1. Farmers, Failure and Free Silver

2. A. Farmers Move West Cheap Land and the Homestead Act
Railroads Link East and West

3. B. Farmers Face Falling Prices

4. Farmers Borrow to Buy New Technology: Tractors and Combines
Technology  More Production (Wheat, Cotton, Corn)
More Production  Falling Prices
Falling Prices  Farmers Try to Produce Even More  More Falling Prices

5. C. Farmers Face Rising Costs, Unpredictable Harvests, and Foreclosure
Railroads Raise Prices

6. Unpredictable Harvests: Bugs and Bad Weather
Failure and Foreclosure: Banks Repossess Farms

7. II. Early Solutions Fail
Work Together: Form Cooperatives to Store and Sell Crops
Lobby for Laws: Regulate Railroads & Storage Facilities

8. III. The 1890s Solution: Free Silver, Populists, and the 1896 Election
Farmers, Fixed Debts, and Inflation
B. Free Silver for Inflation

9. C. William Jennings Bryan’s “Cross of Gold” Speech

11. D. The McKinley Victory and the Failure of the Populists