Chapter 8 Section 3

1. Chapter 8 Section 3 The Populist Movement

2. The Farmer’s plight • Growing urban populations had to be fed • Farmers responded by planting more crops and raising more animals each year • Farmers in other nations did the same thing • This caused prices to fall • At the same time, expenses rose (railroad freight and new machinery) • Many farmers bought more land and increased production which also pushed prices even lower • Many families lost their farms because they couldn’t pay their debt

3. Farmers organize • The Grange movement-the first major farmers’ organization, the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, or the National Grange was founded by Oliver Hudson Kelley in 1867 • Social organization that eventually tackled economic and political issues

4. cooperatives • To lower costs, Grange members formed cooperatives, or organizations in which groups of farmers pool their resources to buy and sell goods • Sold directly to big-city markets • Bought farm equipment at wholesale prices • Main focus was to force states to regulate railroad freight and grain-storage rates

5. Interstate commerce act • 1887-prohibited railroads from giving secret rebates, or refunds, to large shippers or charging more for short hauls than for long hauls over the same line • “reasonable and just” rates • To monitor ICA, the act created the Interstate Commerce Commission • However, the ICC was given little power to enforce its rulings

6. Alliance movement • A more powerful farm organization-the Farmers’ Alliance- took shape • Organized cooperatives to buy equipment and to market farm products • Offered farmers low-cost insurance • Lobbied for tougher bank regulations, government ownership of the railroads, and a graduated income tax

7. African American farmers • Southern and Colored Farmers’ Alliances remained separated, segregated institutions • Disputes between white farmers and African American farmers led to a series of violent confrontations • The violence discouraged other African Americans from joining the Colored Farmers’ Alliance • Power faded during the 1890s

8. The Money question • One of the most important issues for farmers in the Alliance movement was the expansion of the money supply • They favored printing more money (Greenback Party) • Unsuccessful in convincing the government to accept their plan • However, in 1873 the government stopped coining silver and to convert the money supply to the gold standard

9. Gold standard • Each dollar was equal to and redeemable for a set amount of gold • The amount of money in circulation was limited by the amount of gold held in the U.S. Treasury • This conversion resulted in a decrease in the amount of money in circulation and lowering of prices

10. Bland-Allison Act/Sherman silver purchase act • Farmers demanded the government back the money supply with silver • Both acts required the government to buy silver each month and mint it into coins • The government bought very little silver and it didn’t increase the money supply • Angry, farmers threw themselves into the 1890 election backing any candidate that supported farmers (40 seats in Congress, 4 southern governorships, and numerous political offices)

11. The populist party • 1891-1892 Alliance members met with labor leaders and other reformers, known as the People’s Party (Populist Party) • Asked for graduated income tax, bank regulation, government ownership of railroad and telegraph companies, and the free, or unlimited, coinage of silver • Restrictions on immigration, a shorter workday, and voting reforms

12. Economic depression • The nation’s leading railroad company failed launching the Panic of 1893 • By the end of 1893, some 3 million people were unemployed • President Grover Cleveland chose to focus on the Sherman Silver Purchase Act • This law required government to pay for silver purchases with Treasury notes redeemable in either gold or silver • New discoveries of silver decreased the metal’s value and everyone rushed to exchange their notes for gold • Congress repealed the act in October 1893

13. Election of 1896 • President Cleveland’s actions saved the gold standard • Silver became the central issue in the 1896 • Republican-William McKinley • Populist-William Jennings Bryan (Democrat) • Populist Party soon faded as a national party

14. End of populism • Terrified of Bryan’s populism, many business leaders contributed millions of dollars to the Republican campaign • McKinley beat Bryan by some 500, 000 votes • Brought an end to the Populist Party