The Farmers Take Their Stand
Lyman Frank Baum-The Wonderful
Wizard of OZ
1880’s 1890s Farmers Struggle—
weather/debt/laws/RR/Price Fixing
The Greenback Movement
National Grange of Patrons of
Husbandry aka
The Grange
Farmers Responses
• 1877 Granger Movement
• Goals: coin more silver/monitor interest
rates/high RR rates.
• Granger Laws---4 states passed these laws
1. Max. RR rates
2. Max. Grain Rates
3. State RR Commissions
-Constitutional?
Munn v. Illinois 1877-Interstate Commerce Act 1886
Grangers became Farmers Alliances
• They tried several ideas to gain power by working in huge numbers
• Bulking=price fixing
• By1890 all of the Alliances formed:
National Farmers Alliance
Goals: Increased silver coinage
Printing of more paper money
No Private Banks
New Federal Banking System
Graduated Income Tax
Government Ownership of Public Transportation
Direct Election of Senators
No land ownership by foreigners
Immigration Restrictions
8 Hour Work Day
Lower Tariff
Grangers to Populist
• The Grangers were quite radical, however they
did get much of their program adopted---in
due time!----(Progressive Movt.)
• Their problems were 2 fold: their program was
aimed to land owners and to white farmers,
thus excluding blacks and city dwellers.
• Populist or People’s Movement
Populist
• Populist were led by Ignatius Donnelly and Mary Elizabeth
Lease---they would combine the new People’s Party
(Populist Party)
• Populist attempted to unite discontented Farmers and
attempted to improve their economic conditions by
purposing the following: Increase the money supply
• with free and unlimited silver and gold at the legal ratio of
16 to 1.
• Using the Interstate Commerce Act 1877 to regulate RR and
prevent discrimination against small customers
• Organize cooperative marketing societies
• Support the candidacy of William Jennings Bryan in the
1896 Election
Populist
• Populist were led by Ignatius Donnelly and Mary Elizabeth
Lease---they would combine the new People’s Party
(Populist Party)
• Populist attempted to unite discontented Farmers and
attempted to improve their economic conditions by
purposing the following: Increase the money supply
• with free and unlimited silver and gold at the legal ratio of
16 to 1.
• Using the Interstate Commerce Act 1877 to regulate RR and
prevent discrimination against small customers
• Organize cooperative marketing societies
• Support the candidacy of William Jennings Bryan in the
1896 Election
Reasons why the Populist Failed
• Western and Southern Farmers disagreed on
politics
• Racism
• Higher Agriculture prices due to immigration
• The Democratic Party took on many of the
Populist program
• William Jennings Bryan lost in 1896.
William Jennings Bryan
US Expansionism
• American Imperialism
• 19th Century Americans---special mission
John Winthrop “city on a hill”
• Monroe Doctrine 1823: Spanish colonies in South and central America
began to assert their independence from Spain---President Monroe
warned Europeans to stay out of the Western Hemisphere
• In a world that was evil, Americans believed they/we stood out for a
transforming good
• Americans have rarely been content to be models for other societies to
emulate, however.
• This requires patience and passivity, two qualities not prevalent in
Americans.
• Instead, we often have forcefully imposed our ideas and institutions on
others.
• We mean well, but…………………………………………………..
Early Expansionism
• A consistent expression of continental expansionism
marked the first century of American Independence:
• Jefferson’s purchase of Louisiana
• Desires for Florida and Canada
• The Mexican War/Manifest Destiny
• Pushing the Native-American Indians from one coast to
the other
• Seward’s Purchase of Alaska—Seward always had a
vision of a “greater America”…not much came of it
immediately (Alaska and the Midway Islands)
Imperialism
• The idea of Imperialism was abhorrent to
most Americans.
• Not only because of high ideals, but often of
racism: some saw peoples of color as
barbarians and heathens
• Little motivation to reach out and become
embroiled with foreign nations
• Most Americans did not concern themselves
with Foreign policy………
Changing Attitudes
Two Important books
• Josiah Strong Our Country---1885
•
Spoke of a Sense of Mission---a clip!
•
It was to spread Christianity to heathen
peoples.
• Appealed strongly to middle-class Protestants.
• Alfred Thayer Mahan The Influence of Sea
Power upon History---1890
The Influence of Sea Power upon
History
1890
Alfred Thayer Mahan
• Naval officer and historian
• Naval War College
• Darwinian Struggle
• Huge influence on other military
leaders
• “Foreign Policy Elite”
T. Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, and
Elihu Root
• Coaling Stations
Foreign Policy/Expansionism?
• The “Foreign Policy Elite”--- a group of Eastern
Republicans ( TR, Lodge, Root) feared that we
were being left behind while England, France and
Germany, etc. built overseas empires—if we did
not continue to grow, we might wither and die.
• Also, Sen. Albert Beveridge of Indiana argued for
both markets and coaling stations
• Quote…….
• And despite the depression of the 1890s US
output was growing. We led the world in
production of farm machinery……….
Expansion
• From 1866 to 1900 US Exports tripled
• Manufactures and politicians had their
appetites whetted---wanted new
markets….that led to a new spirit of
competitiveness and feistiness!!!
• Hawaii, Venezuela, and Cuba and SPAM War
next week!