1. World Class Education www.kean.edu

2. Farmers and Their Discontent: The Agrarian Protest 1870-1896
Topic 9
The Populist Movement
Farmers and Their Discontent:
The Agrarian Protest

3. What were the Causes of the Farmer’s Discontent?2
What were the Causes of the Farmer’s Discontent?
Low agricultural prices
Insufficient credit / expensive credit
High rates charges by railroads, grain elevator operators….
High industrial prices
Tariffs
Federal monetary policy
Middlemen in general
Monopolies in general
Efficient crop production v low prices

4. Three Examples of Farmer Collective / Political Action3
Granger movement
- Late 1860s
Greenback –Labor Party
People’s (Populist) Party

5. What were the Populist Objectives?4
What were the Populist Objectives?
Direct Election of U.S. Senators
Secret Ballot
Ballot Initiative
Referendum
Recall
Direct Primary
Monetary Reform
”Free Silver”
"You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold."

6. Election of 1896 Bryan v. McKinley5
Election of 1896 Bryan v. McKinley
Sharp division in society between urban and rural interests
William Jennings Bryan (Democrat) reform groups / rural interests / indebted farmers / against the gold standard
William McKinley (Republican) victory = shift from America as an agrarian nation to urban interests

7. Selected Readings Populist Movement6
Selected Readings Populist Movement
Lawrence Goodwyn, The Populist Moment: A Short History of the Agrarian Revolt in America
Robert C., McMath, Jr. American Populism: A Social History,