Agricultural Overproduction Periodic Natural Disasters The Agrarian Movement We will analyze populism and evaluate the impact of the Populist Party. I will analyze the Populist Party through political cartoons. Problems of Farmers: 1870-1900 Agricultural Overproduction High Costs Farmer Indebtedness Periodic Natural Disasters The Granger Movement (1867) Purpose Granger Cooperatives Granger Laws The Populist Party: 1891-1896 Populist Party Populist Platform (1892)

Legacy of Populism Election of 1892 Election of 1896 Election of 1900 William Jennings Bryan William McKinley Election of 1900 William Jennings Bryan’s Cross of Gold Speech “My friends, the question we are to decide is: upon which side will the Democratic Party fight; upon the side of ‘the idle capital’ or upon the side of ‘the struggling masses’? That question the party must answer. You tell us that we great cities are in favor of the gold standard; we reply that the great cities rest upon our broad and fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again if by magic. But destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country.” Which groups did Bryan appeal to in this speech to the Democratic National Convention? How did he try to show that farmers were superior? Legacy of Populism