POPULISM
The Farmers’ Complaint
Tariffs- on imported goods made them more expensive; a federal policy that
concerned farmers
Businesses - believed tariffs protected American factory jobs, but reduced foreign
competition thus inspired Am firms to raise their prices
- Farmers and Tariffs
a. tariffs- hurt farmers in two ways, 1- raised the prices of manufactured goods
(farm machinery), 2- caused European manufacturing nations to retaliate with
their own tariffs against American crops = reduced the world market for Am.
farm products
b. farmers protested whenever the government raised tariffs (to benefit industry)
- Money Issue
a. money supply- value of money is linked to the money supply; the amount of
money in the national economy;
if government increases the money supply, the value of every dollar drops,
therefore the drop value shows up as inflation (prices on all kinds goods rise)
deflation- gov’t reduction of money supply, the value of each dollar becomes
greater; drop in the prices on goods
Monetary policy- federal gov’ts plan for the makeup & quantity of the nation’s
money supply (major political issue)
-Supporters of inflation pushed for increase in money supply
-Supporters of deflation wanted a “tight money” supply
b. Gold Bugs- 1873- worst economic panic in US history- supporters of tight money
won a victory
-bimetallic standard- currency consisted of gold/silver coins
- 1873, to prevent inflation & stabilize the economy, Congress put the nation’s
currency on a gold standard, which reduced the amount of money in circulation
(money supply was limited by amount of gold gov’t held)
- conservative “gold bugs ” pleased, being that many were lenders thus liking
being repaid in currency backed by the gold standard
c. Silverites (silver-mining interests & western farmers)- claim moving to a gold
standard would depress farm prices
-free silver – (called for by silverites)unlimited coining of silver dollars to
increase the money supply
-Bland-Allison Act of 1878- required the federal government to purchase and
coin more silver, increasing the supply and causing inflation
-President Rutherford B. Hayes vetoed the Bland-Allison Act (opposed the
inflation it would create)
-Congress overrode Hayes’s veto, but
Treasury Department refused to buy more the minimum allowed under the act &
refused to circulate the silver $
-Sherman Silver Purchase Act – passed by Congress in 1890; it increased the
amount of silver the gov’t’s required to purchase monthly
- 1890s, gov’ts gold reserve dwindled, foreign investors withdrew gold; President
Grover Cleveland blamed the Silver Purchase Act; he oversaw the repeal of the
act in 1893
Organizing Farmer Protests
- -improved transportation & communication systems were utilized by farmers to
form several powerful protest groups
- -The Grange- 1886(Patrons of Husbandry), Oliver Kelley, sent by Dept. of
Agriculture, inspected southern farms; his concern of their isolation led to the
formation of the Patrons of Husbandry/Grange
- - help farmer purchase goods in large quantities at lower prices
- - pressured state legislators to regulate businesses farmers relied on (operators of
grain elevators for storing crops & railroads for shipping)
Farmers’ Alliances- nation wide, launched harsh attacks on monopolies, such as those who
controlled railroads
- mid 1870s, Farmers’ Alliance in the South, formed in Texas: federal regulation of
railroads, more money in circulation, creation of state depts. of agriculture, antitrust
laws, & farm credit
- held special importance for women officers & won support for women’s political
rights
- Mary Elizabeth Lease- a Kansas lawyer, urged farmers to raise “less corn & more
Hell!”
Government Responses- Instate Commerce Act
The Populists- the People’s Party, a new national party that demanded radical changes in
federal economic & social policies
- platform issues: 1. An increased circulation of money
2. The unlimited minting of money
3. A progressive income tax (percentage of taxes owed increases
with a rise in income; greater financial burden on wealthy
industrialist & lesser one on farmers
4. Gov’t ownership of communications & transportation systems
Bryan’s “Cross of Gold” speech- one of the most famous in Am. History
-
Populism’s Legacy- 1897 McKinley’s administration raised tariffs
1900 – gold discoveries in South Afr., Canadian Yukon, & Alaska increased the
world’s gold supply by more than $100 million
Congress return the nation to a gold standard
surprisingly, crop prices began a slow rise
silver movement & populism died
goals of populism continues
reformers, Progressives, applied populist ideas to urban & industrial problems
launched a new, historic era of reforms