Goal Four Populism: The Last West and New South Chapter 14

Goal 4 Vocabulary Farmer’s cooperatives National Farmer’s Alliance National Farmer’s Southern Alliance Omaha Platform Greenbacks William Jennings Bryan William McKinley “Gold Bug” Democrats Election of 1896 Ignatius Donnelly ‘Free coinage of Silver Cross of Gold Speech Interstate Commerce Act Interlocking Directorates The Wizard of Oz Munn v. Illinois The Populist Party Rebates Cooperatives

Objectives Objective 4.03 - Rise and fall of Populism - Impact of laws and court cases upon the farmer - Growing discontent of the farmer - Gold standard v. Bimetallism

Essential Questions 1) How is American Democracy shaped by the struggle between individuals, states, and Federal Government? 2) How did changing agricultural and business practices change the American Economy? 3)How did the opening and closing of the western frontier impact political and cultural life and cultural life in America?

Notes on populism Expansion of railroad lines made it possible for western farmers to ship goods back East However, farmers were upset at current economic conditions Increased dependence on rails to ship goods made farmers victims of corrupt business practices Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History Learning Module on Gilded Age

Why farmers upset? Competition among railroad companies existed for long-haul routes, but not for short-haul routes Railroads could charge inflated rates for hauling farmer’s produce or offer rebates Rebates – payments paid by the railroads to favored customers Farmers were angered at railroads setting their own rates and offering rebates

Rise of the Grange Movement The Grangers were formed by farmers in reaction to unfair railroad practices The price of farm products were declining as farmers went deeper in debt to merchants and banks Many farmers lost their land and animals to banks Grangers worked to politically to help pass the 1887 Interstate Commerce Act

Interstate Commerce Act 1887 This act marked the first time that congress regulated industry The act required railroads to publicize their rate schedules Excessive railroad rates were outlawed The act did not forbid interlocking directorates – under this plan, a few businessmen could control an industry by serving as directors for competing companies (in this way, railroads could fix prices and avoid competition

Munn v. Illinois, 1876 Munn v. Illinois was a very important Supreme Court Case for farmers The court, in support of the National Grange, ruled that states could regulate the use of private property when it was used in the public interest This public interest applied to railroads

Farmers Respond to Changing Conditions To help each other and protect businesses, farmers banded together to create Cooperatives Cooperatives helped farmers buy equipment, supplies, etc. as a group. These groups helped to regulate prices somewhat. Like the work of the Grange, farmers understood that they needed to get more political

The Rise of Populism Grangers and other farmers formed a new organization called the National Farmer’s Alliance The National Farmer’s Alliance represented western Farmers The Southern Alliance represented southern white farmers The Colored Farmer’s Alliance supported African Americans Delegates from these groups met and organized a new party in 1892 – meeting in Omaha, Nebraska The Omaha Platform, the platform of the People’s Party (The Populist Party) spoke to the needs of farmers)

A couple of links Populist Party Platform The Wizard of Oz as parable to Populism

Populist Party Platform 1) Government ownership of railroads 2) Restrictions on immigration 3) More inflationary currency to help debtors

The Election of 1896

Big Question of Election? Should the money supply be entirely backed by gold (gold standard) or be increased by coining gold and silver? Bimetallism – the coining of both gold and silver

The Candidates The populist candidate for president was William Jennings Bryan. Bryan was also the Democratic presidential candidate that year.

Bryan, the Democrats, and the Populists supported Free coinage of silver at 16 – 1 exchange rate *Democrats, farmers, and the working class supported bimetallism

The ‘Cross of Gold’ At the 1896 Democratic National Convention, William Jennings Bryan delivered his famous Cross of Gold speech against the Gold Standard view of the Republican party.

William McKinley William McKinley was the Republican Nominee The republicans supported the gold standard in opposition to bimetallism “Gold Bug” Democrats also supported the Gold Standard

Who is Frank Baum?

He’s connected to this movie!

The Wizard of Oz as Populist Allegory Frank Baum was the author of The Wizard of Oz stories. He had lived in the west and observed the plight of farmers The characters in The Wizard stories represent populist characters and ideas For Example…….

The characters Dorothy – She is the ‘every man’ of the story. Someone that has to deal with the elements. *Ruby slippers were actually silver slippers in the book The Lion – The orator, William Jennings Bryan – looking for courage to fight the election of 1896 The scarecrow – The farmer, someone that needed a brain – could not think for himself. The Tin Man – The eastern, factory laborer that was rusted out due to terrible working conditions

The Result of the Election Although Bryan lost the election to McKinley, the issue of bimetallism would surface in 1900 Bryan would run for president again in 1900 and be defeated by McKinley Many ideas of the populists would be taken up and completed by congress during the progressive era.