Populism

1. Populism A response to the effects of industrialization on rural America

2. Question for thought: • How do the Populists' political demands illustrate the major economic and social problems facing American society in the 1890s?

3. Origins of Populism • Granger Movement and Farmer’s Alliances arise to deal with negative of effects of industrialization on farms. • Share-cropping • Railroad rates • Merchants

5. Crop Lien System Farmers borrow on credit for seeds, equipment, essentials - interest as high as 18% Pledge part of their crop as security for the loan and to pay back loan Money farmer received from crop had to cover the loan, the interest, expenses, and sometimes the next year’s crop. Sometimes the cost of the loan was 100% of the crop raised and sold

6. Railroads • Charged higher rates to farmers in the middle of the line than those going from end to end.

7. The Gold Standard • “backs up” currency

8. Populists opposed the rising gap between rich and poor that developed during late nineteenth century America. Talent and hard work alone could not explain the differences. Thus, Populists suspected that the rich had gotten ahead through illegitimate special privileges.

9. The Granger Movement Begun in 1867 in Minnesota Farmers are independent, but need an organization to represent them As individuals they were at the mercy of merchants and the railroads Organized they could apply political and economic pressure

10. A Farmer’s Alliance Lending Library

11. The People’s Party, 1892 • Grew out of Granger movement and Farmer’s Alliances

12. Omaha Platform, 1892 • 1. Economic: increase in circulating currency (unlimited coinage of silver), graduated income tax, loan programs • 2. Transportation: govt ownership of RRs • 3. Political: Direct election of U.S. senators, secret ballot, initiative referendum and recall

15. Tom Watson • Governor of Georgia. • Self taught lawyer, had to leave school after two years because lacked funds. • Took the lead in trying to mesh Farmer’s Alliance and Colored Farmer’s Alliance. • “You are kept apart so that you may be separately fleeced of your earnings.”

16. Mary Elizabeth Lease • Farmers need to “raise less corn and more hell”

17. 1892 Election

18. Results of 1892 • Jim Weaver, Populist candidate. • 22 electoral votes, more than 1 mil pop votes. • Populists elected to Congress, 3 governors, lots of minor officials. • Not do well in South; Democratic party holds strong (fears by whites of losing support for racial segregation by weakening the Dem party)

19. Depression of 1893 • Jay Gould’s RR goes bankrupt. • A run on gold reserves in US. • Unemployment, strikes, protests • Coxey’s army, unemployed RR workers, marches to D.C., wants govt jobs for the unemployed. Arrested for walking on the grass.

20. Election of 1896 • Populists join with Democrats • Dem: William Jennings Bryan • Rep: William McKinley

23. William Jennings Bryan, “Cross of Gold” Speech • We are “clad in the armor of a righteous cause.” • “hardy pioneers” versus “financial magnates” • “Burn down your cities and leave our farms and your cities will spring up again as if by magic, but destroy our farms and grass will grow in the streets of every city of the United States” • “You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind on a cross of gold.”

26. William McKinley • Gold standard • Supported by business and industrial Northeast

28. 1896 election: into which box will the voter of ‘96 put his ballot?

33. “Vote for Taft this time; you can vote for Bryan any time.”

34. Later, opposition to imperialism

35. Involvement in the Scopes Trial, 1925 Took the stand as a Bible expert (against teacher John Scopes).

36. Populism, Results: • Reactionary nature of Populism leads to downfall. • Populist proposals get adopted later. • Populist ideals live on. • Demands on U.S. govt to protect the people increase as time goes on.

37. End of Populism • By 1896, prosperity returns. • Spanish-American War encourages patriotism • Alliances made by Populists fall apart.

38. The patriotism of the Spanish-American War of 1898 also played a role in destroying Populism. Criticism of the nation's leaders or institutions can be painted as evidence of disloyalty by opponents during wartime. Thus, reformers usually mute their criticism or are silenced during periods of international turmoil. Most Populists probably supported freeing Cuba from autocratic Spanish rule.

39. Two interpretations of Populism

40. 1. Richard Hofstadter • Populists were nativist and reactionary, pursuing their local agenda; resentful people left out of the benefits of modern society. • 1950s - consensus / conformity, nativism

41. 2. Lawrence Goodwyn • Populists represented the best of democracy in America, a progressive movement to limit the abuses of big govt and industry. • 1960s - civil rights, democracy

42. Significance: Late 19th century Populism is important because • Populists became one of the most important 3rd parties in U.S. history - helped establish idea that govt is responsible to for its people • Many Populist ideas become reality later on • Historians debate its meaning, and that of many other events in the past. • “populism” is still a political method used today

43. Third Parties in U.S. History • 1. Always lose. • 2. Often draw support from the similar party, and cause them to lose. • 3. Raise important issues that are usually adopted later.

44. Populism and The Wizard of Oz; An Allegory L. Frank Baum

45. Some great examples of avatars that embody ideas comes from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. This fairy tale is an allegory of the silver movement at the end of the nineteenth century. Dorothy’s magical slippers were silver, not ruby, in the original story! After 1887 a series of droughts struck Kansas and as many as three out of four farms were mortgaged in some Kansas counties.

46. Thousands of settlers like Dorothy’s Aunt Em and Uncle Henry gave up and retraced their steps East; others trusted in the Farmer’s Alliance and pinned their hopes on the free coinage of silver. While gold as a standard of currency symbolized the idle rich of the industrial Northeast, silver stood for the common folk. Added to the currency in the form of silver dollars, it meant more money, higher crop prices, and a return of prosperity. Or so the supporters of silver coinage, lead by William Jennings Bryan, believed.

47. Each character and object in the story represents something in connection with the battle of the standards, even the story’s title. "Oz" (ounces) referred to the fight over the ratio of silver to gold. Dorothy wears magical slippers and follows the yellow brick road, thus achieving a proper relationship between the precious metals, silver and gold. Like many of her countrymen, she does not at first recognize the power of the silver slippers, but a kiss from the Good Witch of the North (Northern voters) protects her on the road.

48. The industrial worker The farmer Dorothy meets the scarecrow (the farmer) who has been told he has no brain but actually possesses great common sense, the Tin Woodman (the industrial worker) who fears he has become heartless but discovers the spirit of love and cooperation,

49. Populists also contended that farmers and laborers common status as producers made them natural allies. Here, members of the Knights of Labor, Farmers Alliance, and other similar organizations rally together. This coalition worked well in the South and West where both groups largely came from the same ethnic group. The party appeared to make some headway in the heavily-ethnic Northeast and Midwest in the mid-1890s.