13.4: FARMERS and THE POPULIST MOVEMENT

OBJECTIVE: To understand the rise and fall of the populist movement.

1. Oliver Kelly founded an organization to help farmers called the ___________.

2. Farmers and Populists wanted (inflation/deflation).

3. Populists and democrats embraced the (gold/silver) standard.

4. William Jennings Bryan urged the US to reject the gold standard and adopt _______.

5. Jennings famous speech was called the “________ of Gold.”

1. Farmers and Populists wanted (inflation/deflation).

2. Republicans embraced the (gold/silver) standard.

3. (Bryan/McKinley) won the presidential election of 1896.

4. _____________ is another way of saying the “people’s party.”

5. William Jennings Bryan famous speech was called the “________ of Gold.”

1. Oliver Kelly founded an organization to help farmers called the ___________.

2. _____________ is another way of saying the “people’s party.”

3. Farmers and Populists wanted (inflation/deflation).

4. Republicans embraced the (gold/silver) standard.

5. Populists and democrats embraced the (gold/silver) standard.

1. Many homesteaders built houses out of mud and turf called __________ because there were few trees on the plains.

2. The invention of steel ____________ helped solve the problem of how to irrigate farms on the plains.

3. The invention of _____ ______ helped to protect farms from being trampled by animals.

4. The ___________ reduced the time needed to harvest crops.5. Giant farms were called ____________ farms.6. The Morrill ____________ Grant Acts of 1862 and 1887 helped

to fund agricultural schools to train farmers.7. Oliver Kelly founded an organization to help farmers called the

___________.8. _____________ is another way of saying the “people’s party.” 9. Farmers and Populists wanted (inflation/deflation).10. Republicans embraced the (gold/silver) standard.11. Populists and democrats embraced the (gold/silver) standard.12. (Bryan/McKinley) won the presidential election of 1896.13. William Jennings Bryan urged the US to reject the gold standard

and adopt _______.14. Jennings famous speech was called the “________ of Gold.”

Map: Mining and Cattle Frontiers, 1860-1890

Mining and Cattle Frontiers, 1860-1890The western mining and ranching bonanzas lured thousands of Americans hoping to get rich quick.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Map: Settlement of the Trans-Mississippi West, 1860-1890

Settlement of the Trans-Mississippi West, 1860-1890The West was not settled by a movement of peoples gradually creeping westward from the East. Rather, settlers first occupied California and the Midwest and then filled up the nation's vast interior.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Map: The Development and Natural Resources of the West

The Development and Natural Resources of the WestBy 1890 mining, lumbering, and cattle ranching had penetrated many areas west of the Mississippi River, and railroads had linked together the western economy. These characteristics, along with the spread of agriculture, contributed to the Census Bureau's observation that the frontier had disappeared; yet, as the map shows, large areas remain undeveloped.

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Deflation, Debt, Decline on the Grange

• “cash-crops” ties farmers to world market

• Farmers who grow only one crop are vulnerable to rise and fall of prices in the world market.

By 1890’s overproduction, debt AND deflation

FARM CRISIS!!!

1000’s of farms foreclosed. Farmers TENANTS

= SHARECROPPING

Who’s to blame?

• Farmers themselves?

• Environment?

• Banks?

• Government?

• Trusts?

FARMERS IN CRISIS

PROBLEM: After the Civil War, country experiences deflation = opposite of inflation. Deflation means low crop prices, which mean farmers can’t pay debts.

FARMER’S SOLUTION: 1. Make money “cheap” by printing more money, which will make prices of crops rise AND make debt easier to pay off. 2. Tie value of dollar to silver, rather than gold to allow more dollars to be made.3. Take control of railroads to lower charges to haul crops.

Roots of POPULISM

FACT: farmers comprise nearly 50% of US in 1890SIGNIFICANCE: Farmers can become politically

very powerful IF they unite.

FIRST TO ORGANIZE: • 1867 Oliver Kelley formed the Grange, as social “glue”

for isolated farmers• Grangers control state legislatures in IL, WI, IA & MN • Grangers try to control fees set by railroad, warehouses, &

grain elevators• Grangers develop into Farmers’ Alliances (see Mary E.

Lease, AKA Mary “Yellin” Lease)

POPULISM

1892: Populists, or People’s Party, is founded. SIGNIFICANLTY, Populists receive 10% of vote in Presidential election. Grover Cleveland elected president.

POPULIST GOALS:

1. Increase money supply (Inflation)

2. Graduated Income Tax (rich pay more, poor pay less)

3. Direct election of senators

4. limit president to a single term

5. use secret ballots to vote

NOTE: these reforms were seen as RADICAL in 1892.

PANIC OF 1893PANIC OF 1893: 4 year depression hits

country.

Incomes and wages fall.

20% of US unemployed by 1894.

Makes Farm Crisis WORSE!!!

DEPRESSION INCREASE POPULISM

SILVER VS. GOLDCRISIS: During panic US Treasury suffers a “run” on gold.

PROBLEM: Govt. threatened with running out of $

DEBATE:

The East (factory workers and owners =Republicans)

wants a gold currency standard

VERSUSThe West (Farmers & Miners = Populists)

wants a silver currency standard AKA Bimeltalism

Election of 1896

• Democrats nominate William Jennings Bryan

• Populists, issue and candidate stolen, merge with Democrats and are “absorbed”

• Jennings makes “Cross of Gold” speech

• Republicans nominate William McKinley

(supported by Big Business & “Gold-bugs”)

Bryan’s “Cross of Gold” Speech

If they dare to come out in the open field and defend the gold standard as a good thing, we will fight them to the uttermost. Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.

http://history.osu.edu/Projects/USCartoons/GAPECartoons/Bryan-plank-Verdict-22May1899.jpg

http://history.osu.edu/Projects/McKinley/mck_cartoons_pigs.cfm

http://history.osu.edu/Projects/McKinley/Hanna/hanna_chorus.cfm

Election of 1896Why did McKinley win?1. East out-populated the South, West & mid-West2. Urban workers rejected Bryan’s message of

inflation

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Victory for big business, middle-class values, and conservatism

POPULISTS LEGACY: a list of reforms to be achieved and a message that the poor could be powerful political force.

Identify the causes for the rise of the Populist Party and its effects.

1900 Gold Standard Act

• 1897 – Depression ends

• Gold discoveries in Alaska, Canada, and South Africa

• Dollar is pegged to gold

• Increased volume of gold allows for inflation w/o silver or bimetalism