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The Populists 1890s

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The Populists

1890s

Farmers Alliances & the Grange

• Agricultural Wheel (Arkansas), Farmers Union (Louisiana), Farmers Alliance

• Greenback Party• Alliance Movement

– National Colored Farmers Alliance– National Women’s Alliance (1891)

National Grange

• Munn v. Illinois (1877): regulated grain storage rates

• Wabash v. Illinois (1886): states can not regulate interstate railroad rates

• Interstate Commerce Act (1887): formed the Interstate Commerce Commission. Railroads lobbied state governments and repealed Grange laws.

Populist Party• Various movements combined to form the

Populist Party in 1892. • Omaha Platform

– Tariff reduction– Graduated income tax– Public ownership of railroads– Direct election of Senators– Federally funded irrigation research– Ban on land ownership for aliens– Free coinage of silver– Laws allowing farmers to store goods in federal

warehouses– Low interest loans with crops as collateral

Election of 1892

• James B. Weaver 8.5% of popular vote

• Won some seats in House and Senate…no real power …(like William Peffer!)

• Grover Cleveland won and repainted the White House.

Panic of 1893• Reading Railroad files for bankruptcy

– Dependent banks/companies also collapse

– Stock market crash– European investors pull out stocks– Worsened agricultural depression

•Increased Political involvement of agricultural community

Election of 1896

• Candidates:– William Jennings Bryan (Democrats)

• “Cross of the Gold Speech” against gold standard, favored monetization of silver “We have restored the money of the Constitution, all other necessary reforms will be possible; but…until this is done there is no other reform that can be accomplished”

• William McKinley (Republican) favored gold standard, more conservative

• McKinley wins!!!

Silver

• “Crime of 1873” Silver Demonetized– Checked inflation, angering heavily indebted

farmers– Resumption Act 1875 brought paper money to

parity with gold