Name ______________________
Modern U.S. History
Mr. Kraft
The Gilded Age
The Populist Movement and the Wizard of Oz – Hints
Populist Ideals:
1. gold standard – yellow brick road
 Where is it?
 Where does it start and where does it end? How does this explain who was controlling the money in the U.S.
and the value of that money?
 Where is all the money being made during the time period this book was written?
 How does the Scarecrow do when walking on the yellow brick road? What does this say about farmers?
2. silver standard – ruby red slippers
 What color were these in the book?
 Why was the color changed in the movie?
 Who is wearing them? Why is this person wearing them and not the others on the journey with her?
3. bi-metallism – Dorothy’s journey on the yellow brick road
 What colors were in the “swirl’ where the yellow brick road began?
 The yellow brick road went one way and ended in the emerald city.
 Where do you think the ruby brick road, which could represent silver, went?
 Why is the emerald city where Dorothy’s journey ends?
 Why did you think the road started in munchkin land? Think of what idea Dorothy is bringing to munchkin land
and where she is hoping to take it.
 What did the others on the journey with Dorothy represent? Make the connection between what they
represented with the types of people that were involved in the Populist movement.
4. Eastern part of the U.S. – land of Oz
 What two cities were in Oz (Emerald City and Munchkin Land)? What do they represent
 Where were all the factories at the time this book was written and presently?
 Where is Washington D.C.?
 What does the yellow brick road only going through the land of Oz say about where the money in our country
is and is made as well as the relationship between the starting and ending points of the yellow brick road?
 Mention of the movie color changing.
5. Western part of the U.S. – Kansas
 What is the occupation of Dorothy’s family?
 What does Dorothy represent?
 What natural resource that could be coined is in abundance out west? Mention of the movie color changing.
(Black + White = Gray, which looks very similar to silver)
 What is the connection between the tornado and the populist movement starting out west? Where does the
tornado land Dorothy and what is the hope for the populist movement in this area?
 Apply the phrase “E Pluribus Unum” (out of many one), which is found on all metal currency in the U.S. today,
when thinking about the Wizard of Oz calling the west the “land of E Pluribus Unum.”
6. Washington D.C. – Emerald City
 What is the land of Oz?
 What is the color of the city and why?
 Why does the yellow brick road end here?
 Who lives in the city, who runs the city, and what is his role in the land of Oz.
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7. Eastern industrial city (company town) – Munchkin Land
 Where is it?
 Why does the yellow brick road begin here?
 What does the yellow brick represent?
8. William Jennings Bryan – Cowardly Lion
 Why does the lion have no courage?
 What had happened to William Jennings Bryan’s effort to get elected president in the election of 1896? Why
would this affect his belief about his courage?
 Who slaps the lion in the face causing him to cry? What does this person represent and what is the
connection between the characters and the slapping?
 Why is the lion so tired? Think of William Jennings Bryan campaign style during his election campaigns.
 Connect the Gold Cross Speech to the medal the Wizard of Oz gives him?
 Who was the best performer when they all sang at different times?
 What is his role in the Emerald City when Wizard of Oz leaves?
9. William McKinley – Wizard of Oz
 Where does he live?
 How does McKinley’s front porch campaign style fit this character?
 What does him leaving the Emerald City represent?
 Who is left in his place to run the Emerald City?
 What does he admit when he is uncovered? What does this say about him and what does the response of
Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tinman, and the Lion say about the Populist Party’s feelings towards William McKinley as
the President of the U.S.
10. Eastern factory manager (boss) – Wicked witch of the east
 Why is she hated by the munchkins?
 What does her originally wearing the ruby slippers represent?
 Who is her sister and what is the reasoning behind this relationship?
11. Eastern factory workers (labor unions members) – Tin Man
 Where does he live?
 What does him a being a machine say about factory workers and the type of work that they do?
12. child laborers – Munchkins
 What do the physically look like?
 How do they feel about the wicked witch of the east? What does this say about the relationship between a
worker and their boss?
13. mid-western and western farmer – Scarecrow
 How does he act when walking on the yellow brick road? What does this say about the farmer and the yellow
brick road?
 What happens to his walking ability on the yellow brick road as he begins to travel with Dorothy and as the
other characters join them on their journey? What does this say?
 Why does he not have brain, but yet he makes all of the major decisions for the group on their journey?
14. U.S. citizens (common person) – Dorothy
 What does her slapping the lion represent?
 Who is really going to make the change from the gold standard to bi-metallism happen, and what political
process are they going to use to do it?
 Apply the phrase E Pluribus Unum to Dorothy’s character.
15. Plains Indians – winged monkeys
 Who controls them? What does this say about where Indians are forced to live?
 Where do they attack the group and who do they almost destroy? What does this say about the main targets
of Indians in the west?
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16. Northern voter support in the upcoming election – Good witch of the north
 Who helps the group out when they get into trouble during their journey?
 Which part of the country must support the Populist / Democratic party in the upcoming election if the change
from the gold standard to bi-metallism is going to be successful?
 Connect the difference in population between the north and the west in this explanation.
17. Southern voter support in the upcoming election – Good witch of the south (omit / do not do)
18. railroad expansion (railroad baron) – Wicked witch of the west
 Connect her controlling the winged monkeys to this.
 Who does she “pick on” the most and what does this say about how they are treated by railroad companies?
 What comes out of the broom when she is flying on it? What might the broom be and how is this a
connection?
 What color is she and what does this say about railroad companies?
 Who is her sister and what is the reasoning behind this relationship?
 How does her weakness of water connect to this idea?
 Why does the Wizard of Oz want the Wicked of the west’s broomstick? How does this connect to the Populist
Party wanting the government to control the railroads?
19. mortgage foreclosures on farms – Wicked witch of the west
 What must farmers have every year in order to make money?
 How does the Scarecrows weakness to fire and the Wicked witch of the west’s weakness to water fit into this
idea?
 What does her castle represent as well as her guards?
 What color is she and what does this say?
20. income taxes – poppies
 How is each character on the journey affected by the poppies?
 What do the poppies cut across? What does is the relationship here between money and income taxes?
 Who saves them from the poppies? What is this all about?
 What is the significance of the poppies being just outside the Emerald City?
21. teetotalers (prohibitionists) – Toto
 Whenever the groups loses focus during the journey to Emerald city, who refocuses them? What does the say
about the thought patterns of prohibitionists?
 Who leads them back to Dorothy when she is captured by the Wicked witch of the west?
 Who uncovers the Wizard of Oz being a fake?
Questions:
1. Why is part of the movie in black and white, and the other parts in color?
 Black and white is not nearly as exciting as color.
 What does this say about areas the movie is taking place in when it is black and white or color?
 Apply the idea of the industrialized technology to the lack of technology in this answer / explanation.
2. What is the Scarecrow’s weakness, and what does it signify?
 Explain what a drought does to a farmer in relation to a mortgage foreclosure.
 What represents a mortgage foreclosure in the movie and how is it eliminated? Explain the connections
between these two.
3. Explain the significance of the sister relationship between the Wicked Witch of the West and the Wicked Witch of
the East.
 How do eastern factory owners ship their finished products when done during this time period?
 Mention the idea of shipping rebates offered to frequent customers.
4. What is the Wicked Witch of the West’s weakness, and what does it signify?
 Go back and look at question # 2 in reference to droughts and mortgage foreclosures on farms.
 When can railroads not expand anymore?
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5. What gift does the Wizard give the Cowardly Lion, and what do you think it signifies?
 What did the Gold Cross Speech in 1896 earn him? How did this help his confidence?
 When did he lose his confidence / courage?
 Why does he need to get back the confidence / courage that he originally has after the Gold Cross Speech of
1896?
6. What gift does the Wizard give the Tin Man, and what do you think it signifies?
 Look at the 4th point of the Populist Party platform on the Gilded Age Power Point notes.
 What part of the Populist Party platform was for factory workers?
7. How does the march of Jacob Coxey relate to this movie?
 Look on pg. 295 in your textbook to make this connection.
8. Why is the movie given its name?
 What is the measuring unit for metal?
 Who is going to change which metal or metals that back the paper currency?
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