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The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz. A Parable of the Populist Era. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Book was written in 1900 when the Populist movement was a relatively “current event” in American politics. The Characters. Dorothy “Every person” with common sense The Scarecrow The farmers

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The Wizard of Oz

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  1. The Wizard of Oz A Parable of the Populist Era

  2. The Wonderful Wizardof Oz by L. Frank Baum • Book was written in 1900 when the Populist movement was a relatively “current event” in American politics

  3. The Characters • Dorothy • “Every person” with common sense • The Scarecrow • The farmers • The Tin Woodsman • Dehumanized labor • The Cowardly Lion • Wm. Jennings Bryan

  4. The Wicked Witch of the West • The harsh environment of the Great Plains • Destroyed by water, which is what the Plains need in order to prosper!!!

  5. The Wicked Witch of the East • The eastern industrialists and bankers who controlled the little people (The Munchkins)

  6. Toto • The tee totaling prohibitionists • The Good Witch • The Farmers Alliance • Political lobby for the farmers

  7. Dorothy’s Ruby Red Slippers • Were actually silver slippers in the book but in the Technicolor film, red looked better than silver • Silver was the Populists solution to the nation’s economic problems

  8. The Wizard • The bumbling old man who hides behind the smoke and curtains represents any one of the Presidents from the Gilded Age • Hayes (1876-1880) • Garfield (1881) • Arthur (1881-85) • Cleveland (1885-89;1893-1897) • Harrison (1889-93) • McKinley (1897-01)

  9. The Yellow Brick Road • With all the dangers along the way represented the Gold Standard and the GILDED AGE • Emerald City • Washington, D.C.

  10. Oz • Is the abbreviation for ounces, a reference to the silverites who supported free silver in the ratio of 16 oz. of silver to 1 oz. of gold

  11. And as any Populist would know…There is no place like home!

  12. Why did the Populist Party disappear? • Major political parties adopted ideas of the Populists – no need for a minor party • Gold discovered in Alaska(1898) – no need for silver • Better economic times returned for the farmers • Famine in Europe increased demand for American products •  immigration to US meant more “mouths to feed” • “Golden Age of American Agriculture (1900-1914)

  13. Importance of the Populist Party • Many Populist suggestions were eventually adopted into law • Minority group can create change within the system • TODAY… “Tea Party” Movement role????

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