1. The Rise and Fall of the Populist Party
In the 1870s and 1880s, life for farmers became increasingly difficult. Farmers in the West and South decided to organize politically. Their party was called the Populist Party.

2. Farmers’ Problems Crop prices fell
Farmers had no cash, went further into debt, and their lenders foreclosed on their mortgages
The railroad companies charged outrageous prices to ship crops (no regulation!)
Any other problems??

3. Farmers’ Demands
Regulate the railroad companies (Stop them from charging such high rates)
Make cash more available (back the dollar with silver, not gold, so dollar would be worth less)
Constitutional demands: single term for President and Vice-President, secret ballot, popular election of Senators
To get industrial workers to support them: 8-hour workday, restrict immigration
-One of the main things farmers needed was cash, so one of their main goals was making the dollar worth less so there would be more cash in the system.
-They also pushed for political reforms that gave people more power in politics. They also tried to unite with workers in industry.

4. Different Groups Representing Farmers’ Interests
1867: The Patrons of Husbandry (The Grange)
1880s: Farmers’ Alliance and Colored Farmers’ National Alliance
1892: Birth of the Populist, or People’s Party
Farmers began organizing as early as the 1860s. At first they focused on forming collectives (The Grange), in an effort to raise prices by uniting and holding grain from the market. But the railroads and banks were too powerful, so that’s when they started to get political.
As you can see with the formation of the Colored Farmers’ Alliance, black farmers and white farmers didn’t unite, especially in the South. Racism was still too strong (a weakness that hurt them from gaining members)

5. 1892 Presidential Election: Populist candidate won over a million votes!
In 1892, they ran the first Populist presidential candidate and he did extremely well, considering he was a third-party candidate.

6. 1896 Election Democrats – 1890s Republicans – 1890s Southerners
Wealthy farmers
Supported low tariffs (wanted other countries to buy their crops)
Northerners
Wealthy business men (connected to the railroad)
Southern African Americans (poor farmers)
Supported high tariffs (didn’t want to compete with other countries’ products)
In 1896, they realized that if they were going to have their issues dealt with nationally, they had to support one of the major candidates. William Jennings Bryan was a Democrat candidate who pledged to support the silver issue.
In general, NEITHER party supported the interests of poor farmers. But between the two parties, Populists thought they had more in common with Democrats.

7. 1896 Election
Populists decide to improve their chances by supporting the Democratic candidate, William Jennings Bryan, who agreed to support the silver-backed dollar.
Bryan loses but carries most of the South and West
*First time in history that a candidate who wins does not have the backing of the agrarian population – shows the changing times
( ): “The free-silver election of 1896 (Bryan “The Cross of Gold” Speech) was perhaps the most significant political turning points since Lincoln’s victories in 1860 and Despite Bryan’s strength in the South and West, the results vividly demonstrated his lack of appeal to the unmortgaged farmer and especially the eastern urban laborer… The Bryan-McKinley battled heralded the advent of new era in American politics. At first glance the election seemed to be the age-old story of the underprivileged many against the privileged few, of the indebted backcountry against the wealthier seaboard, of the country against the city, of the agrarians against the industrialists, of Main Street against Wall Street, of the nobodies against the somebodies. Yet when Bryan made his appeal, not enough of them banded together to form political majority.
- Outcome was a resounding victory for big business, the big cities, middle-class values, and financial conservatism. Bryan’s defeat marked the last serious effort to win the White House with mostly agrarian votes. The future of presidential politics lay no on the famrs, with their dwindling population, but tin the cities with their growing arriving immigrants.
-Also heralded a Republican grip on the White House for sixteen consecutive years. Indeed for all but eight of the 36 years.
- New character to American Political Character (fourth party system): 1896 – 1932 when Republicans had a tight grip on the White House and issues such as industrial regulation and labor welfare concerns became paramount, replacing colder concerns such as civil-service reform ad monetary Policy
- Monetary Policy solved with Gold Standard Act: 1900: An act that guaranteed that paper currency would be redeemed freely in gold, putting an end to the already dying “free-silver” campaign.
Today, we’re going to look at what made the Populist Party appealing to many Americans at the end of the 19th century.

8. 1896 Presidential Election: Bryan loses but carries most of the South and West
*First time in history that a candidate who wins does not have the backing of the agrarian population – shows the changing times
( ): “The free-silver election of 1896 (Bryan “The Cross of Gold” Speech) was perhaps the most significant political turning points since Lincoln’s victories in 1860 and Despite Bryan’s strength in the South and West, the results vividly demonstrated his lack of appeal to the unmortgaged farmer and especially the eastern urban laborer… The Bryan-McKinley battled heralded the advent of new era in American politics. At first glance the election seemed to be the age-old story of the underprivileged many against the privileged few, of the indebted backcountry against the wealthier seaboard, of the country against the city, of the agrarians against the industrialists, of Main Street against Wall Street, of the nobodies against the somebodies. Yet when Bryan made his appeal, not enough of them banded together to form political majority.
- Outcome was a resounding victory for big business, the big cities, middle-class values, and financial conservatism. Bryan’s defeat marked the last serious effort to win the White House with mostly agrarian votes. The future of presidential politics lay no on the famrs, with their dwindling population, but tin the cities with their growing arriving immigrants.
-Also heralded a Republican grip on the White House for sixteen consecutive years. Indeed for all but eight of the 36 years.
- New character to American Political Character (fourth party system): 1896 – 1932 when Republicans had a tight grip on the White House and issues such as industrial regulation and labor welfare concerns became paramount, replacing colder concerns such as civil-service reform ad monetary Policy
- Monetary Policy solved with Gold Standard Act: 1900: An act that guaranteed that paper currency would be redeemed freely in gold, putting an end to the already dying “free-silver” campaign.
Today, we’re going to look at what made the Populist Party appealing to many Americans at the end of the 19th century.

9. Central Historical Question
Why did the Populist Party attract millions of supporters?