Populism

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Populism the Election of 1896
2
What were some of the major problems
facing farmers during the Gilded Age ??
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Unhappy Farmers

• Boll weevil infestation early 1890s
• Grasshoppers ravaged prairie farms
• Floods eroded the topsoil away
• Expensive fertilizers had to be bought
• Long successions of droughts that seared the land
• Whole towns were abandoned
• Land overassessed taxes too high

4
The Silver Issue

• Crime of 73 ? demonetization ofsilver (govt.
  stopped coining silver).
• Bland-Allison Act (1878) ? limitedsilver coinage
  to 2-4 mil. per mo.(based on the 161 ratio of
  silver togold).
• Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890)
• The US Treasury must purchase4.5 mil. oz. of
  silver a month.
• Govt. deposited most silver in theUS Treasury
  rather than circulation.

5
The Demand for Cheaper Money

• Economic downturn after the Civil War
• Deflation
• Money in circulation decreased
• Prices decreased
• Spending increased
• Inflation
• More money in circulation
• Value of dollar falls
• Prices increased
• Consumers purchase less

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Populism An Agrarian Revolt
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Price Indexes for Consumer Farm Products
1865-1913
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Unhappy Farmers

• High protective tariffs put money in hands of
  manufacturers
• Farmers had no choice but to sell their low
  priced products in a competitive world market
• Had to buy high priced manufactured goods at home
• At the mercy of trusts middlemen
• Farmers were disorganized by nature, independent

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Problems with the Railroads

• Outrageous prices to transport grain
• Railroads made secret agreements with middlemen
• Allowed the railroads to control grain storage
  prices
• This influenced the market price of crops
• Farmers mortgaged their crops
• Farmers stuck in a cycle of credit and more debt

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The Farmers Alliances

• Oliver Kelley - farmer
• Created the Patrons of Husbandry group
• It became an organization for farmers
• The Grange popular name of Patrons of H.
• Social outlet and educational forum for isolated
  farm families

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Founder of the National Grange of the Patrons of
Husbandry (1867)
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The Grange Movement

• First organized in the 1870s in the Midwest, the
  south, and Texas.
• Set up cooperative associations.
• Social and educational components.
• Succeeded in lobbying for Granger Laws.
• Rapidly declined by the late 1870s.

13
Supreme Court Decision

• Wabash, St. Louis, Pacific Railroad Company vs.
  Illinois (1886)
• Decreed that individual states had no power to
  regulate interstate commerce
• Therefore, Grangers couldnt get laws passed
  limiting commerce in states anymore

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Giftfor theGrangers The FarmerPays for All!
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The Farmers Alliances

• Begun in the late 1880s (Texas first ? the
  Southern Alliance then in the Midwest ? the
  Northern Alliance).
• Built upon the ashes of the Grange.
• More political and less social than the Grange.
• Ran candidates for office.
• Controlled 8 state legislatures had
  47representatives in Congress during the 1890s.

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United We Stand, Divided We Fall

• In 1889 both the Northern andSouthern
  Alliancesmerged into onethe Farmers Alliance.

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The Populist (Peoples) Party

• 1890 Mid-Term Elections
• So. Alliance ? wanted to gain control of the
  Democratic Party.
• No. Alliance ? ran 3rd Party candidates.
• 1892 ? 800 met in St. Louis, MO
• majority were Alliance members.
• over 100 were African Americans.
• reps. of labor organizations other reformers
  (Grange, Greenback Party).

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Platform of Lunacy
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The Populist (Peoples) Party

• Founded by James B. Weaverand Tom Watson.
• Omaha, NE Convention in July,1892.
• Got almost 1 million popularvotes.
• Several Congressional seatswon.

James B. Weaver, Presidential Candidate James
G. Field, VP
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The Populist Party

• Populism movement of the people
• Populist Party Convention demanded reforms to
  give help to farmers
• Economic reforms proposed
• Increase in money supply
• Graduated income tax
• Federal loan program
• 8 hour workday
• Immigration restrictions
• These were all radical changes at the time

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Omaha Platform of 1892

1. System of sub-treasuries.
2. Abolition of the National Bank.
3. Direct election of Senators.
4. Govt. ownership of RRs, telephone telegraph
   companies.
5. Government-operated postal savings banks.
6. Restriction of undesirable immigration.
7. 8-hour work day for government employees.
8. Abolition of the Pinkerton detective agency.
9. Australian secret ballot.
10. Re-monitization of silver.
11. A single term for President Vice President.

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Govt.-Owned Companies
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The Populist Party

• Populists were popular in the Midwest and the
  West
• They became a force in politics
• Their programs became the platform for the
  Democratic Party
• 1880s U.S. economy grew too fast
• Farmers and businesspeople took out too many
  loans to be able to pay back
• Railroads went bankrupt

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1892 Election
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The Panic of 1893
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Panic of 1893

• Industries related to railroads became affected
  by bankruptcies
• Stock Market collapsed
• Banks stopped giving loans
• Gold reserves fell
• The Panic deepened into a Depression
• 15,000 businesses and 600 banks folded
• 3 million unemployed
• Agriculture problems and unemployment

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Causes of the 1893 Panic

• Begun 10 days after Cleveland took office.
• Several major corps. went bankrupt.
• Over 16,000 businesses disappeared.
• Triggered a stock market crash.
• Over-extended investments.
• Bank failures followed causing a contractionof
  credit nearly 500 banks closed.
• By 1895, unemployment reached 3 million.
• Americans cried out for relief, but the
  Govt.continued its laissez faire policies!!

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Free Silver

• Major parties divided over different regions and
  economic interests
• Gold Bugs favored gold standard
• Backing dollars only with gold
• Free Silverites favored bimetallism
• Gold or silver for cash or checks
• Silver more plentiful than gold
• Gold more valuable
• Gold standard stable, but expensive currency

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Bi-Metallism Issue
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Here Lies Prosperity
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Written by a Farmer at the End of the 19c
When the banker says he's broke And the
merchants up in smoke, They forget that it's
the farmer who feeds them all. It would
put them to the test If the farmer took a rest
Then they'd know that it's the farmer feeds
them all.
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Coxeys Army, 1894

• Jacob Coxey his Army of the Commonwealth of
  Christ.
• March on Washington ? hayseed socialists!

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Coxeys Army, 1894

• Most famous of those dispossessed by the Panic of
  1893
• Demanded the govt relieve unemployment with a
  public works program
• Marched to DC to support this
• Took supporters reporters with him
• General Coxey his lieutenants arrested for
  walking on the grass

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Pullman Strike, 1894

• American Railway Union organized by Eugene Debs,
  known socialist
• Protesting lost jobs cut wages at Pullman
  Palace Car Company
• Also wanted employees to continue to pay their
  rents
• AFL declined to support the strikers
• Cleveland supported the dispatch of federal
  troops interfering with U.S. mail
• Strike was crushed

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Result of Election Returns

• Populist voteincreased by40 in the midterm
  election year, 1894.
• Democratic party losses in the West
  werecatastrophic!
• But, Republicanswon control of the House.

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The 1896 Election
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Gold / Silver Bug Campaign Pins
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William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925)
The Great Commoner
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William Jennings Bryan
Prairie avenger, mountain lion, Bryan,
Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Gigantic troubadour,
speaking like a siege gun, Smashing
Plymouth Rock with his boulders from the
West.

• Revivalist style of oratory.

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Bryan and the Cross of Gold

• 1896 Republicans nominate William McKinley
• Conservative Ohioan former congressman
• For the Gold Standard
• Democratic Party
• Favored bimetallism
• Couldnt settle on a candidate - Cleveland was
  blamed for economic depression
• William Jennings Bryan former member of
  Congress
• Currently Editor of Omaha World-Herald
• Gave speech to the Democratic Convention

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BryansCross of Gold Speech
You shall not press down upon the brow of labor
this crown of thorns you shall not crucify
mankind upon a cross of gold!
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Bryan and the Cross of Gold

• The speech earned him the Democratic nomination
• The Populists nominated Bryan as well for
  president with a Populist Vice-President nominee
• Hoped to retain their party and a nominee who
  could win the election
• Gold bug Democrats left the party
• McKinley campaigned well and won by 500,000 votes
• Populism collapsed with McKinleys election

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Bryan The Farmers Friend(The Mint Ratio)
18,000 miles of campaign whistle stops.
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Democratic Party Taken Over by the Agrarian Left
Platform ? tariff reductions income tax
strictercontrol of the trusts (esp. RRs) free
silver.
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Mark Hanna The Front-Porch Campaign
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(No Transcript)
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William McKinley (1843-1901)
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A Giant Straddle Suggestion for a McKinley
Political Poster
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The Seasoned Politician vs. The Young Newcomer
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Joshua A. Levering Prohibition Party
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Into Which Box Will the Voterof 96 Place His
Ballot?
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1896 Election Results
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Why Did Bryan Lose?

• His focus on silver underminedefforts to build
  bridges to urbanvoters.
• He did not form alliances withother groups.
• McKinleys campaign was well-organized and
  highly funded.

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Gold Triumphs Over Silver

• 1900 ? GoldStandard Act
• confirmed thenations commitment tothe gold
  standard.
• A victory for the forces ofconservatism.

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The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Some people think that characters situations in
the story represent the fight between gold bugs
silverites
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1964 Henry Littlefields Thesis?
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Parable of the Populists?

• Tornado ? ?
• Dorothy ? ?
• Toto ? ?
• Kansas ? ?
• Wicked Witch of theEast ? ?
• Tin Woodsman ? ?
• Scarecrow ? ?
• Cowardly Lion ? ?
• Yellow Brick Road ? ?

• Silver Slippers ? ?
• Emerald City ? ?
• Oz ? ?
• The Wizard ? ?
• Munchkins ? ?
• Wicked Witch of the West ? ?
• Flying Monkeys ? ?
• Yellow Winkies ? ?

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Heyday of Western Populism
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Why Did Populism Decline?

1. The economy experienced rapid change.
2. The era of small producers and farmers was
   fading away.
3. Race divided the Populist Party, especially in
   the South.
4. The Populists were not able to breakexisting
   party loyalties.
5. Most of their agenda was co-opted bythe
   Democratic Party.

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But, Populism Still Lives!
Al Gore (Dem) in 2000
61
But, Populism Still Lives!
John Edwards (Dem) in 2008