The Populist Movement Essay

The Progressives made great efforts to solve the political problems that industrialization and urbanization were causing. They tried to wipe out political corruption by limiting power to big companies/ bosses and reduce the control of political machines. Many of the progressive reforms also supported the railroad legislation, conservation movement, and food and drug laws. This also included efforts to protect society by initiating prohibition and they also extended suffrage to women. The progressives succeeded at keeping the power of the railroad industry in the hands of the governments but failed at protecting the states right to control businesses. Finally in 1890 the first federal law was passed against monopolies known as the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

The rates as well as the lack of support from the government angered the farmers, and lead them to form farmer alliances and the Grange, led by Oliver Hudson Kelly. Most farmers, such as the prairie farmer in document C, sought state regulation on railroad freight rates and pleaded the government consider making new law. As a response to this, government passed the granger laws in Illinois, which protected farmers from being abused or discriminated through the high tariffs on exporting their goods. This laws were later found unconstitutional by Supreme Court, and were replaced by the commerce act of 1887.This was not the

The Populists and Progressive were form of movement that occurred during the outbreaks of the workers union after the civil war. The populists began during the late 1800s.The progressive began during the 1900s. There are many differences between these two movements, but yet these movements have many things that are similar.

Despite the flushed predictions of prosperity that had lured new settlers to the plains, the reality was more difficult. The farmers claimed that they did not have enough land, money, and transportation (Doc C). The farmers went into in a never ending cycle if they did not have a good harvest. As Booker Washington explains the farmers had no money so they had to borrow money from the banks which charged 12 to 30 percent interest. The interest the farmers were hit with was nearly impossible to repay so they had to mortgage everything and if the mortgage wasn’t paid the land was foreclosure which led the yeomen to become tenant farmers (Doc B). With periods of drought growing good crops was hard. Leading Economic Sectors shows how the farmers predicament of not being able to make a very

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 Granger Movement, the Greenback Movement, and the Silver Movement were also very influential in the shaping of present day America. But one of the most important movements in American history is the business movement, although the rise of business during this time is not called a movement, I feel that calling it a movement is appropriate. The rise of business and corporations is very significant because it shaped the American economy and helped lead America to become so successful. Corporations helped put capital into the economy and promote trade with other countries, thus strengthening diplomacy. Big businesses and corporations also provide employment. A major disadvantage of corporations is the possibility of a monopoly forming. This would hurt other small businesses as well as the economy. Influential leaders of the business movement are Rockefeller, Carnegie, Morgan, Armour, Hill, and Vanderbilt. Important results of this movement are the increase of national wealth, increase in standard of living, immigration, urbanization,

was a human rights struggle for more than just the right to vote. They were also striving

The Populist Movement ultimately failed to survive because of their desire for inflation and the support for the coinage of silver, as well as the fact that they merged with the Democratic Party to combat the Republicans. The 1896 election undermined agrarian insurgency, and a period of rapidly rising farm prices helped to bring about the dissolution of the Populist Party. Another important factor in the failure of the party was its inability to affect a genuine urban-rural coalition; its program had little appeal for wage earners of the industrial east. Although the populists were not outright socialists, many conservative interests saw the Populists as a threat to the basic economic system of the United States. The Populists’ agenda was

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.

Pursuing this further, the rich soil of the West was becoming poor, and floods contributed to the problem, and, eventually caused erosion. Beginning in the summer of 1887, a series of droughts forced many people to abandon their farms and towns. As circumstances worsened, farmers were beginning to be controlled by corporations and processors. The farmers were at the mercy of many trusts, which, in turn, could control the productivity and raise prices to high levels. Furthermore, during the late 19th century, many farmers considered monopolies, trusts, railroads, and money shortages as evident threats to their lifestyle. The rise of these monopolies and trusts worried many farmers because they felt that the disappearance of competition would lead to erratic and unreasonable price rises that would harm consumers. Oftentimes, these “robber barons” would prevent competitors from reaching the markets by restricting their ability to transport their goods. In Document E, James B. Weaver wrote of the main weapons of the trust-organized commerce: threats, intimidation, bribery, fraud,

1. What economic issues gave rise to the Populist Party, and what political and economic changes did the party advocate? Why were they considered so radical?

Originally, the purpose of the grange was to not only give a social outlet but to provide an educational assembly for farm families. In 1867, Oliver Hudson Kelley was one of the seven men with one woman who started and cofounded the grange. While the grange was founded in the year 1867, the grange started to change in the 1870’s when Grange members spent most of their time and energy fighting the railroads. The grange advanced methods of agriculture and promoted the social and economic needs of farmers in the United States. The Grange taught its members how to organize, how to set up farmers’ cooperatives, and how to sponsor state legislation to regulate railroads.

In 1890 clergyman Washington Gladden wrote an article called “The Embattled Farmers”. In it he blamed the ruin of the farmers on “protective tariffs, trusts…speculation in farm products, over-greedy middlemen, and exorbitant transportation rates.”

The Populist Party was started by a massive grassroots movement that wanted political reform. The supporters of the Populist Party were usually laborers who were sick of the government supporting big businesses. Because of this support, there were many violent strikes, such as Pullman, Homestead, and Haymarket, where strikers were killed, and the government did nothing. Eventually, the Populist Party combined with the Democratic Party because the Populist Party was limited because of its regional location.

abolitionism. Once they realized they had a voice, women decided that their voice would be