The Populist Movement

 Growing urban populations had to be fed  Farmers responded by planting more crops and raising more animals each year  Farmers in other nations did the same thing  This caused prices to fall  At the same time, expenses rose (railroad freight and new machinery)  Many farmers bought more land and increased production which also pushed prices even lower  Many families lost their farms because they couldn’t pay their debt

 The Grange movement-the first major farmers’ organization, the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, or the National Grange was founded by Oliver Hudson Kelley in 1867  Social organization that eventually tackled economic and political issues

 To lower costs, Grange members formed cooperatives, or organizations in which groups of farmers pool their resources to buy and sell goods  Sold directly to big-city markets  Bought farm equipment at wholesale prices  Main focus was to force states to regulate railroad freight and grain-storage rates

 1887-prohibited railroads from giving secret rebates, or refunds, to large shippers or charging more for short hauls than for long hauls over the same line  “reasonable and just” rates  To monitor ICA, the act created the Interstate Commerce Commission  However, the ICC was given little power to enforce its rulings

 A more powerful farm organization-the Farmers’ Alliance- took shape  Organized cooperatives to buy equipment and to market farm products  Offered farmers low-cost insurance  Lobbied for tougher bank regulations, government ownership of the railroads, and a graduated income tax

 Southern and Colored Farmers’ Alliances remained separated, segregated institutions  Disputes between white farmers and African American farmers led to a series of violent confrontations  The violence discouraged other African Americans from joining the Colored Farmers’ Alliance  Power faded during the 1890s

 One of the most important issues for farmers in the Alliance movement was the expansion of the money supply  They favored printing more money (Greenback Party)  Unsuccessful in convincing the government to accept their plan  However, in 1873 the government stopped coining silver and to convert the money supply to the gold standard

 Each dollar was equal to and redeemable for a set amount of gold  The amount of money in circulation was limited by the amount of gold held in the U.S. Treasury  This conversion resulted in a decrease in the amount of money in circulation and lowering of prices

 Farmers demanded the government back the money supply with silver  Both acts required the government to buy silver each month and mint it into coins  The government bought very little silver and it didn’t increase the money supply  Angry, farmers threw themselves into the 1890 election backing any candidate that supported farmers (40 seats in Congress, 4 southern governorships, and numerous political offices)

 Alliance members met with labor leaders and other reformers, known as the People’s Party (Populist Party)  Asked for graduated income tax, bank regulation, government ownership of railroad and telegraph companies, and the free, or unlimited, coinage of silver  Restrictions on immigration, a shorter workday, and voting reforms

 The nation’s leading railroad company failed launching the Panic of 1893  By the end of 1893, some 3 million people were unemployed  President Grover Cleveland chose to focus on the Sherman Silver Purchase Act  This law required government to pay for silver purchases with Treasury notes redeemable in either gold or silver  New discoveries of silver decreased the metal’s value and everyone rushed to exchange their notes for gold  Congress repealed the act in October 1893

 President Cleveland’s actions saved the gold standard  Silver became the central issue in the 1896  Republican-William McKinley  Populist-William Jennings Bryan (Democrat)  Populist Party soon faded as a national party

 Terrified of Bryan’s populism, many business leaders contributed millions of dollars to the Republican campaign  McKinley beat Bryan by some 500, 000 votes  Brought an end to the Populist Party