Populism & the Election of 1896

1. Populism & the Election of 1896

2. What were some of the major problems facing farmers during the Gilded Age ??

3. Debate over the Money Supply • Expand greenback (soft money) • Expectant capitalists, debtors, farmer • Why? • Borrow $$ at lower interest rates • Pay off loans faster and easier w/ inflated dollars • Increase prices for commodities they produced • Panic of 1873 • Many suspected gold-backed restricted currency at fault

4. Debate over the Money Supply • Against • Bankers, capitalists, creditors, investors (gold-backed) • Why? • Allow currency to hold its value • Increase value of gold as population expanded • They won • (1875) Specie Resumption Act • Greenback Party

5. 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 16:1 ratio of silver togold). • Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890) • The US Treasury must purchase$4.5 mil. oz. of silver a month. • Govt. deposited most silver in theUS Treasury rather than circulation.

6. Populism: An Agrarian Revolt

7. The Farmers’ Discontent • Independence and self sufficiency • “Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God.” • At the whim of uncontrollable forces • Global economy • Victim of own success

8. Price Indexes for Consumer & Farm Products: 1865-1913

9. Forces/Factors that Hurt the Farmer • Grain elevator operator rates • Manufacturers high prices • Crop-lien system • Banks increased interest rates • High prices for machinery • High Railroad rates

10. Founder of the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry (1867)

11. 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.

12. The Farmers Alliances • Begun in the 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.

13. United We Stand, Divided We Fall • In 1889 both the Northern andSouthern Alliancesmerged into one—the Farmers’ Alliance.

14. The Populist (Peoples’) Party • 1890 Bi-Election: • 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).

15. The Populist (Peoples’) Party • Formed to relieve economic pressure on agriculture • Restore democracy by eliminating what Populists saw as the corrupt &corrupting alliance b/w business and government. “Farmers should raise less corn and more hell.” Mary Elizabeth Lease

16. Who were the Populists? • Small farmers • Midwest: family farms • South: modest landowners, sharecroppers, tenants • Culturally marginalized • Failed to attract labor • Exceptions • Miners • African Americans

17. Omaha Platform of 1892 System of “sub-treasuries.” Graduated income tax Direct election of Senators. Govt. ownership of RRs, telephone & telegraph companies. Government-operated postal savings banks. Restriction of immigration. 8-hour work day for government employees. Private detective agencies shouldn’t be used to end strikes. secret ballot. Re-monitization of silver. A single term for President & Vice President.

18. Govt.-Owned Companies

19. 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

20. 1892 Election

21. Race and Populism • Farmers nationwide are “all in the same ditch”… • Liberal minded reformers like Tom Watson urged unified efforts at reforming the system.

22. The Panic of 1893

23. 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!!

24. Here Lies Prosperity

25. Written by a Farmer at the End of the 19c When the banker says he's brokeAnd the merchant’s up in smoke,They forget that it's the farmer who feeds them all.It would put them to the testIf the farmer took a rest;Then they'd know that it's the farmer feeds them all.

26. Coxey’s Army, 1894 • Jacob Coxey & his “Army of the Commonweal of Christ.” • March on Washington  “hayseed socialists!”

28. Depression Politics • Cleveland: govt has no responsibility to assist those in distress • Believes in returning to gold standard • Repealed Sherman Silver Purchase Act • Run on gold reserves

29. Govt = Tool of the rich? $65 Million in Gold

30. Result of Election Returns • Populist voteincreased by40% in the bi-election year,1894. • Democratic party losses in the West werecatastrophic! • But, Republicanswon control of the House.

31. The 1896 Election

32. William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925) The “Great Commoner”

33. 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.

34. Who Swallows Who?

35. Bryan: The Farmers Friend(The Mint Ratio) 18,000 miles of campaign “whistle stops.”

36. Democratic Party Taken Over by the Agrarian Left Platform  tariff reductions; income tax; strictercontrol of the trusts (esp. RRs); free silver.

37. Mark Hanna: The “Front-Porch” Campaign

38. William McKinley (1843-1901)

39. Mark Hanna to Candidate McKinley

40. Into Which Box Will the Voterof ’96 Place His Ballot?

41. 1896 Election Results

42. Why Did Bryan Lose? • His focus on silver underminedefforts to build bridges to urbanvoters. • He did not form alliances withother groups. • McKinley’s campaign was well-organized and highly funded.

43. Gold Triumphs Over Silver • 1900  GoldStandard Act • confirmed thenation’s commitment tothe gold standard. • A victory for the forces ofconservatism.

44. The Wizard of Ozby L. Frank Baum

45. 1964: Henry Littlefield’s “Thesis”?

46. What Are the Metaphors? • Dorothy  ? • 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  ?

47. Heyday of Western Populism

48. Why Did Populism Decline? The economy experienced rapid change. The era of small producers and farmers was fading away. Race divided the Populist Party, especially in the South. The Populists were not able to breakexisting party loyalties. Most of their agenda was co-opted bythe Democratic Party.