The Populists

1. The Populists Presentation by Robert Martinez Primary Content Source: The Americans, Reading Study Guide, McDougal Littell Images as cited. http://amstd.spb.ru/Gilded_Age/populists.jpg

2. During the Reconstruction era, thousands of farmers found themselves sinking into a European-style serfdom (working land and profits for someone else.) http://www.tumbledownfarm.com/img/FM_2/FM_48.jpg

3. By 1883, they were at their wits’ end, boxed into poverty by nearly every other part of society. http://www.flickr.com/photos/southernhistoricalcollection/2933684838/

4. The monopolistic pricing practices of merchants and railroads ate up their profits. http://www.family-images.com/oh/misc/Railroad%20Station%20LaGrange%20Ohio%201909.jpg

5. They were hamstrung by the federal government’s decision to return to the gold standard after the Civil War. http://www.socialstudieshelp.com/Images/CrownofThorns.jpg

6. The appeal of the gold standard was the stability of the nation’s money supply. Unfortunately, the gold standard made farming loans more difficult to obtain and repay. http://www.liberty-page.com/issues/fed/gold.jpg

7. Farmers were troubled by their financial challenges. The harder they worked, the more they produced, the less they had to show for it. http://www.flickr.com/photos/9679871@N04/1204417684/

8. Farmers began to form into organizations which would represent farmer’s issues, similar to a union, called the granges or collectives. http://www.hayinart.org/images/4048.jpg

9. Soon grange and collective membership spread to 43 states with a membership over 2 million. http://www.flickr.com/photos/whsimages/1908062918/

10. Granges and farming alliances came together to develop a new political party call the “People’s Party” or the “Populist’s Party.” http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0600/media/0601_030301.jpg

11. The Populists were about ideas, anything that might enable men to make a living off the land without losing every shred of human dignity. http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/0718hw.html

12. Populist’s (Silverites) favored bimetalism, a combination of gold and silver, backing the nation’s money supply. Cheaper currency would permit farmers easier access to loans. http://visualhistory.freewebpages.org/_webimages/Free%20Silver%20Cartoon.jpg

13. The Populists’ political program included a graduated income tax, the eight-hour work day, and the direct election of U.S. senators. http://www.americaslibrary.gov/assets/jb/recon/jb_recon_workday_3_m.jpg

14. Also, the use of citizen referendums, the secret ballot, laws to protect union organizing, and, above all… http://thm-a04.yimg.com/image/9f339362df310728

15. … Some kind of regulation of the agricultural markets, to ensure that farmers received a decent return for their work (for instance, railroad rate regulation.) http://www.hist.umn.edu/~sargent/1308/farmer%20v%20rr.jpg

16. However, time and fate worked against the Populists. They were undermined by the Industrial Revolution. http://www.cobblestonepub.com/pix/lg/APP0401.jpg

17. But what ultimately derailed the Populists was the lure of the city.Urban issues, not rural, took center stage in America as people migrated to the cities. http://ephemeralnewyork.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/14thstreetsign.png

18. After running their candidate for president in 1892, and winning numerous state, local, and congressional elections, they merged into William Jennings Bryan’s Democratic Party. http://ronwade.freeservers.com/templateWJBryan.html

19. Their legacy lived on in the creation of collectives, granges, cooperative stores, and credit unions, all used to combat industries, such as the railroads. A depiction of Populist William Jennings Bryan and his criticism of the gold standard. http://visualhistory.freewebpages.org/Late1800s.html