1. The Populist Party

3. Background- Industrial Revolution
Mechanization of Agriculture and increased land
Food Surplus
Food prices go down
Good for Urban People but bad for farmers because they had gone into debt to buy land, equipment, seed.
Led to farmers experiencing financial instability

4. The Granger Movement: 1860s
Est. to help farmers politically and socially.
Primarily against:
Monopolies in the railroad (make farmers pay high prices for services)
Gold Standard
Example: Eastern farmers paid 95 cents per ton to ship goods, and Western farmers paid $3.20 per ton to ship goods

5. What does the “Gold Standard” mean? (a.k.a. Mini Econ. Lesson)
What gives money value?
Paper money used to be based on gold
Fun fact: now money is based on the good word of the government.

6. How does this relate?
Government policy favored industry over agriculture
During this era, money was based on the Gold Standard
If Silver was added, the dollar would be worth less
Farmers needed cash, so they wanted to make the dollar worth less so there would be more cash in the system.
They wanted to use both silver and gold to back up money, thus increasing the amount of money in the country
All money would be worth less, a situation that was bad for creditors (big banks) and good for debtors (farmers)

8. Farmers’ Alliance: 1870s and 1880s
Farmers began to organize into the Farmer’s Alliance
Promoted economic cooperation and reform to help the farmers
More political than The Granger Movement
Why would Farmers join the Farmers’ Alliance?
There is power in cooperation.

10. The Populist Party
The Grange and Farmers Alliance led to Populist Party
established in Omaha, Nebraska July 4, 1892
Omaha Platform
Stood for:
Producerism: farmers deserved a fair return on labor.
Flexible Currency: wanted better access to credit.
Better Representation

11. Cause and Effect Westward expansion, industrialization
Crop surplus, lower prices
Low crop prices, buying land/equipment
Farmers try to change monetary policy
Grange not seeing success
William J. Bryan runs for president

12. William Jennings Bryan
The party’s high point was when William Jennings Bryan was nominated to run for President in 1896
One of the strongest 3rd party systems in American History
Although he did not win, he did very well considering he was a third party candidate
Ran on the Silver Issue

13. “Cross of Gold” Speech
At your table, read the speech excerpt and answer the questions in your notes.

14. Why were the Populists so popular?
The Populist Party tried to answer the question: Why do some have and others have not?
Challenged the power of money in the economy and paved the way for social reform.

15. Los Angeles Times
Using the information we learned in class, explain this front page to me.
Why would the Los Angeles Times be celebrating the fact that Bryan did not win?
Why was it surprising that Kentucky did not vote for Bryan?
What do they mean by “vote silver” or “sound money.”