1. Populism and Protest The Plight of the Farmers Section 4.3

3. What was the Populist (People’s) party? Third party Coalition of farmers, laborers, reformers Favored: –Immigration restrictions –Shorter workday –Bimetalism (Both gold and silver coins)

4. Homestead Act

5. What happened to farmers in the 1880s? Homestead Act New farming methods New machinery So things were going well, right? NO

6. What happened to farmers in the 1880s, continued… overproduction –led to falling prices heavy mortgages, high tariffs, high transportation prices widespread poverty, natural disasters, loneliness

8. What should the farmers have done? What factors might hinder them (that would not hinder an urban worker)?

9. Who were the Grangers? (1867)Grangers Farmers union Held mass meetings Pooled money together –purchase supplies, equipment, negotiate Lobbied Midwestern legislatures for Granger laws regulating: –Rates charged by RR, –Grain operators To which side of the political spectrum are the Grangers leaning?

10. What is significant about the Munn v. Illinois case of 1877? (Not in text) Supreme Court upheld right of Illinois to regulate private property –Giant elevators used for grain Decision restricts railroads from using predatory (monopolistic) business practices against small merchants –Rebates and discounts for huge hauls

11. What does this decision indicate regarding government’s role in the economy? Are they leaning right, left, in the middle? Are they becoming liberal, conservative? What element (main concept) of pure capitalism is starting to be changed? RadicalLiberal ConservativeReactionary

12. What did the Supreme Court decision in the Wabash case (1886) do to Munn v Illinois? Judicial Review destroyed it Railroad lawyers argued Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the US Constitution –That Congress (NOT STATES) shall have the power: To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes Whose side is the Supreme Court on in this case?

13. What were the results of the Wabash case? Interstate Commerce Commission (1887) created –Congress asserts its right to regulate interstate trade A weak law Cleveland was laissez-faire Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 –Prohibited monopolies restraints in trade Circumvented by monopolies Morphed into “holding companies” Not enforced by courts

14. Class work/Homework Explain this political cartoon. Who would support it? A farmer, or a businessman? What does it suggest about the railroad industry? The American Frankenstein 1874