Farmers in Protest “ When the banker says he’s broke, And the merchant is up in smoke, They forget that is the farmer that feeds them all, The farmer is the man, Lives on credit till the fall, With the interest rates so high, It’s a wonder he don’t die, For the mortgage man’s the one who gets it all.”

The Farmers Organize Once farming expanded in West and South, there was an overabundance of crops thus prices fell. At the same time, expenses remained high. Farmers thought it was the fault of railroad companies for high shipping costs, Northern manufacturers for expensive products, and bankers because they needed to borrow money and then pay high interest rates. If they could not repay bankers, they could lose their farms.

The Grange Farmers decided to organize (like a union). The National Grange offered farmers education (library with books on farming), fellowship (social gatherings), and support (buying/selling together). It set up cooperatives – a store where farmers could buy goods from one another at low prices with cash – no credit.

The Grange It even pressured state legislatures to try to get railroads to limit shipping rates. Ultimately, the Grange failed because farmers did not have cash to buy goods from the cooperative.

Farmer’s Alliance It started as networks of organizations throughout the US. The Alliance provided the same things as the Grange but it also proposed that the government store crops for farmers so they could sell it later for more money and lend money to farmers to pay back. This would give farmers federal protection. Unfortunately, the networks argued amongst each other and Alliance grew apart

Populist Party The Alliance decided to back political leaders and became known as the populist party. They believed that the government should own railroads and telephone lines. They wanted to have unlimited production of silver coins – they thought that more coins in the economy would give them more money to pay debts. This was called “free silver”. They also wanted to limit term of president and vice-president to single term, elect senators directly, and have a secret ballot for voting. Lastly, they wanted shorter hours for workers and a national income tax.

Populist Problems Northern and Southern farmers did not get along. Freedmen who supported the Populists could not vote in many Southern states. Banks and business warned that coining more money leads to inflation. Democrats from some states also wanted to help farmers and have “free silver”. Should they become Democrats or remain a separate political party?

Election of 1896 Democrat President Grover Cleveland was against free silver. Democrat William Jennings Bryan supported free silver and other Populist goals. Republicans nominated William McKinley who opposed free silver.

Election of 1896 Although Bryan was against businesses and banking, the economy began to pick up for everyone – including farmers. Voters did not want to change from gold to silver and the Populists ideas did not seem so important anymore. McKinley won the election. Although their candidate lost the election, most Populist ideas became law in the 1900s.