Mother Jones Reading Comprehension Questions This assignment is PART ONE of a TWO PART ASSIGNMENT. You must complete PART ONE in order to qualify to complete PART TWO. PART ONE may be completed outside of class. PART TWO must be completed during class. PART TWO is worth a significant amount of points if completed correctly. Instructions: Read the article and answer the following questions. Some of the questions may require outside research. Use only reliable, reputable sources. 1. How do others describe Mother Jones?

2. How does Mother Jones describe herself?

3. How did Mother Jones keep the attention of her audiences during her speeches?

4. Define “agitator.”

5. How was Mother Jones an agitator?

6. When representatives of the US Senate called Mother Jones an “agitator” did they mean it as a complement or an insult? WHY? (What did she do to earn the title?)

7. How did Mother Jones feel about the name given to her by the US Senate? Why did she feel this way?

8. Where was Mother Jones born?

9. How did the country of Mother Jones’ birth contribute to her growing up to become an agitator? (What happened there when she was a child?)

10. Where did Mother Jones first settle when she came to the American continent?

11. For what reason did Mother Jones come to the United States?

12. What was Mother Jones’ first job in the United States and where did she live?

13. What was Mother Jones’ second job in the United States and where did she live?

14. Which job did Mother Jones prefer and why?

15. What was Mother Jones’ third job in the United States and where did she live?

16. What does “staunch” mean?

17. Who was Mother Jones’ husband, and what did he do for a living?

18. How did Mother Jones’ husband’s job influence her, and what did she do with the knowledge she learned?

19. What happened in 1867 that changed Mother Jones’ life?

20. After the events of 1867, where did Mother Jones go, and what was her new job? 21. What happened in 1871 that changed Mother Jones’ life?

22. After the events of 1871, what organization began to interest Mother Jones and why?

23. Why did Mother Jones get involved with wanting to assist workers to improve their working conditions? (What did she see, and how did she feel about it?)

24. Why did Mother Jones begin to travel around the country? (What was she doing?)

25. When travelling the country, where did Mother Jones stay in the areas she visited?

26. What is a “shantytown”?

27. What is a “tipple”? (the word has several meanings ~ use the one related to MINING)

28. What changes were happening in the United States during this time period that Mother Jones observed?

29. Which groups of people worked in the coal mines and steel mills?

30. Dale Fetherling wrote a biography of Mother Jones. How does he describe how mine workers and steel workers were compensated for their work?

31. When the union leaders didn’t think they could win a fight for better working conditions for their workers, what would Mother Jones do?

32. How did Mother Jones assist workers who went on strike? (be specific)

33. Which strike did she assist in 1877?

34. How did Mother Jones help workers in the 1880s?

35. What did Mother Jones do in 1898?

36. Where was Mother Jones in 1905?

37. Would the Industrial Workers of the World be considered a peaceful or radical organization?

38. What types of strategies did the Industrial Workers of the World believe were necessary to enact change and improve conditions for workers?

39. Which mining organization did Mother Jones help to organize, and how did her role change from her earlier roles assisting coal miners?

40. When Mother Jones resigned from her role with the coal miners in 1904, what did she begin to do instead?

41. Which group of people did Mother Jones assist in 1904 and why did they need assistance?

42. What was significant about Mother Jones’ role in the IWW?

43. Who did Mother Jones help in 1911? 44. Who did Mother Jones help in 1923?

45. How old was Mother Jones by 1923?

46. How did Mother Jones gain national attention for coal miners in West Virginia in 1912 – 1913 during a particularly violent strike? (What was her specific strategy to get attention for the miners?)

47. What happened to Mother Jones as a result of her plan to assist the miners in West Virginia in 1913?

48. What decision was made regarding what to do with Mother Jones (see #47 above) and what happened as a result of this decision?

49. Why was the decision regarding what to do with Mother Jones changed, and who changed it?

50. Why did Mother Jones go to Colorado in 1913?

51. How did authorities try to stop Mother Jones from helping workers in Colorado, and how did she respond?

52. What did the authorities in Colorado finally have to do to stop Mother Jones?

53. What happened in Colorado after Mother Jones was removed, and how did she respond?

54. Which US President finally intervened in Colorado because of Mother Jones’ influence, and what did he propose should happen there?

55. What is a “strikebreaker” and what do they do? Yes, yes, they break strikes obviously. But HOW?

56. What was Mother Jones’ best strategy for stopping strikebreakers?

57. What was another very effective strategy Mother Jones used and who’s attention was she trying to get using this strategy in 1903?

58. What was Mother Jones trying to reform in 1903? (see #57 above)

59. Where did Mother Jones go in 1915 and 1916 and who was she trying to help?

60. Where did Mother Jones go in 1919 and who was she trying to help?

61. Where did Mother Jones go in 1921 and who was she trying to help?

62. Why did Mother Jones leave the United Mine Workers in 1922?

63. Where did Mother Jones go in 1926 and why?

64. Where did Mother Jones go in 1930 and why?

65. List the significant historical events mentioned in the article that Mother Jones witnessed during her lifetime.

66. Why is Mother Jones buried in Virden, Illinois?