GIlded Age Politics continued and information about Review Day

2. Politics in the 1890s
• By the 1890s there were a lot of smaller political parties forming
• Many were what we would categorize as populist
• The grew out of Farmer’s Alliances, but all had different views of who
should be included (women, persons of color, etc.)
• Most of their anger was directed at the Railroads and Banks
• Why the railroads?
• By the 1892 election, many alliances had joined into an official 3rd
party (the People’s Party)
• Their candidate won CO, KS, NV, and Idaho, and got over a million votes
• An economic depression hit in 1893 (Called the Panic of 1893)
• Unemployment reached 20%, 15000 businesses failed, 600 banks closed,
many RR companies failed, and many farmers lost their farms

3. The 1890s (cont.)
• Pres. Grover Cleveland was a staunch fiscal conservative, and in
the midst of the depression lobbied congress to return to the
gold standard
• Plunged the economy deeper into depression
• 750000 workers went on strike in 1894
• One mine owner, Jacob Coxey, marched 400 protestors to Washington
demanding jobs - His son had a very interesting name…
• The election of 1896
• William Jennings Bryan – Democrat with populist beliefs – supported
“free silver,” wanted to revamp agriculture
• William McKinley – Republican, gold standard, wanted to revive
industry

4. The 1896 Election
• First “modern” campaign in US History
• What do you think I mean by that?
• Bryan loved to travel and visited 26 states
• McKinley was not as good at public speaking, and most of his campaign
relied on other dynamic Republicans, and supportive businessmen
• Gave his famous “Cross of Gold,” speech (“America will not be crucified on a
cross of gold…”)
• What did he mean by that?
• Results
• More people (men) voted than ever, Bryan got 6.5 mil, McKinley 7.1 mil
• McKinley won the electoral college by a landslide, though
• Even though he lost, Bryan’s relative success marked a shift in the
Democratic party towards more progressive ideas and social programs

5. For Next Week’s Review
• Please bring to class the following on a sheet of paper:
• Your Name
• Three (3) potential short answer topics
• One possible essay question
• You will turn this in at the beginning of class for the review
assignment (25 pts)
• Have your topics and essay question on a second paper/in your
notes/on your laptop so we can discuss them
• We will write them on the board, and narrow them down as a class
to determine what to study for the exam
• There may (or may not) be a chance for some extra credit on
review day (so you may want to brush up on chapters 17, 18, 19)

6. Review Day (cont.)
• Short answer topics are usually a person, place, thing, or idea
• For example: William Jennings Bryan, Social Darwinism, the New Immigrants,
Andrew Johnson, etc.
• You should be able to write/list the Who, What, When, Where, and Why/How
they are important
• Essay ideas should be more significant and broad enough to bring in
multiple chapters or big ideas
• For Example: How did railroads change life in America from Reconstruction to
1900?
• This allows you to talk about how they impacted population shifts, labor forces, how
they helped big business grow, and eventually how they impacted politics with the
populist movement.

7. Final Thoughts
• How do you think the populist movements in the late 1800s would
impact politics moving forward?
• For next time:
• Prepare for the Review Day
• Do Review Assignment
• Re-read (or finish reading) Chapters 17, 18, and 19