Transcript Populism & the Election of 1896

Topics for discussion
I. Pro-Business Government
II. Weak Republican Presidents
III. The Emergence of the
Populist Party
IV. The Election of 1896
I. Pro-Business Government
A. Railroad Acts of 1862 and 1864
B. McKinley Tariff (1890)
C. Ended State Regulation of
Railroads
Wabash v. Illinois (1886)
D. Weak Interstate Commerce
Commission (1887)
E. Problematic: Sherman Antitrust
Act (1890)
Sherman Act used against labor
and the Railway Union
F. Inability to regulate
manufacturing
US v. E.C. Knight Co. (1895)
A. Rutherford Hayes (18771881)
B. James Garfield (1881-1881)
C. Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885)
Pendleton Civil Service Act
(1883)
D. Grover Cleveland (Democrat:
1885-1889)
E. Benjamin Harrison (18891893)
F. Grover Cleveland (2nd Term
1893-1897)
G. William McKinley (1897-1901)
III. Emergence of the Populist Party
A. Farmers’ problems after
the Civil War
1. Railway Monopolies
– favoritism of big
business
2. Mechanization
3. Overproduction
4. Bankers
Railroads impacted
farmers profits
• Munn v. Illinois
(1877) –
allows states to
set rates on
certain businesses
include RR
• Then Wabash v.
Illinois (1886) –
takes away states
rights creates
3. Mechanization
A. New
technologies
Agriculture = big
business
• Barbed wire
• Steel plow
• The reaper
• Windmill
4. Overproduction
• Morrill Land Grant Act
(1862 and 1890)
• Colleges teach
agriculture
• Extension agencies
bring ag science to
the farmer
• The Department of
Agriculture
established to help
farm production
overproduction (cont.)
• Agriculture and big Business
• The “Bonanza Farms”
–
–
–
–
Heavy use of capital
Railroads
Large farms
Small farmers
aerial view of Bagg Farm -Mooretown, North Dakota
High Costs for
Farmers
• Capital needed
• Supplies
expensive
• Foreign
Nations &
protective
tariffs
Price Indexes for Consumer &
Farm Products: 1865-1913
5. Bankers
Bi-Metallism
Issue
U.S. Monetary Policy
• Value of money is linked to the amount in
circulation
• Increase supply= inflation (increase in
prices of all goods)
– Borrow money to pay back with less valuable
dollars
• Reduce the money supply – deflation
(decrease in prices of all goods)
– Loan money receive more valuable dollar in
payback
Gold Standard
• 1873 –
prevent
inflation
• No longer
bimetallic
standard
• Gold standard
reduces the
money supply
Silverites
This political cartoon, sympathetic to the Silverites, prophesied that a gold standard would destroy
prosperity by 1894. A severe economic depression did indeed hit the US in 1893, but as with all things
political, the causes of the downturn were hotly contested.
The Bland-Allison Act (1878 )
1. Act required Federal Government to
purchase and coin more silver.
2. Thereby increasing the money supply
and causing inflation.
3. President Hayes vetoed
Congress overrides
4. Treasury Department purchases only
minimum required = little effect
III. Emergence of the Populist Party
Founder of the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry (1867)
The Grange Movement
 First organized in the 1870s in the
Midwest, the south, and Texas.
 Set up cooperative associations.
 Social and educational components.
 Succeeded in lobbying for “Granger
Laws.”
 Rapidly declined by the late 1870s.
Gift
for the
Grangers:
The
Farmer
Pays
for All!
The Farmers Alliances
 Begun in the late 1880s (Texas first 
the Southern Alliance; then in the
Midwest  the Northern Alliance).
 Built upon the ashes of the Grange.
 More political and less social than the
Grange.
 Ran candidates for office.
 Controlled 8 state legislatures & had 47
representatives in Congress during the
1890s.
The Populist (Peoples’) Party
 1890 Bi-Election:
So. Alliance  wanted to
gain control of the Democratic Party.
No. Alliance  ran 3rd Party candidates.
 1892  800 met in St. Louis, MO
majority were Alliance members.
over 100 were African Americans.
reps. of labor organizations & other
reformers (Grange, Greenback Party).
Platform of Lunacy
Omaha Platform of 1892
1.
System of “sub-treasuries.”
2.
Abolition of the National Bank.
3.
Direct election of Senators.
4.
Govt. ownership of RRs, telephone &
telegraph companies.
5.
Government-operated postal savings banks.
6.
Restriction of undesirable immigration.
7.
8-hour work day for government employees.
8.
Abolition of the Pinkerton detective agency.
9.
Australian secret ballot.
10. Re-monitization of silver.
11. A single term for President & Vice President.
Govt.-Owned Companies
Bryant’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!
Bryan: The Farmers Friend
(The Mint Ratio)
18,000 miles of campaign “whistle stops.”
Into
Which Box
Will the
Voter
of ’96
Place His
Ballot?
1896 Election Results
Why Did Bryan Loose?
 His focus on silver undermined
efforts to build bridges to urban
voters.
 He did not form alliances with
other groups.
 McKinley’s campaign was well-
organized and highly funded.
Gold Triumphs Over Silver
 1900  Gold
Standard Act
 confirmed the
nation’s
commitment to
the gold standard.
 A victory for the
forces of
conservatism.
The Wizard
of Oz
by L. Frank
Baum
1964: Henry Littlefield’s
“Thesis”?
“Parable of the Populists”?

Tornado  ?

Silver Slippers  ?

Dorothy  ?

Emerald City  ?

Toto  ?

Oz  ?

Kansas  ?

The Wizard  ?

Wicked Witch of the
East  ?

Munchkins  ?

Wicked Witch of the
West  ?

Flying Monkeys  ?

Tin Woodsman  ?

Scarecrow  ?

Cowardly Lion  ?

Yellow Brick Road  ?
Heyday of Western Populism
Why Did Populism Decline?
1. The economy experienced rapid change.
2. The era of small producers and
farmers was fading away.
3. Race divided the Populist Party,
especially in the South.
4. The Populists were not able to break
existing party loyalties.
5. Most of their agenda was co-opted by
the Democratic Party.
But, Populism Still Lives!
Al Gore (Dem) in 2000
But, Populism Still Lives!
John Edwards (Dem) in 2008