After the Civil War, overproduction by farmers led to declining crop prices and widespread farm debt. Farmers organized movements like the Grange and Farmers' Alliances to demand government action to stabilize prices through measures like tariffs, expanding the money supply, and free silver coinage. This populism culminated in the People's Party in the 1890s, which advocated these economic reforms and sought the eight hour work day and regulation of railroads and monopolies. The party selected William Jennings Bryan for president in 1896 on a free silver platform, but he lost to William McKinley as the nation moved to a gold standard. Populism declined by 1900 but brought attention to farmers' economic issues.

1. Populism

2. Setting the Scene
 After Reconstruction, farm production increased
dramatically across the nation, creating a larger food
supply
 Any increase in supply means a decrease in prices
 These lower prices meant that farmers could no
longer break even or repay their debt

3. The Farmers’ Plight
• Corn in 1874: 41
cents/bushel
• 1897: 30 cents
• 24 million acres of cotton in
894 made less money than
9 million acres in 1873
• In 1880s, roughly 75% of
African American farmers
rented
• Whites: 25%

4. Setting the Scene
 Farmers began to demand that the federal government
intervene to stabilize the farm industry
 Such intervention may be common today, but was
extremely rare in the 1800s
 Farmers voiced their concerns over three particular
issues: tariffs, monetary policy, and the bimetallic
standard

5. Farmers’ Concerns
 Tariffs: taxes on imported goods
 Good for business, because they reduced international
competition
 Bad for farmers, because they raised prices on farm
equipment and reduced the international market
 Farmers argued that the government unfairly supported
big business

6. Farmers’ Concerns
 Monetary Policy: the government’s plan for the
makeup and quantity of the nation’s money supply
 More money in circulation causes inflation, or increased
prices
 Increased prices are good for sellers (like farmers) and
borrowers of money (like farmers)
 Less money in circulation causes deflation, or
decreased prices, which are good for buyers and
lenders
 Farmers therefore argued for an increased money
supply

7. Farmers’ Concerns
 The bimetallic standard: currency consisting of both
gold and silver coins
 Using both gold and silver increases the money supply
 After an economic panic in 1873 the federal
government adopted the gold standard, reducing the
money supply and causing deflation, or lower prices
 Farmers fought for free silver to increase the money
supply

8. Government Response
 Bland-Allison Act, 1878
 Required the federal government to purchase and coin
more silver
 US Treasury refused to circulate the silver coins it
minted
 Sherman Silver Purchase Act, 1890
 Authorized free, unlimited silver coinage
 Repealed after the panic of 1893 reduced the nation’s
gold reserves

9. Farmers Get Organized
 The Grange, founded in 1866
 Helped farmers form cooperatives
 Pushed for regulation of grain elevators and railroads
 Farmers’ Alliances, 1880s
 Fought for the regulation of railroads, a greater money
supply, and government relief from floods, blizzards,
and droughts
 Many women played key roles in alliances

10. Average Precipitation

11. Eras of Settlement

12. Government Response
 Mixed Responses
 Grover Cleveland, 1887: “…though the people support the
government, the government should not support the people.”
 LAISSEZ-FAIRE politics at their finest!
 Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 gave Congress the right to
regulate the railroads
 Implemented ICC
 Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 curbed the power of
monopolies
 Loosely enforced

13. The Populists
 The People’s Party, founded 1891
 1892 convention held in Omaha
 Built their platform around four issues
 Increased circulation of money
 Unlimited minting of silver
 Progressive income tax
 Government ownership of communication and
transportation systems

14. The Populists
 Sought support from urban workers
 Endorsed an eight-hour workday
 Spoke out against Pinkerton strike-breakers
 Sought support from black farmers
 Argued that the industrialists took advantage of black
farmers just as much as they did white farmers
 Selected James B. Weaver to run for President in
1892, lost badly, but fared well for 3rd party candidate

19. The Populists
 Selected William Jennings Bryan to run for President
against Republican William McKinley in 1896
 The gold standard issue dominated the election
 Bryan delivered his “Cross of Gold” speech during the
campaign
 Despite a furious effort, Bryan lost (also lost
presidential elections in 1900 & 1908)

23. Election of 1896
 Bryan: extensive travel, 600+ speeches
 A “religious crusade”
 McKinley: never left his front porch
 High voter turnout
 Victory for middle & upper class & big business
 Continuation of conservative politics
 Renewal of Republican dominance

24. Populism’s Legacy
 By 1900 new gold discoveries had increased the
world’s gold supply
 Klondike—1896-1899
 The US returned to the gold standard, killing the silver
movement, and Populism with it
 Political reform
 Even though the Populists could not get Bryan elected,
they proved that a third party could bring important
issues to the national stage