Populism

2. The Silver Issue
 “Crime of ’73”  no silver, only gold coins.
 Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890) 
US gov. bought up silver to remove it from
circulation

3. Price Indexes for Consumer &
Farm Products: 1865
-1913

4. 1867:
Patrons of Husbandry
,
orGrange Movement
 1870s – farmers set up
cooperative associations

5. The Farmers Alliances
 Late 1880s: grew from Grange
but more political, less social
 1890s: controlled eight state
legislatures & had 47
Congressmen

6. The Populist (Peoples’) Party
 July 1892: Founded by James B.
Weaver
 Almost 1 m. 1892 votes
James B. Weaver, Presidential
Candidate

7. Omaha Platform of 1892
1. SILVER!
2. Abolish National Bank
3. Direct election of Senators
4. Govt. RR, telephone & telegraph ownership, savings
banks
5. Restrict immigration
6. 8-hour work day
7. Abolish Pinkertons
8. Adopt secret ballot
9. Single presidential term

8. 1892 Election

10. Causes of the 1893 Panic
 10 days after Cleveland took office.
 Over 16,000 businesses close
 Stock market crash.
 ~ 500 banks closed
 By 1895: 3 m. unemployed

11. Here Lies Prosperity

13. William Jennings Bryan
(1860
-1925)
The “Great Commoner”

14. Bryan’s
“Cross of Gold” Speech
You shall not press
down upon the brow
of labor this crown
of thorns; you shall
not crucify mankind
upon a cross of gold!

15. Democratic
Party
Taken Over
by the
Populists

16. Bryan: The Farmers Friend
(The Mint Ratio)
18,000 miles of campaign “whistle stops.”

17. Gold / Silver Bug
Campaign Pins

18. William McKinley
(1843
-1901)

19. The
Seasoned
Politician
vs.
The “Young
Newcomer

20. 1896 Election Results

21. Gold Triumphs Over Silver
 1900  Gold
Standard Act

22. The Wizard
of Oz
by L. Frank
Baum

23. Henry Littlefield’s Thesis

24. “Parable of the Populists”?
 Dorothy ?
 Wicked Witch of the East ?
 Munchkins ?
 Silver Slippers ? Yellow Brick Road ? Oz ?
 Emerald City ? The Wizard ?
 Scarecrow ? Tin Woodsman ? Cowardly Lion ?
 Wicked Witch of the West ?
 Flying Monkeys ?

25. Heyday of Western Populism