massive numbers of immigrants—many of whom were poor—flooded American cities looking for work, and many found employment in the “dangerous trades” Hamilton studied.
Incorrect. The answer is b. The industrial workforce Alice Hamilton aimed to help by reforming workplace safety practices was largely composed of immigrants. Hamilton described how these workers “accepted the risks” of their dangerous work “with fatalistic submissiveness as part of the price one must pay for being poor.” In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, massive numbers of immigrants—many of whom were poor—flooded American cities looking for work, and many found employment in the “dangerous trades” Hamilton studied.

Question

5. What does Alice Hamilton’s life and career illustrate about the opportunities available for college-educated women at the turn of the twentieth century?

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Correct. The answer is a. Settlement houses were beneficial to two different groups of people for two very different reasons. For poor immigrant families, settlement houses like Hull House offered vital social services. For college-educated women like Alice Hamilton (and Jane Addams), settlement houses were among the few places where they could truly apply their talents and knowledge, and do so in the benefit of society.
Incorrect. The answer is a. Settlement houses were beneficial to two different groups of people for two very different reasons. For poor immigrant families, settlement houses like Hull House offered vital social services. For college-educated women like Alice Hamilton (and Jane Addams), settlement houses were among the few places where they could truly apply their talents and knowledge, and do so in the benefit of society.