Populists notes- Mrs. Civitella

Populists- political movement of farmers which claimed that laissez-faire capitalism and big business were responsible for the the worsening economic circumstances in rural America.(the official name of the Populists was the People’s Party)

1867- The Patrons of Husbandry, usually referred to as the Grange organized as a secret society with the purpose of advancing the social and cultural activities of people living in rural areas.

1873- Panic of 1873 – membership in the Grange grew in national scope with local chapters in all farm states. Members sensed the need for political action.

1870s- the Grange secured passage of laws to limit railroad rates and other pro-agricultural laws. The Grange supported the Populists in the 1890s and is still in existence as an agricultural lobbying organization today.

1880s- Farmers’ Alliances are organized quasi-political organizations formed regionally to represent agricultural interests ( Southern Alliance, National Farmers’ Alliance of the Northwest, state alliances in states like Kansas and the Dakotas)

1890- Sherman Silver Purchase Act- pro-silver interests passed legislation authorizing Congress to buy 4.5 million ounces of silver each month at market prices, and issue Treasury notes redeemable in gold and silver. This act created inflation and lowered gold reserves.

1890- McKinley Tariff- one of the highest tariffs in U.S. history, increasing the tax on foreign goods to almost 50%. The tariff was popular with industrialists and unpopular with farmers which led to the creation of the Populist Party.

1891- Populist Party formed as the Farmers’ Alliance merged with liberal Democrats who were suffering from the ill effects the McKinleyTariff (1890)

1892- the People’s Party (official name for the Populists) candidate James B. Weaver carried four western states in the presidential campaign and by 1894; Populists had elected 4 senators, 4 congressmen, 21 state executive positions, 150 state senators, and 315 state representatives, primarily in the West and South. These electoral victories represented the first agrarian protest to challenge the two-party system.

Populist’s platform:

Wanted the unlimited coinage of sliver

A graduated income tax

Government ownership of railroads, telegraph and telephone lines

Direct election of US Senators

Single term limits for presidents (6 years)

Referendums for citizens to bypass legislators

Shorter workday

Immigration restrictions

Ban on private armies used by corporations to break up strikes

1893- Depression of 1893

The Treasury’s gold reserves sunk below $100 million dollars

If the country depleted its gold reserves it would have made the American economy even worse and ruin our credit abroad

1894- in an effort to prevent more gold from being depleted from the reserves, Cleveland repealed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act

1894- wealthy business owner, Jacob S. Coxey set out with 500 men for Washington D.C., to petition the federal government for cheap money and debt-relief programs. When “Coxey’s Army” reached the capitol building, Cleveland refused to meet with them and they were arrested for trespassing on the lawn

1895-when the repeal of the Silver Act did not improve the economy, Cleveland borrowed more that $60 million dollars from Wall Street financer J.P. Morgan

1896- Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan who delivered his famous

“Cross of Gold” speech at the Democratic Convention

Conservatives fearing cheap money and inflation, rallied behind William McKinley (R-OH) and gave $15 million dollars to McKinley’s campaign

Some Democrats claimed that McKinley had “bought the White House”

1900- McKinley signed the Gold Standard Act which stabilized the value of the dollar to one once of gold

The Bryan campaign of 1896 effectively ended the Populist Movement. The Populists then became a part of the Democratic Party. Many elements of the Populist platform would be adopted into law in the Progressive Era.

This election also marked the last time that a presidential candidate tried to win by appealing to agricultural interests.

Bryan went on to run for the presidency for the Democratic Party again in 1900 and 1908. He lost every time.

The populists did not include black farmers who created the Colored Farmers’ National Alliance. Populist leaders like Tom Watson- (P-GA) initially reached out to black farmers but eventually racist pressure from the southern planter elite resulted in poor white southerners being pulled to the populists and away from the Republican party. The result of which were white southerners more frequently using literacy tests, poll taxes and “grandfather clauses” to exclude southern black voters.

The term populism has now come to mean any political movement that advocates on behalf of the common person, particularly for government intervention against big business

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