American Populism

During the time of the Progressive Era, the Populist Party made tremendous gains in the political and social aspect of American society. Discontent with the economic and political way the country was structured, the Populists sought to reform the government using a system of initiative and referendum. As a form of direct democracy, initiative and referendum was a way to give the power back to the people by utilizing local and state governments. The first part of the reform was the initiative, which is usually a petition signed by a number of voters to bring about a public vote and opinion on a certain amendment, both state and constitutional. This initiative eventually sets the path for the referendum, which is when the proposed law is enacted.

Unfortunately, Presidents were not the only Government officials who possessed views on rights and slavery. Congress officials along with the Supreme court also rejected blacks "no rights which the white man was bound to respect." Furthermore, George Washington was one of the first to own slaves, along with the highest amount owned in the nation, with an alarming 317. I only guessed about 10 slaves and I was way off. However, even after slavery had ended it was noted that many Presidents thereafter would still exhibit radical prejudice. Further, Thomas Jefferson owned the second largest amount of slaves with a total of 237, he was also the first president to have had a slave child born in the White House. Unfortunately, with Slaves also came punishment, more common of these were whipping or beating and chaining or handcuffing. Despite the cruel means of punishment all three of the U.S. presidents with the highest amount of slaves owned also are on U.S. currency. In addition to, replacing the face on the U.S. $20 bill, from Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman, this is something I did not know.

In Treatise on the Intellectual Character and Civil and Political Condition of Colored People in the U. States, Easton examines the dominating, seemingly ubiquitous power of racial prejudice in the United States. In this, Easton portrays a direct association between the endurance of a republic and the habits and sentiments of its people, ultimately asserting that the success of a republican government is contingent upon the character of its citizenry. Therefore, contrary to the beliefs of the American colonists at the time, Easton argues that institutional configuration alone cannot protect the virtuous ideals of freedom and equality that are embedded in republicanism. Rather, a republic can only be as good as that of which motivates

With tension on the rise, American farmers continue to demand reforms to lift their burden of debt as well as greater representation in government. Recently, with the tremendous growth in industrialization of oil and steel, migrants have felt the difficulties associated with farming and continue to fall into arrears.

Throughout American history, reform was common among people of a particular, race, gender, or class used to accomplish change. The emergence of the populist and progressive movements were a response to the changing climate in American society due to rapid industrialization, an ethnically diverse personality of a young nation, and birth of American imperialism. Disgruntled American farmers that wished to advance their economic position initiated the Populist movement. Progressives pushed to improve urban labor conditions, dismantle trusts and monopolies, conserve of environment, and to install an active government. Populism and Progressivism had many similarities and differences, which

After centuries of racial injustice and 43 white presidents, Obama enters office in the history making election. Racial barriers in the government fall as the last position in office to never have had an African American succeed it had seated Obama. In “Barack Obama to be America's first black president,” Ewen MacAskill, Suzanne Goldenberg, and Elana Schor report Obama’s win by a landslide in electoral votes with “338 electoral votes to McCain's 129.” With states so keen on Obama winning, the country has taken a huge step from racial oppression exhibited in Wright’s time. A big part of Obama’s victory was due to the blacks who voted as in the article, “Obama Elected President as Racial Barrier Falls,” Adam Nagourney states, “Mr. Obama benefited from a huge turnout of voters, but particularly among blacks. That group made up 13 percent of the electorate, according to surveys of people leaving the polls, compared with 11 percent in 2006.” Blacks have stepped up and made their voices heard through the votes in comparison to Wright’s time. Instead of writing about how blacks around him have submitted to an inferior position placed by whites, he would write about how they have joined together to place a black person in the highest position in government. It is an immense change from when blacks had to give into Jim Crow laws to

Over the course of evaluating America’s history, much time has been spent deliberating Thomas Jefferson’s motives and actions in regards to slavery and its possible abolition. This topic has become a very polarized subject as some feel he was a clear abolitionist obstructed by a time during which popular opinion was distinctly in favor of slavery; others believe his claim to be a humane philanthropist was just a front as his actions so evidently played into supporting the system which he claimed to be “unjust.” Two articles which address these opposite views are Dumas Malone’s, “The Hopes and Fears of a Slaveholder,” and William Cohen’s, “Thomas Jefferson and the Problem of Slavery.” Furthermore, some feel as though new evidence has

Introduction: Race has always been a major topic in American history, and it continues to be today. People are constantly fighting about race, but why? Why and how did race become such a big part of the United States of America’s political, economic, and social culture? And why is does it cause so much sectional division within the United States? Race has been such a controversial and major topic that, in order to end racial problems, a war had to be fought, court cases had to be won, and laws had to be passed banning it. The topic can be traced back to beginning of America’s history as the colonies, and can be followed through past the Civil War.

To better understand where the populist movement, and the People's Populist Party came from you must first track back from the official formation of the party in 1892, to the real beginning, the Omaha Platform, which was drafted as a result of the crusade by the Farmer's Alliance in the late 1880s ( The Omaha Platform). The Farmer's Alliance took the place of The Grange after its decline in the late 1870s (Nash 430). Both of these organizations were created to fight for the "immense helpless mob" (429) of farmers in the post Civil War period. Both black and white farmers were beginning realize that the only way for them to improve their own lives was through banding together and taking collective action. Specifically, those included in this

The farmers during this time are going to have struggles and they sought to limit the effects of mechanized farming or machine farming which displaced a lot of famers and dependence on railroads so they form organizations such as The Grange Movement an association for the American farmers, they sought to regulate railroads and grain warehouses where their goods would be stored. Concerning one of the main grievances the agriculturists had were about the railroads and other rich offices. During this time we have the emergence of the populist party and they wanted to increase government control of railroads, telegraphs and much more. These organizations were possessed by well known names, for example, Andrew Carnegie, John Rockefeller, James

The election of 1892, the year former President Grover Cleveland was reelected after defeating President Benjamin Harrison. President Grover Cleveland lost the electoral vote in 1888 against Harrison, but in 1892 Cleveland made a comeback. Even though President Cleveland and President Harrison represented the two main parties, a third party had risen in popularity during this time. The People Party received popularity in this election, making them the first third party to receive electoral votes since the 1860 Presidential Race.

Not only did Lincoln guarantee that “4 million black Americans gained options” and their “humanity” (Paluden 356), Lincoln’s preservation of the Union thus preserved the constitutional process, which ensured that the nation would never again settle controversies and changes in government on the battlefield. Lincoln protected a nation of diversity citizens who could trust that the American “legal processes” and “political-constitutional system” would achieve the “best ideals” (Paluden

The problems of race the United States confronted are deeply imbedded in the historical past of the nation. Due to the fact that a great majority of the nation’s African Americans lived

Politics has always been a controversial topic that has been actively separating the American society for many years. It has been fueled by the different ideologies that have been formed and passed down from past generations. The United States government has two front-running parties: The Democratic Party and the Republican Party. These parties are both criticized by one another, and the political candidates are kept under a microscope at all times. One wrong sentence has the ability to bring the wrath of societal shame. With this term’s presidential race the Republican Party and its lead candidate have accelerated at these mishaps, which has conveyed a racial bias stigma. The denotative meaning of the Republican Party is to be, relating to, or the nation of a republic. Each party has a denotative meaning, but the connotative meaning is what viewed in the eyes of the American society. Republicans are believed to be all white, rich, over privileged, business hungry, and the oppressors of other minorities.

Right-wing Populism is a broad term given to political parties that fall in the pre-determined range that would lead to it being called right-wing. However, these ranges themselves are also very broad so I have decide for this paper to define right-wing populism as the rejection of the current status quo to appeal to the common man by promoting their own culture and state through the rejection of others and providing a different route to economic growth other than Keynesianism economic model. This same Right-wing populism has been spreading throughout Europe surprisingly and suddenly with such parties as Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the National Front (FN) to name a few. However, what gave birth to these movements and should it have been