The Silver Issue
“Crime of ’73”
silver demonetized (gov. stopped coining silver)
Specie Resumption Act (1875)
last of the Greenbacks eliminated
Bland-Allison Act (1878)
limited silver coinage to $2-$4 mil./month
(based on the 16:1 ratio of silver to gold)
Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890)
US Treasury had to purchase $4.5 mil. of silver/mo.
most silver deposited in the US Treasury
rather than put in circulation
Price Indexes for Consumer &
Farm Products: 18651865-1913
National Grange of the
Patrons of Husbandry (1867)
The Grange
Movement
First organized in the 1870s in the Midwest,
the South, and Texas
Set up cooperative associations
Had social and educational components
Succeeded in lobbying for “Granger Laws”
Rapidly declined by the late 1870s
Gift
for the
Grangers:
The
Farmer
Pays
for All!
Supreme Court
Decisions
Munn vs. Illinois
(1877)
private property was
subject to government
regulation if in the public
interest (e.g., railroads)
Wabash vs. Illinois (1886)
overturned Munn
Munn;
individual states don’t have
right to regulate interstate
commerce
Which Will Win?
The Farmers
Alliances
began in the late 1880s
built upon the Grange
movement
more political and less social
than the Grange
ran candidates for office
controlled 8 state leg’s
had 47 rep’s in Congress
United We Stand,
Divided We Fall
The Populist
(Peoples’) Party
Prohibition
Party
Free Silver
Party
Farmers’
Alliance
Grangers
Knights of
Labor
Greenback
Labor
Party
first met in 1892 (in St. Louis)
The Populist
(Peoples’) Party
founded by James B. Weaver
and Tom Watson
held first nominating convention
Omaha Convention in July, 1892
garnered over 1 million votes
(almost 10%)
won several
Congressional seats
James B. Weaver,
Presidential
Candidate
Omaha Platform of
1892
1.
Graduated income tax
2.
Free and unlimited coinage of silver [ultimately settled at
ratio of 16 to 1]
3.
Direct election of Senators (not appt’d)
4.
Govt. ownership of RR’s, telephone, and telegraph comp’s
5.
Government-operated postal savings banks
6.
Restriction of undesirable immigration
7.
8-hour work day for government employees
8.
Abolition of the Pinkerton detective agency
9.
Australian-style secret ballot
10. A single term for President/V.P.
11. Sub-treasury plan [abandoned at convention.. seen as a
‘Southern idea’ alone]
Government-Government
Owned Companies
“a public
necessity…”
“in the
interest of
the people…”
1892 Election
Bi--Metallism Issue
Bi
Causes of the
1893 Panic
1. several major
corporations went
bankrupt
over 16,000
businesses disappeared
triggered a stock
market crash
2. bank failures
nearly 500 closed
Causes of the
1893 Panic
3. European investors sold their American
investments and redeemed them in gold
this growing loss of gold fostered a panic
4. unemployment
reached 3 mill.
by 1895(~ 20%
of working pop.)
“Here Lies Prosperity” Written by a Farmer at
the End of the 19th C.
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.
Coxey’s Army, 1894
1894 Election Returns
Populist vote
increased by
40% in the
1894 House/
Senate elections
Democratic
party losses in
the West were
catastrophic!
Republicans
won control of
the House
Democratic
Party Taken
Over by the
Agrarian
Left
William Jennings Bryan
(1860(1860-1925)
The “Great Commoner”
Democratic President.
Candidate in 1896
platform:
tariff reductions
income tax
stricter control of
the trusts (esp. RR’s)
free silver
Bryan’s
“Cross of Gold” Speech
You shall not
press down upon
the brow of labor
this crown of
thorns; you shall
not crucify
mankind upon a
cross of gold!
gold!
Bryan: The Farmers’ Friend
(The Mint Ratio)
18,000 miles of campaign “whistle stops”
William McKinley
(1843(1843-1901)
Republican Presidential
Candidate
Former Ohio
Congressman
famous for McKinley
Tariff of 1890
The
Seasoned
Politician
vs.
The
“Young”
Newcomer
Into
Which
Box Will
the Voter
of ’96
Place His
Ballot?
1896 Election
Results
Why Did Bryan
Lose?
focus on silver
lack of widespread alliances
“people’s interests” at odds with a strong
national government
McKinley’s campaign was well-organized
and highly funded
Gold Triumphs
Over Silver
Gold Standard Act
(1900)
confirmed the
nation’s commitment to
the gold standard
victory for conservative
forces (banking, Big
Business, etc.)
The Wizard
of Oz
by L. Frank
Baum
“Littlefield Thesis” (1964)
What Are the Metaphors?
Dorothy’s silver slippers
“free and unlimited
coinage of silver”
Wicked Witch of the East
eastern bankers and
industrialists
Munchkins
commoners (the “little
people”)
Tin Woodsman
industrial workers (made
heartless)
Scarecrow
midwestern farmer (wise
but naive)
Cowardly Lion
William Jennings Bryan
(loud, but timid)
What Are the Metaphors?
Yellow Brick Road
the gold standard
Emerald City
Washington, D.C.
The Wizard
Pres. McKinley
Oz
ounce (16
(16 oz = 1 lb.)
Wicked Witch of the West
trusts (e.g., Standard Oil)
Flying Monkeys
railroads/Pinkertons
Heyday of Western
Populism
Why Did Populism
Decline?
1. prosperity returned
2. the era of small farmers was fading away
3. racial divisions, especially in the South
4. most of their agenda was incorporated into
the Democratic Party