Populism Mr. Turner

background After 1870 crop prices started to plummet It was costing most farmers more to produce crops than they made selling them The more crops that farmers produced the less they would cost the consumer Farmers began to blame big businesses such as railroads and banks Farmers would burn corn for fuel rather than sell it

Farmers thought that railroads were monopolies that could charge whatever they wanted for transportation Farmers thought that banks set interest rates too high Cost of business increased which caused farmers to mortgage their farms to pay for equipment This made them tenement farmers - people who did not own the land they tended Farmers felt like the country had turned its back on them

Farmers Unite for Change Farmers began to organize groups to fight their problems In 1867 Oliver H. Kelley organized a group referred to as The Grangers or the Grange The goals were to provide education for farmers and enact regulations on the railroad companies 1870s- Grange Laws passed, which set maximum prices for rail transport, and the Interstate Commerce Commission established Farmers’ Alliances were created in the 1870s Goals: collectively sell crops, and get postal banks set up for low interest loans The Colored Farmers Alliance was created to help both black and white farmers and ease racial tensions that harmed farmers

The Populist Party The Populist or People’s Party was created in 1892 Created and ratified their platform in Omaha, NE in 1892 Wanted the “free and unlimited coinage of silver” Wanted government ownership of the railroads, telegraph, and telephones lines

Wanted a graduated income tax Wanted excess lands owned by railroads and lands owned by aliens taken by the government and held for land grants to citizens James B. Weaver was the first Populist candidate for President

Populist success Weaver lost but gained over a million votes in the 1892 election Three Populist governors, five senators, and ten congressmen were elected They gained even more seats in state legislatures in 1894

William Jennings Bryan Bryan was chosen as the Democratic party candidate for the election of 1896 He shared many ideas with the Populist Party He was an advocate of the free coinage of silver and gold Populists supported Bryan rather than nominating their own candidate

Cross of Gold Speech Bryan gave the “Cross of Gold” speech to the Democratic National Convention in 1896 He argued for the free coinage of silver He argued for the plain people, and the farmers It ended with “you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”

Election of 1896

Populism’s Impact With the defeat of Bryan, the Populist party was weakened and began to lose support all over They would be around for another decade before dissolving However; a lot of ideas of the Populists would be championed by the Progressive Party Led to presidential candidates to campaign more to The People