Populist Party

Problems of Farmers 1870-1920 Overproduction International Competition Scarcity of Money The Profits of “Middlemen” High Shipping Costs High cost of Manufactured goods Debt and cost of money Natural Disasters Rural Isolation Overproduction- more land under cultivation and better machinery International competition- RR and steamship transportation Scarcity of Money- US stopped minting silver dollars, but as population grew not enough money in circulation, which would increase the costs of production for the farmers (transportation, machinery etc.) Profits of middlemen- brokers or grain elevators would buy crop right after harvest and sell it to city markets for a profit, would often charge farmers to store crop until it could be sold High shipping costs- long hauls- cheaper more competition, short hauls- more expensive, bc only on rr often came to that town had no choice but to pay price Manufactured goods- monopoly practices and high protective tarrifs kept manufactured goods prices high Debt and cost of money- farmers borrowed to make improvement or buy more land, lenders charged them high interest, if you could not pay off debt bank would sieze your farm, in a state of deflation bc of a lack of money in circulation, and increased supply of crops. Wanted inflation so crops would cost more and the real value of what they owed the banks would be less wanted the government to purchase and print money backed by silver Natural disasters- boll-weevils- cotton eating bug, grasshoppers and droughts Rural isolation-

Farmers Organize The Grange- 1867, Oliver Hudson Kelley Granger laws Munn v. Illinois (1877) Wabash St. Louis and Pacific Railroad v. Illinois (1886) Farmers Alliance Populist Party (1892-1896) Omaha Platform- 1892 Election of 1896 Grange- break isolation and spread farming techniques, 10 years, 1.5 million members, tried to replace middlemen by making their own farmers cooperatives, bought machinery, fertilizers, and manufactured goods in bulk to cut prices, and sold crops directly to markets, lack of experience most cooperatives will fail. first attempt to regulate rr and middlemen, elected pro-grange candidates to state legislature, and then passed laws regulating rr ad middlemen, argued this regulation took away the value of their property illegally, Munn v Illinois- upheld granger laws saying a state could regulate private utility if that utility was was serving the public interest Wabash- struck down granger laws saying a state gov cannot regulate a utility that crosses state lines Populist party- democratic and republican parties both had sold out to the “big banks”, believed bankers and businessmen controlled government, in election of 1892 5 senators Omaha platform- see pg 109 Election of 1896- depression of 1893, populists wanted bimetallism to fix economy, democrats became divided over their incumbent grover Cleveland who was monometalism and William Jenning Bryan and free silver democrat, won the nomination by giving his “Cross of Gold” speech, denouncing banking interests saying they are crucifying mankind on a cross of gold. now what should populist leaders do? Bring in their own candidate or support Bryan- decided to support bryan Mckinley had support of Rockefeller, jp morgan Carnegie and businessmen Marcus Hanna= a lot of money, was able to run a very successful campaign and beat Bryan, but a lot of the populists ideals will live on and eventually become law

Farmers Legislation Interstate Commerce Act (1887) Interstate Commerce Commission Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890) ICA- first step toward regulating unfair businesses. Prohibited giving different rates to different customers, prohibited charging more for short hauls vs long hauls. RR companies had to publish their rates, Interstate commerce Commision was created to investigate complaints against the rrs and enforce the act SSPA- required federal government to purchase a large amount of silver each month