Angry Farmers

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 Repealed after the panic of 1893 reduced the nation’s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