Transcript Populism & the Election of 1896

POLITICS IN THE GILDED AGE
Status Quo Politics in the Gilded Age
“the government that governs best governs
least”
• Five Presidents between 1877-1893
“The Forgotten Presidents”
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Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881) - Republican
James Garfield (1881) – Republican -assassinated
Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885) -Republican
Grover Cleveland (1885-1889) -Democrat
Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893) –Republican
Government lacked direction & an agenda
Lines between parties blurred
Leadership of the country essentially lied in the hands of Congress
“Ship without a captain” syndrome
Biggest Issues of the
Time
• Patronage & Spoils System Reform
• 1883 Pendleton Act: established the non-partisan Civil
Service Commission.
• Established a list of jobs that were to be filled on the basis of
exams administered by the commission in an attempt to find
the best person possible for the job . . . but it only applied to
10% of gov’t jobs.
• Currency – who prints currency, and how much?
• Regulation of Railroads & Strikes – see previous unit!
• Tariffs – rates varied as parties fought over this issue
increasingly, the “common man” felt
isolated/abused by government & big business
Complaints of the Rural
“Common Man”
• Economics of the 1890’s
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Farm foreclosures
Railroad bankruptcies
Stock market drop
Unemployment up
Farmers suffering in profits
• Country and government seemed to be looking out
for the “big business” in the East
• Farmers especially felt the need for organization &
representation
•
Roots of the Populist
Movement
Originally Farmers needed to organize for a variety of reasons:
• a) isolationism
•
b) provide economic services
The Grange Movement & Farmer’s Alliances:
• Farmer’s Alliance of the Northwest
• National Farmers’ Alliance
•
Alliances were designed to:
• Unite farmers who had common problems
• Remind farmers they are in this together
• Stand against the abuses of the big business (RR) & the corruption of the wealth
and power
• Eventually grew stronger and more impatient.
•
The agrarian protest challenged the traditional 2 party system
Populist Ideology
“Us vs.Them”
“There are but two sides, on the one side are the allied hosts of
monopolies, the money power, great trusts, and railroad
corporations…On the other are the farmers laborers, merchants,
and all the people who produce wealth… Between these two there
is no middle ground.”
“[there is an] irrepressible conflict between capital & labor”
“We believe that the power of government - in other words, of the
people – should be expanded as rapidly and as far as the good
sense of an intelligent people and the teachings of experience shall
justify, to end oppression, injustice and poverty . . . in the land”
Price Indexes for Consumer &
Farm Products: 1865-1913
United We
Stand, Divided
We Fall
 In 1889 both
the Northern and
Southern Alliances
merged into one—the
Farmers’ Alliance.
The Populist (Peoples’) Party
 Founded by James B. Weaver
and Tom Watson.
 Omaha, NE Convention in July,
1892.
 Got almost 1 million popular
votes in 1892 elections.
 Several Congressional seats
won.
James B. Weaver,
Presidential Candidate
&
James G. Field, VP
1892 Election
ELECTION
OF
1892
Omaha Platform of 1892
1.
Direct election of Senators.
2.
Govt. ownership of RRs, telephone &
telegraph companies.
3.
Restriction of undesirable immigration.
4.
8-hour work day for government
employees.
5.
Abolition of the Pinkerton detective
agency.
6.
Australian secret ballot.
7.
A single term for President & Vice
President.
8. Re-monitization of silver . . .
The Populist Platform in 1892
Omaha, Nebraska
FINANCES
“We demand a national currency that is safe, sound, and
flexible issued by the general government “
Proposals:
• A graduated income tax- more you make the more you pay
• More money in circulation & that the money should be kept more in
the hands of the people.
“That the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”
• Free & unlimited coinage of silver– bimetallism
Bi-Metallism Issue
Money & Politics:
Brief History
• US had traditionally used a bimetal system.
• Pre-Civil War nations money supply came from free-wheeling state
banksvalue of money issued was unstable – amount in
circulation/supply & demand
• 1863 US Banking Act attempted to create more economic stability
by only allowing and accepting money that was backed by the US
Gov.
• Meanwhile Civil War broke out, Lincoln issued and paid with
greenbacks – federal money backed by nothing more than good
faith . . . With the war over, what should we do about the money
supply?
• 1873 – Silver supply tightened and thus it became more valuable as
a metal than as money and so silver was dropped as specie
(backing for currency)—switched to gold standard.
• Populist believe THIS is the problem, and must be fixed . . .
Causes of the 1893 Panic
1. Several major corps. went bankrupt.
 Over 16,000 businesses disappeared.
 Triggered a stock market crash.
 Over-extended investments.
2. Bank failures followed causing a contraction
of credit [nearly 500 banks closed].
3. By 1895, unemployment reached 3 million.
 Americans cried out for relief, but the Govt.
continued its laissez faire policies!!
Panic of 1893 & the
“Silver Solution”
• Result of panic was “deflation” – a reduction in available
money and credit.
– A) Prices fall
– B) less money in circulation
• At the same time, westward expansion and mining brought a
flood of silver and thus the price of silver fell hard and fast.
• Soon Silverites wanted to put more money in circulation—use
silver to back our currency again!
• Country now became divided on the monetary issue of specie.
Here Lies Prosperity
Pick a Side
GOLDBUGS
SILVERITES
bankers and businessmen
Farmers and laborers
Supported “tight money” -gold
only standard thus less $$$ in
circulation
---------------------------------------Effects: deflation
a) falling prices
b) value of money increases
c) fewer people have money
Supported “cheap money” –
bimetallism – more money in
circulation
----------------------------------------Effects: Inflation
a) prices rise
b) value of money decreases
c) more people have more
money
Result of 1894 Mid-term Elections
 Populist vote
increased by
40% in the
bi-election year,
1894.
 Democratic
party losses in
the West were
catastrophic—all
W votes went to
populists!
Gold / Silver Bug
Campaign Pins
Election of 1896
William Jennings Bryan (D)
• supported bimetallism
• Was supported by Populists
• Delivered “cross of gold
speech”
• Rep. called him radical,
revolutionary, and anarchistic
William McKinley (R)
Bryant’s
“Cross of Gold” Speech
Bryan: The Farmers Friend
(The Mint Ratio)
18,000 miles of campaign “whistle stops.”
Election of 1896
William Jennings Bryan (D)
William McKinley (R)
• supported bimetallism
• Was supported by Populists
• Delivered “cross of gold
speech”
• Rep. called him radical,
revolutionary, and anarchistic
-
“Gold bug”
Front-porch campaign & Mark
Hanna
Called upon big business and
raised a lot of money
Won election, but the door was
open for reform . . .
Why Did Bryan Lose?
 His focus on silver undermined
efforts to build bridges to urban
voters.
 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.
 Republican Party
becomes the party
of prosperity.
The Wizard
of Oz
by L. Frank
Baum
Populism and
The Wizard of Oz
Background Information
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was
not intended to be an innocent fairy
tale. Author, Frank Baum, a reformminded Democrat who supported
William Jennings Bryan's pro-silver
candidacy, wrote the book as a
parable of the Populists, an allegory
of their failed efforts to reform the
nation in 1896. However, Frank
Baum never allowed the
consistency of the allegory to take
precedence over the theme of
youthful entertainment.
“Parable of the Populists”?

Uncle Henry & Auntie Em?

Silver Slippers  ?

Wicked Witch of the
East  ?

Emerald City  ?

The Wizard  ?

Munchkins  ?

Wicked Witch of the
West  ?

Flying Monkeys  ?

Tin Woodsman  ?

Scarecrow  ?

Cowardly Lion  ?

Yellow Brick Road  ?
Uncle Henry & Auntie Em –
• Lonely independent Homesteaders
• Hard working, little reward, everything is
grey
• The Wicked Witch of the East:
• represented eastern industrialists and
bankers who controlled the people (the
Munchkins).
• The Tin Woodman
represented the dehumanized industrial
worker.
• Wants a heart – lost it when the factories took away
their independence and love or their
craft/trade
– The Scarecrow
represented the wise but naive western
farmer.
• Wants a brain from the wizard - represents the “image”
of simple minded folks, but as the story goes on we
realize the scarecrow always had a brain to think
and decide things for himself
• The Cowardly Lion
was William Jennings Bryan, Populist
presidential candidate in 1896.
• The Yellow Brick Road, with all its
dangers,
represented the gold standard.
• Dorothy's silver slippers
(Judy Garland's were ruby
red, but Baum originally
made them silver)
represented the Populists'
solution to the nation's
economic woes ("the free
and unlimited coinage of
silver")
• Emerald City
represents Washington DC, where leaders
reside and people look for significant
change in their life.
• The Wizard
represents William McKinley who
tried to be all things to everyone, but
turned out to be a fake.
President William McKinley
• Munchkins• Factory “slaves” to the big business- remember the
Wicked Witch of the East had cast a spell on them
making the Munchkins her subjects.
• The Wicked Witch of The West
represents the railroads and the control
they had over the populist supporters.
•
Flying Monkey’s –
Plains Indians
Significance of the
Populist Movement
• McKinley’s win = victory of urban/eastern
interests over agrarian concerns.
• The Democrats embraced the populist
vote in the future.
• Republicans would dominate politics for
the next 30 years.
• The reform spirit of the Populists would be
embraced by the more urban, middle-class
Progressives in the early 20th century.