1. Farm Politics in the Gilded Age

2. Farmer Discontent
1. Mechanization on the farm 2. Competition and tariffs 3. Natural disasters 4. Debt and monetary policy

3. Total Population (in millions)
Changes on the Farm
U.S. Population  
Year
Total Population (in millions)
Rural
Urban
1870 40
74% 
26% 
1880 50
72 %
28 %
1890 63
65 %
35 %
1900 76
60 %
40 %
Agricultural Productivity 
1800
1900 
Wheat
Worker-hours per acre 56 15
Yield per acre 14
Corn 86 38 25 26
Cotton  
185
112
147
191
Growth of Farm Tenancy Percentage of Farms Operated by Tenants 
U.S.
South
Non-South
1880 26 36 19
1900 35 47

4. Granger Movement Precursor to Populism Granger Laws: Rail commissions
Maximum rates for freight and storage

5. Granger Influence Munn v. Illinois (1877) Wabash v. Illinois (1886)
States can regulate businesses with “public interest”
Overturned in 1905
Wabash v. Illinois (1886)
Ends era of Granger laws by throwing control to the feds
Interstate Commerce Act (1887)
Freight and passenger rates must be “reasonable and just.” Pools and rebates outlawed
Creates the ICC
First large-scale attempt to regulate business for the public interest

6. Populist Party Grew out of Grangers and Farmer’s Alliance
Difficulty uniting farmers in the South
Viewed both parties as corrupt and tied to big business.
Industrial laborers encouraged to join
Ocala Demands – becomes platform for the Populist Party in 1892

7. Success? Election of 1892 Progressives achieve most of their goals
James B. Weaver received more than a million popular votes (8.5 percent of the total) and 22 electoral votes.
10 representative, 5 senators, and 4 governors, 345 state legislators, and 1,500 state and county officials
Progressives achieve most of their goals

8. The Election of 1896 William Jennings Bryan Democrats shift pro-silver
Loses support of labor
Republicans: pro-gold go with McKinley
New campaign tactics
Death of the silver issue and farmer influence

10. Percentage of Labor Force in Agriculture
1860
53%
1870
52 %
1880
51 %
1890
43 %
1900
40 %
1910
31 %
1920
26 %
1930
21 %
 Farming Profession
Number of Farms (in thousands)
Proportion of Total Population
1940
6,350
23.1 %
1950
5,648
15.2 %
1960
3,963
8.7 % 
1970
2,949
4.7 % 
1980
2,428
2.7 %

11. The Wizard of Oz Scarecrow Tin Man Cowardly Lion Dorothy and Munchkins
the farmers
Tin Man
industrial workers
Cowardly Lion
William Jennings Bryan
Dorothy and Munchkins
Common people
Emerald City
Wall Street, greenback colored
The Wizard
the Money Power, whose influence rests on manipulation and illusion.
Wicked Witch of East
Banks
Yellow Brick road
gold backed dollar