1. The
Populists

2. What were some
of the major
problems facing
farmers during the
Gilded Age ??

3. Problems of the Farmers
Drought
Surpluses
Prices set by world market
Railroad corruption
Debt & monetary policies

4. Farmer’s Organize
The Grange
The Southern Alliance
The Coop

5. Demands for Reform
Tariff
Banking
Currency Laws

6. Catalyst: 1891 = Banks began to foreclose on farm mortgages
The Farmer is the Man
When the banker says he's broke And the merchant’s up in smoke, They forget that it's the farmer who feeds them all. It would put them to the test If the farmer took a rest; Then they'd know that it's the farmer feeds them all.

7. The Silver Issue
“Crime of ’73”  demonetization of silver (govt. stopped coining silver).
Bland-Allison Act (1878)  limited silver coinage to $2-$4 mil. per mo. (based on the 16:1 ratio of silver to gold).
Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890)
The US Treasury must purchase $4.5 mil. oz. of silver a month.
Govt. deposited most silver in the US Treasury rather than circulation.

8. Platform of Lunacy

9. The Populist (Peoples’) Party James B. Weaver, Presidential Candidate
Founded by James B. Weaver and Tom Watson.
Omaha, NE Convention in July, 1892.
Got almost 1 million popular votes.
Several Congressional seats won.
James B. Weaver, Presidential Candidate

10. Omaha Platform, 1892 Free unlimited coinage of silver
National income tax

11. Omaha Platform, 1892
Government ownership of Railroads, telephone, telegraphs

12. Government secured loans to farmers
Treasury storehouse for surplus crops
8 hour work day
Direct election of Senators
Initiative & referendum
Australian (secret) ballot

13. 1892 Election

14. Panic of 1893 Over 16,000 businesses disappeared.
Triggered stock market crash.
500 Bank failures.
3 million unemployed.
Govt continued laissez faire policies.

15. William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925)
Nebraska Senator
1896 Populist
& Democratic Nominee for President
The “Great Commoner”

16. “You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold!”

17. Bryan: The Farmers Friend 18,000 miles of campaign “whistle stops.”

19. Mark Hanna: The “Front-Porch” Campaign
William McKinley ( )

20. The Seasoned Politician
vs.
The “Young” Newcomer

21. Into Which Box Will the Voter of ’96 Place His Ballot?

22. 1896 Election Results

23. Heyday of Western Populism

24. Gold Triumphs Over Silver
1900  Gold Standard Act
confirmed the nation’s commitment to the gold standard.
Other Populist reforms were adopted by Dem. & Republicans

26. Analyze the ways in which technology, government policy, and economic conditions changed American Agriculture in the period In your answer be sure to evaluate farmer’s responses to theses changes.

27. Technology Railroads: Chemical fertilizers Grain elevators Dry farming
Standard gauge track
Atchison, Topeka, Santa Fe
Great Northern
Refrigerated cars
Chemical fertilizers
Grain elevators
Dry farming
Irrigation expensive w/o government aid
windmills
Meatpacking processes
Swift & Armour
Improvements in
Steel plows
Threshers
windmills

28. Economic Conditions Boom & bust cycles Extension of commercial farming
Panics of ’73, ’93
Overproduction= crop surpluses
Railroad policies
Short/long haul
Rebates/drawbacks
Sharecropping (south)

29. Government Policies Homestead Act (’62) High tariffs Gold Standard
Dingley
McKinley
Gold Standard
Interstate Commerce Commission
Oklahoma Land Rush
Sherman Anti-Trust Act

30. Farmer’s Responses Election of 1896 The Grange Bimetalism
Populist Party
Omaha Platform (include details & success of)
Populists
James Weaver
Tom Watson
Pitchfork Ben Tillman
Sockless Jerry Simpson
Mary Elizabeth Lease
William Jennings Bryan
Election of 1896