The Populist Party: A Political Party During The Nineteenth Century

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.

The Populist Party was the people’s party, hence the name Populist, the party was created in the late 1800s when the Southern Famer alliance contacted Powderly, the head of The Knights of Labor. The party’s first platform was called the Omaha Platform which called for the abolition of the national bank, graduated income tax, direct election of senators, civil service reform, an eight hour work week, and the gov’t control of railroads, telegraphs and telephones. The Populists supported the Prohibition

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 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 Populist Party was hardly winning any support from the eastern and northeastern part of the United States. Most of the party’s goals would negatively affect the industrial economy and quite possibly cause a backward reform into the agricultural past. Another goal of the Omaha Platform was to transfer the operation and ownership of railroads to the government for the best interest of the people. They would also want to transfer the control of all types of communication such as, telegraphs and telephones to the government as well. This would hurt all the transportation and communication businesses in the country. Big business owner such as, Andrew Carnegie would be against the Omaha Platform and as people knew, money could control the government. If he did not own his own railroad company it would hurt his business significantly; it would for him to pay for transportation causing a chain reaction and raising the price of steel in reaction causing the price of anything with steel to

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.

The Big Question: How did farmers, activists, workers and politicians face the problems of industrial America during the Populist and Progressive Eras?

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

During the Gilded Age, the Democrats and Republicans dominated the political realm. As farmers began to confront financial insecurity and poverty due to falling agricultural prices, the Farmer’s Alliance formed. The Farmer’s Alliance was an agricultural movement that mobilized farmers to help in the reestablishment of economic stability. The Alliance did not get involved in politics, until they evolved into the Populist Party. The Populist Party was a new political rebellion that stood on the platform of democratic restoration, economic opportunity, direct elections of Senators, the formation of labor unions, referendum, income tax and public ownership of railroads (Foner, 638). The Populist Party also wanted to change from the Gold Standard to the Silver Standard to ensure that dollars issued were backed by silver. Under those conditions, the Sherman’s Silver Purchase Act passed, which attempted to assist farmers by the government purchasing more silver for coinage. As presidential elections of 1896 began, the Populist Party tried to appeal to Americans with their rhetoric, however, they did not accrue many Populist votes because of the inadequacy of their appeal to the American people. They ended up riding on the coattail of the Democratic Party, which ended up losing. The Populist Party was unable to emerge as an individual political party, but the changes they stood

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.

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.

The Populists and Progressive were two major movements that occurred during the outbreaks of the workers union after the civil war. The populists began during the late 1800s and the progressives began during the 1900s. There are many differences between these two movements, but yet both of these movements have many things in common. During this time, farmers united to protect their interests by creating a major political party. This party was known as the Peoples Party, which became known as the Populist Party. Populists drew their strength from rural areas as many Populists tended to mostly be poor and uneducated. They had ideas such as government ownership of major industries. Progressives, also affected by industrialization, began their movements in order to reestablish their society.

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:

In this day and age, the 20th century signifies a large part of American history. The events that occurred during that time period helped mold the United States into the world leader it is today. While the 20th century was dominated by Democratic leaders, the Republican party still had presidential icons such as Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Dwight Eisenhower. With the amounts of political pull on both sides, it raises the question as to which political party was more successful during the 20th century. Although determining the outcome of which political party performed better depended solely on the different circumstances that presented themselves during each party 's administrations, the Democratic party performed better with the