The Rise and Fall of the Populist Party 1867-1896 Why did the Populist Party attract millions of supporters? With corporations on the rise, farmers had enough to worry about. Too bad agriculture was also teetering. Crops were failing and prices were dropping, especially for Southern cotton. Farmers had trouble getting credit. To make everything even more of a muddy mess, a drought clamped down on the Midwest in the 1880s. Wait, so maybe it wasn't muddy, maybe—more like dusty. Farmers in the West and South decided to organize politically. Their party was called the Populist Party.

Farmers’ Problems: Lower prices for crops Farmers had no cash, went further into debt, banks foreclosed on mortgages Railroads charged outrageous prices to ship crops (no regulation!) -> Granger laws insufficient Farmers harbored heavy resentment against moneylenders and railroad-runners. They called on the government for help. The Granger Laws were a good start, but they weren't enough. In 1891, an angry group of agriculturalists started the People's (Populist) Party, a political party with a following among poor white Southern cotton farmers and midwestern wheat farmers. Granger laws: The main goal of the Grange was to regulate rising fare prices of railroad and grain elevator companies after the American Civil War. The laws, which upset major railroad companies, were a topic of much debate at the time and ended up leading to several important court cases, such as Munn v. Illinois and Wabash v. Illinois.

Farmers’ Demands: Regulate the railroad companies (stop them from charging such high rates) Make cash more available (back the dollar with silver, not gold, so dollar will be worth less) Political demands: single term for President and Vice- President; secret ballot; popular election of Senators To get industrial workers to support them: 8-hour workday; restrict immigration More government, please, the Populists said. Get in here and regulate the corporations and banks that are sitting on us. Aid poor farmers. Above all, listen to us. One of the main things farmers needed was cash, so one of their main goals was making the dollar worth less so that there would be more cash in the system. They also pushed for political reforms that gave people more power in politics. They also tried to unite with workers in industry.

Different Groups Representing Farmers’ Interests 1867: The Patrons of Husbandry (The Grange) 1880s: Farmers’ Alliance and Colored Farmers’ National Alliance 1892: Birth of the Populist, or People’s Party Farmers began organizing as early as the 1860s. At first they focused on forming collectives (the Grange), in an effort to raise prices by uniting and holding grain from the market. But the railroads and banks were too powerful, so that’s when they started to get political. As you can see with the formation of the Colored Farmers’ Alliance, black farmers and white farmers didn’t unite, especially in the South. Racism was still too strong.

1892 Presidential Election: Populist Candidate won over a million votes! In 1892, they ran the first Populist presidential candidate and he did extremely well, considering he was a third-party candidate. the party won several congressional and gubernatorial seats, as well as local elections. It also eked out more than a million votes for its presidential candidate, James B. Weaver. The Populists also had some success in making alliances between white and black farmers in the South.

1896 Election Populists decide to improve their chances by supporting a Democratic candidate: William Jennings Bryan, who agreed to support the Silver-backed dollar. In 1896, they realized that if they were going to have their issues dealt with nationally, they had to support one of the major candidates. William Jennings Bryan was a Democratic candidate who pledged to support the silver issue. In general, NEITHER party supported the interests of poor farmers. But between the two parties, Populists thought they had more in common with Democrats.

1896 Presidential Election: Bryan loses but carries most of the South and West

Document analysis Doc A Read first paragraph and ask students: How is this supposed to make the audience feel? Why might she use religious references? Read second and third paragraphs together: How was this supposed to make the audience feel? Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? What emotions does she appeal to?

Discussion Why were the speakers like Lease and Bryan popular in the 1890s? What images and rhetorical devices did they use to excite their audiences? How did their audiences feel when they listened to these speeches? Do these themes resonate today? Which parts of these speeches could we expect to hear from today’s politicians? Which parts seem outdated?