1. Cities and Farmers of the Late 19 th Century 1850-1900S

2. Problems in the Cities  Overcrowding and slums  Cheap tenement housing, but typically lacked air flow  Unsanitary  Traffic Congestion  Narrow streets that were never designed to accommodate so many people  Horses  Cars  No garbage collection service or proper sewage system  Vast difference in wealth that led to class tensions

3. Overpopulation 

4. Traffic Congestion  Like this, only smellier

5. No garbage or waste collection

7. Political Machines  Group of people who encouraged the poor and immigrants to vote for them  Promised to provide social services in return  Led by a “Boss”  Officials elected by the “political machine” over charged on public contracts and made huge fortunes  Example:  Tammany Hall of New York led by Boss William Marcy “Boss” Tweed

8. Tammany Hall & “Boss” Tweed Estimated that he stole between $25 – 45 million in taxpayer money Later estimates say it was closer to $200 million…

9. Problems on the Farm  Food prices fall  Agricultural overproduction – Opening of the Great Plains increased the amount of farmland  International competition – farmers faced new competition from foreign countries, which kept prices low  Scarcity of money kept food prices low – gold/silver prices fluctuated so the government stopped minting silver dollars  Not enough money in circulation

10. Problems on the Farms  Other problems faced by Farmers  Profits of the middlemen  Farmers did not sell crops directly to urban consumers  Bought at harvest time when prices were their lowest, and farmers had no choices but to sell  High shipping costs – unfair railroad rates  Over charged for “short hauls,” shipments from communities serviced by one railroad line  High costs of manufactured products – protective tariffs  Farmer debt – had to take on loans when harvest was bad, very high rates  Natural disasters  Rural isolation

12. Farmer Organizations  Grange Movement  National association of farmers’ social clubs – served social and educational purposes  Farmers’ Cooperatives  Attempts by Grangers to set up their own businesses for buying and selling bulk  Populist Party  Grangers formed “Farmers’ Alliance,” which formed the populist party in the early 1890s  A new national political party that represented the common interests of farmers and workers  The “People’s Party”

14. Granger Laws  Laws that regulated grain elevators and railroads  Kept prices low to favor farmers  Munn v. Illinois  SCOTUS ruled that states could regulate the grain elevator industry (the middlemen)  Wabash v. Illinois  SCOTUS overruled state law regulating railroad rates  Said that only Congress could regulate interstate commerce  Interstate Commerce Act  Passed by Congress after the Wabash v. Illinois ruling  First federal law created to regulate  Railroads could no longer charge more for short hauls than long hauls  Created the Interstate Commerce Commission

15. Wabash v. Illinois

16. Populist Party  New national political party created in the early 1890s, known as the “people’s party”  Wanted to end the hold that the rich and banker class had on the national government

17. Populist Party – Omaha Platform  Omaha Platform – what the Populist wanted  Ideas that were passed after the Populist movement ended  Direction election of U.S. Senators  Secret ballot election, initiative and referendum procedures  Restriction on immigration  Progressive income tax  8-hour workday  Never adopted  Government ownership of railroads  Unlimited silver coinage

18. Populist Party – “Cross of Gold”  William Jennings Bryan’s “Cross of Gold” Speech  Election of 1896 hinged on candidates economic platform  Suffering from Depression of 1893  Populists wanted to increase the money supply through bimetallism – would increase the monetary supply with mining silver  Democrats were split over the “free silver” debate  Bryan won the nomination with his “Cross of Gold” speech  Denounced the bankers for attempting to “crucify mankind upon a cross of gold”  Bankers demanded to restrict money only to gold  Would have increased their profits on loans  Bryan ultimately loses the election – populist party dies out