The Presidential Election Was A Great Man Named William Jennings Bryan

The presidential election of 1860 set the stage for the American Civil war. By 1860, the nation had been divided mostly up to that point regarding questions of states’ rights and slavery in the territories. Southerners were outraged over the plan by abolitionist, John Brown, to start a slave rebellion at Harper Ferry, Virginia. This event garnered headlines all over the nation in newspapers and magazines. On the other hand, the Northern Republic seemed equally anger by the Supreme Court decision in the case of Dred Scott v. Stanford, which declared free soil unconstitutional. The Northern Democrats, however, struggled to persuade the Americans that their policy of popular sovereignty still made since.

The populists created a Farmers’ Alliance that began in Texas and it organized low cost insurance for farmers and put banks in their place with regulations. The Farmer’s Alliance also gave the government the ownership of the transportation system to regulate their costs and monopolies. When the Grangers lobbied for regulation of the

The onset 20th Century holds two main movements: The Populists and The Progressives. These two parties are similar, but their policies and philosophies hold diversities. The Populists party comprises of farmers and poor whites in the south; they focus on eastern interests i.e. railroads and banks. The Populists also call for government action, to intervene and to create an efficient society which includes a flourishing middle class. The Progressives include educated middle class men and men of universities, they too demanded for reform, but accomplish their goals through legislation and the judicial system. The Progressives focused on reform as well as destroying the Robber Barons. Some Progressives were actually a part of the Populist Party; they weren’t contradictory parties. To simplify the matter The Populist party held picnics in order to present discussions, while the Progressives hold educated and sophisticated men of great esteem who were much more formal.

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

This illustrates that the Senate is controlled by big business, and how easily wealthy people had power over the government. Moreover, the railroad presidents were seen as kings, they could delay lawsuits, control the government and the people, corrupt communities, and control the press (DOC B). Important railroad companies dictated government policies because the legal system favored railroad interests. Further, trying to better the political system, the Populist Party made themselves known. Their platform demanded that the government be restored to the hands of the “plain people.” They wanted to end oppression, injustice, and poverty (DOC F). Evidently, they were dedicated to political and social reform, and urged that the government be strengthened and take responsibility of the people.

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 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.

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

One significant leader of the Populist movement was Daniel Russell of North Carolina, the Populist/Fusion governor who was elected in 1896. The Farmer’s Alliance had been fighting for years to build up large grain stores and land banks to help farmers dig themselves out of debt. These farmers slowly coalesced into the Populist Party and noticed that they had class issues in common with the mostly black Republicans in the state, particularly in the district known as the Black Second. Beginning in the early 1890s, the Republican and Populist parties came together on a fusion ticket to fight for the rights of poor farmers who had been gouged by the white, conservative landowners and the tenant farming system. They aligned their politics on the axis of class instead of the axis of race, and won substantial majorities in the elections of 1894 and 1896. Russell was elected governor and immediately began campaigns that succeeded in extending the franchise, helping poor farmers with their loans and aiding illiterate farmers with illustrated color ballots. Although he was not the most headstrong or powerful governor, perhaps the greatest reason

With the election of Andrew Jackson, for the first time in American history, a common man built his way up to earn the title of President of the United States. Jackson being of “low birth” had particular significance because he went from rags to riches. During his presidency his affinity for the common people did not change, thus Jackson tended to favor the rights of the common people over what was constitutionally correct. Andrew Jackson from such actions can be called the “father” of American democracy because he set the precedent that later presidents followed: where he campaigned and reached out to the people and set the notion that presidential policies ruled over Congress because the president was elected by the people. Although, most would argue against Jackson and his beliefs as president, it is evident that he always put the common people before himself as can be seen in his presidential runs, the spoils system, the vetoing of the second National Bank and the Indian Removal Act.

James Laurence Laughlin wrote an article “Causes of Agricultural Unrest” that was published in the Atlantic Monthly. He wrote, “the farmers, in all honesty, have attributed their misfortunes to the “constriction” in prices”, caused by lack of gold, not overproduction of their crops. He then went on to explain how that could not be possible, and we simply have produced too much wheat. Poet Vachel Lindsay wrote a poem concerning the subject, entitled, “BRYAN, BRYAN, BRYAN, BRYAN: The campaign of 1896 as viewed at the Time by a Sixteen Year Old, etc.” In it he mentioned the “Election at midnight; Boy Bryan’s defeat” which was when the Populists lost the election. He then wrote “Defeat of the wheat; victory of the letterfiles” and “Defeat…[of] the blue bells of the Rockies, and the blue bonnets of Texas, by the Pittsburgh alleys” He was simply saying that the city people had defeated them and would therefore get their way.

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: