HISTORY 211 STORYBOARD TEMPLATE
As polling places opened on
November 3rd, 1896, voters finally
had the chance to cast a ballot in
the country’s most expensive
campaign to date.
In Canton, Ohio, Republican
Candidate William McKinley set
out from his home to vote early,
before a spending a day at his
homely headquarters.
Democratic Candidate William
Jennings Bryan did much the
same from his home of Omaha,
Nebraska, heading to Lincoln to
cast his ballot in this popular
election.
Image: The San Francisco Call,
Image: The Library of Congress.
Image: The Library of Congress.
November 4, 1896. Public Domain
Public Domain.
Public Domain.
Text:
Text: Washington Post, November 3,
Text: The New York Times, November
1896, accessed through ProQuest.
4, 1896, accessed through ProQuest.
It was last of its kind in the 19th
century and as such the1896
presidential campaign had all the
fixings of a modern election
Mass fundraising and an extensive
literature and advertising campaign
were the mainstays of the Republican
strategy. The McKinley Campaign
raised and spent roughly $4 million
Image: The Sunday Morning
Sentinel, November 1, 1896. Public
Domain.
Image: The Library of Congress
Public Domain.
Text:
Text: Lewis L. Gould. "McKinley, William";
http://www.anb.org/articles/05/05-00507.html;
American National Biography Online Feb. 2000
Much of the Republican fundraising was
the work of RNC Chairman Marcus
Alonzo Hanna, who was sharply
criticized for courtship of big business
under the auspices of helping the
working man
Image: New York Journal, October 8,
1896, at Vassar College, “1896. The
Presidential Campaign. Cartoons &
Commentary,” 2000,
http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/1008nyj.
html.
Text: William T. Horner, Ohio’s
Kingmaker (Athens: Ohio University
Press, 2010), 195.
-1-
Hanna was not well liked by all,
especially those who spoke on behalf
of organized labor. One paper labeled
him a “vicious, carnal, and
unrelenting oppressor of labor.”
Hanna’s importance to the campaign
and its outcome became a subject of
criticism. In the rhymes of one sixteen
year old poet, “Hanna to the rescue,
Hanna of Ohio, Rallying the roller-tops,
rallying the bucket-shops, Threatening
drouth and death,”
Image: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 30
Image: New York Journal, October
October, 1896, located at Vassar College,
“1896,”
http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/1030slpd.h
tml.
Text: People’s Party Paper, October 16,
1896, quoted at Vassar College, “1896,”
http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/republican
s.html.
13, 1896, at Vassar College, “1896,”
http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/1013nyj
.html.
Instead, William Jennings Bryan
personally brought his message to
the people, criss-crossing the country
between July and November giving
well over 500 speeches.
This was in sharp contrast to
McKinley, who refused to travel
and instead conducted a “front
porch” campaign from his home,
receiving a constant stream of
Republican delegations.
Image: Alexander Kelly McClure
and Charles Morris, The Authentic
Life of William McKinley, 189. PD.
Image: The Library of Congress.
Public Domain.
Text: Chicago Daily Tribune, 2
November 1896, accessed
through ProQuest.
Text: Vachel Linsday, “Bryan, Bryan,
Bryan, Bryan,” in George Whicher, ed.,
William Jennings Bryan and the
campaign of 1896 (Boston: D.C. Heath
and Company, 1953), 105.
Text: Horner, Ohio’s
Kingmaker, 203
The less well organized
Democratic Party did not have the
funds of their Republican
counterparts, raising only
$300,000 for the campaign
Image: The Library of
Congress. Public Domain.
Text:
Robert W. Cherny. "Bryan,
William Jennings";
http://www.anb.org/articles/06/0600070.html;
American National Biography Online Feb.
2000.
Although the candidates
themselves spoke of many
issues, the underlying split
between them was the federal
economic policy over the
coinage of silver
Image: Boston Globe, September
13, 1896, at Vassar College, “1896,”
http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/0913bg
.html.
Text: Gould, “McKinley, William,”
American National Biography
Online.
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HISTORY 211 STORYBOARD TEMPLATE
McKinley solidly endorsed his party’s
platform, which opposed the free
coinage of silver and maintained the
gold standard, calling itself
“unreservedly for sound money”
On the other hand, Bryan was fully
committed to the free silver platform,
having been nominated after his DNC
speech claiming “you shall not crucify
mankind upon a cross of gold.”
Although barely old enough to be
eligible for the presidency, Bryan
was able to unite Democrats, Silver
Republicans, and Populists behind
his free silver message.
Image: The Library of Congress.
Public Domain.
Image: Judge, September 19, 1896, at
Image: The Library of Congress.
Vassar College, “1896,”
http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/0919judg
e.htm. PD.
Public Domain
Text: UCSB Presidency Project , “Republican
Text: Bryan’s “Cross of Gold Speech:
Party Platform 1896,”
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pi
d=29629.
Mesmerizing the Masses” GMU History
Matters Project, 2005,
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5354.
Text: Cherny, “Bryan,” American
National Biography.
Although the key issue was silver,
McKinley spoke often of tariff protection in
addition to the gold standard. Political
cartoonists and critics alike lampooned
McKinley for focusing on the sole issue.
Others criticized McKinley’s refusal
to campaign outside of his home,
even stating he was afraid of Bryan
when invited to engage in a joint
debate.
Image: Rocky Mountain News,
Image: St. Louis Dispatch, September
September 14, 1896, at Vassar College,
“1896,”
http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/0914rmn.ht
ml.
5, 1896, at Vassar College, “1896,”
http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/0905slpd.
html. Public Domain.
Text:
Text: Atlanta Constitution,
September 14, 1896, accessed
through ProQuest.
Republican critics were equally as critical of
Bryan and the Silver Platform. Senator Collum
compared the free silver theory to the “evil
theories” of the French Revolution and stated
“too many are rushing toward the same
reasonable results for which Robespierre and
the other French revolutionaries stood as the
horrid representative.”
Image: Harper’s Weekly, July
18, 1896, at Vassar College,
“1896,”
http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/0
718hw.html.
Text: Washington Post, August
23, 1896, accessed through
ProQuest.
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HISTORY 211 STORYBOARD TEMPLATE
The extensive Republican literature
campaign and Bryan’s many personal
addresses spread their respective
messages far and wide. Close to 80% of
eligible voters flocked to polling places on
November 3rd.
Despite this turnout, the day
passed quietly. The two
candidates, voting early, each
did so with his own procession
and crowd.
As dispatches and returns came in, the
McKinley camp cheered at the success.
Although McKinley was not premature in
claiming any victory, he went to bed late with
little doubt he was to be president.
Image: Rocky Mountain News,
November 4, 1896. Public
Domain.
Text: UCSB American Presidency Project,
Image: McClure, Authentic
Life, 190. Public Domain.
Image: McClure, Authentic Life, 170.
Public Domain.
Text: Paul W. Glad, McKinley,
Text: Washington Post, November 4, 1896,
“Voter Turnout in Presidential Elections,”
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/turnout.php.
Bryan, and the People, (New York:
J.B. Lippincott Company, 1964),
190.
accessed through ProQuest.
THE END
The picture for Bryan was likely much
more bleak. Though he carried
doubtful states, McKinley held a sound
electoral majority. The Democrats
conceded the election on the 5th.
Image: Library of Congress American
Memory Project, http://photoswest.org/cgibin/imager?00185858+Rh-858. Permission
granted by Denver Public Library. Pending.
Text: The New York Times, November 6,
1896, accessed through ProQuest.
Although some would cry fraud, the
high participation left little doubt as
to the majority voters’ preferences.
As election day came to a close,
Mark Hanna would tell McKinley,
“You have been elected to the
highest office to the land by a people
who have always loved and trusted
you.” The Republicans had won
Image: Library of Congress,
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c03995
and Boston Globe, November 4, 1896.
Public Domain.
Text: Boston Globe, November 4,
1896, accessed through ProQuest.
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