The Populism Movement

There was a social change in which women also fought for suffrage. The populists were pretty much the victims of economic distress and their arguments were founded on the basis of progressive movements. One of the populist failure was that they lost the national election when the farmers united to insist on economic reform.

Farmers united to protect their interests, even creating a major political party. The party was called the peoples party which became known as the populist party. Populists drew its strength from rural areas. Populists tended to be poor and uneducated. They had ideas such as government ownership of major industries. The Populists supported labors demand for an eight

The Whigs won elections of 1840 and 1848. They nominated in 1840 William Henry Harrison

The period between 1870 and 1900 was a time to change politics. The country was for once free from war and was united as one nation. However, as these decades passed by, the American farmer found it harder to live comfortably. Crops such as cotton and wheat, once the cash crop of agriculture, were selling at prices so low that it was nearly impossible for farmers to make a profit. Improvements in transportation allowed larger competitors to sell more easily and more cheaply, making it harder for American yeoman farmers to sell their crops. Finally, years of drought in the Midwest and the fall of business in the 1890s devastated the farming community. Most notably, the Populist Party arose to fight what farmers saw as the issues affecting

Throughout the 1880s and 1890s America was going through many changes and many of these were fought by the Populists. Silver being demonetized was another major problem for the Populists and they fought it along with asking for a national government regulated currency as well. The Populist Party also fought against the harsh taxes that were in place at the time in the United States. The biggest concern for many of the Populists was how to handle crop failures and how prices were to be controlled. All in all, the Populist movement was centered on helping out the farmers and improving the ever changing economy.

The ‘Gilded Age’ began from 1870s to 1900s and its politics contributed to the advancement of Capitalism. Entrepreneurs’ business practices were barbaric and unethical, then they were named as the ‘Robber Barons’. The ‘Robber Barons’ established monopolies, mistreated and exploited their workers. These savage practices lead to the establishment of the Antitrust Act which regulates businesses and promote fair competition for the benefit of consumers and diminish business monopolies. Between 1880s and 1890s were the years of significant political crisis. One of the notable political conflict was the farmers’ revolt in the late 19th century. Farmers’ lifestyle was complicated due to drought, boll weevils, rising costs, rising costs, declining prices, and high interest rates. They blamed railroad owners, land monopolists and other businesses. The farmers formed an alliance and the ‘Populist Party’. Populist Party aimed to increase the amount of money in circulation, repay loans with government assistance, reducing tariffs and a graduated income

Why did farmers express discontent during 1870-1900 and what impact did their attitudes and actions have on national politics. Manufacturing hit a huge growth rate during this period which cause agriculture to decline, and cause farmers to struggle to make a living. The farmers were now being abused by the railroad companies and banks. The documents in DBQ 8 show rationality for the farmer’s protests, exclusively on bank mortgage tariffs and the gold standard. Two particular groups became popular during this period and that would be the Grangers and the Populist Party. Farmers fought against the Gold Standard, railroads, and industrialist during this period causing lots of confrontation.

* Populism – This was a popular movement with farmers. Especially among poor farmers that lived in the South.

Due to “…falling agricultural prices and growing economic dependency” (Foner 636) in the mid-nineteenth century, farmers in the South began to face inevitable economic uncertainty. Farmers, both white and black alike, were thrown into poverty due to sharecropping and the fall of the price of cotton, and many faced the fear of losing everything they had due the inability to pay bank loans. Believing that their situation was caused by “…high freight rates…excessive interest rates for loans…and the fiscal policies of the government” (Foner 636), disgruntled farmers hoped to better their lives and conditions through the founding of the Farmers’ Alliance in the 1870s. However, by the 1890s, the Alliance transformed into what became known as the Populist Party. Keeping their roots in mind, the Populists sought to end what they considered political corruption and economic inequality that arose during the Reconstruction. In order to do so, they proposed “…the direct election of U.S. senators, government control of currency, a graduated income tax, a system of low-class public financing…the right of workers to form labor unions…[and a] public ownership of the railroads” (Foner 638). In addition to their propositions, the Populists were considered radical due to their embracement of science and technology, their belief that the

The party adopted a platform calling for the free coinage of silver along with the abolition of national banks. Another aspect of the Populist Party, is a graduated income tax, government ownership of all forms of transportation and communication, and the election of Senators by direct vote of the people. Civil service reform, a working day of eight hours, postal banks, pensions, and the reform of immigration regulations are just some of the other views and beliefs of populists.

Congress passed a law to stop silver, silver were becoming too expensive, gold is the standard to determine currency. Money supply shrink and money were less valuable. Even harder for American farmer to pay back debt. Farmer began to becomes more connection (nation movement), merged with each other; start to become more political. Encourage member to vote for candidate who show their interests. Farmer alliance becomes the people party in 1892. (Populist Party) Demand they made includes:

The end of the 19th century brought to farmers astringent policies enforced by railroad companies, once stable cash crops like cotton and wheat now selling at such low profit margins due to inflation that farmers continued to end up in the red, spikes in foreign competition due to leaps and bounds in transportation, and all of this in the wake of a devastating drought that brought with it the degradation of businesses throughout the west. This agricultural depression culminated into the Populist movement, founded on the premise of the politicalization of the farmers plight. However, much of the negative stigma put onto the precipitants of the industrial revolution by farmers was under false pretense, when the dry and arid conditions of the

The Farmer’s Alliance was created to organize farmers and establish a way for farmers to talk to other individuals to talk about their ideas. By pulling together in a unified effort they forced changes in the capitol. They had other plans to raise crop prices through withholding products but most farmers were to far in debt to participate. This movement birthed the Populist party.

Populism gained traction as a response to the increasingly growing demography of working class and urban lower middle class who were susceptible to political mobilization. La Moral in Columbia came into effect because the political stalwarts at the time were averse to democratic governance and thus resisted the democratization process. The populism frenzy peaked in the late 1950’s. The leaders at the time campaigned for office in line with populist fashion. These politicians were flamboyant in their election campaigns. They would sway the masses and newly minted voters into accepting their political ideologies and manifestos.

Germani et al. argue that populism is directly linked to a particular economic transformation phase from agrarian societies to industrial societies since 1930s (Germani, Di Tella, & Ianni, 1973). New economic development model of 1930s; namely import substituting industrialization (ISI), leads to urbanization and