Download Ch 13-16, Unit 5, Gilded Age, Standards based

Unit 5
The Expansion of American Industry
(1850-1900)
 SSUSH11.a
Explain the impact
of the railroads on
other industries
such as steel and on
the organization of
big business.
 SSUSH11.b
Describe the impact
of the railroads in
the development of
the West, including
the transcontinental
railroad, and the use
of Chinese labor.
 SSUSH11.c
Identify John D.
Rockefeller and the
Standard Oil
Company and the
rise of trusts and
monopolies.
 SSUSH11.d
Describe the
inventions of
Thomas Edison,
including the electric
light bulb, motion
pictures, & the
phonograph, & their
impact on American
life
A Technological Revolution - FYI
 Indoor electric lighting did not exist in 1865.
Instead, the rising and setting of the sun
dictated the rhythm of a day’s work.
 After dark, people lit candles or oil lamps if
they could afford them. If they could not they
simply went to sleep, to rise at the first light of
dawn.
A Technological Revolution - FYI
 Imagine summers without the benefits of
refrigeration!
 Ice was available in 1865, but only at great
cost.
 People sawed blocks of ice out of frozen
ponds during the winter, packed them in
sawdust, and stored them in icehouses for
later use.
A Technological Revolution - FYI
 Communication was also very slow in those
days.
 Most mail from the East Coast took ten days
to reach the Midwest and three weeks to get
to the West.

Think of email and texts today…
 An immigrant living on the frontier would wait
months for news from relatives in Europe.
A Technological Revolution - FYI
 By 1900, daily life had changed dramatically
in the United States.
 Between 1790 and 1860, the Patent and
Trademark Office of the Federal Gov’t issued
just 36,000 patents (licenses to make, use, or
sell an invention).
 In contrast, b/w 1860 and 1890, 500,000
patents were issued for inventions.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Telegraph – Samuel Morse
Telephone – Alexander G. Bell
Phonograph – Thomas Edison
Filament Light bulb – Thomas Edison
Motion Pictures – Thomas Edison
Central Power Station – Thomas Edison
(direct current)
Transformer (alternating) – George
Westinghouse
8. Bessemer Process – H. Bessemer
7.
1.
Brooklyn Bridge & William Kelly
A technological revolution:
Electric Power
11.d

Thomas A. Edison (“There is always a better way
to do something, find it!”
He patented over 1,000 inventions!
 Helped to make electricity widely available.
 Improved stock ticker
 Phonograph, electric light bulb, motion pictures
 1882, Central power station

Westinghouse
 1885 George Westinghouse and alternating current.
 Use of transformer made use of electricity in homes
practical.

General Electric and Westinghouse Electric.
The Railroad gets connected! 11.A
 In 1850, steam powered ships still provided much of the
nation’s transportation.
 Before the Civil War, most of the railroad tracks were in
short lines that connected neighboring cities, mainly in
the East.
 There was no standard track width, or gauge, so each
train could only travel on certain tracks.
 As a result, goods and passengers often had to be
moved to different trains, which caused costly delays.
 To make matters worse, they were dangerous b/c trains
could not communicate and brakes were
unreliable….eeekkkk 
The Transcontinental RR (11.B)
 In 1862, a huge project began in Sacramento, CA by the
Central Pacific RR company and in Omaha, NB by the
Union Pacific RR company to connect one line.
 On May 10, 1869, the project was complete with the
final “Gold” spike being driven in by Leland Stanford at
Promontory Point, Utah.
 Most of the workers on the railroad were immigrants.
Irish for the Union Pacific and Asian, especially
Chinese, for the Central Pacific.
 This railroad officially connected the east to the west.
Problems with the RR - FYI
 Rails were not standardized, this caused a lack of
mobility.
 Trains were often noisy, dirty, and uncomfortable.
 People feared for their safety and distrusted most
trains.
 And scheduling for the train to be “On Time” was a
nightmare, b/c of the time differences from town to
town. Each town set its time according to solar time.
Solutions for the RR
11.A
 Steel rails replaced iron rails (Bessemer Proc.) and
signals and track gauges became standardized.
 George Westinghouse developed more effective air
brakes and Granville Woods patented a telegraph
system for communicating with moving trains, thus
reducing the risk of collisions.
 In 1883, the railroads adopted a national system of
time zones to improve scheduling. As a result,
clocks in broad regions of the country showed the
same time.
 Four time zones were used: Eastern, Central,
Mountain, and Pacific (we still use these today)
Changes brought forth by the RR (draw please)
Gov’t reg. of private industry
Grow of towns and cities
Rapid Growth of Railroads
Creation of nationwide market
Consolidation of RR
Greed and Corruption
The Growth of Big Business: 11.A
 The period of invention after the Civil War set
the stage for the great industrial growth.
 Still, it would take more than technology to
change the U.S., it would take entrepreneurial
people to make the difference.
 These individuals became known as “Robber
Barons!”
Robber Barons
(Captains of Industry) 11.A & C
Andrew Carnegie:
Steel
 Robber Baron implies that
these individuals build
their fortunes by stealing
from the public, and in
turn drained the natural
resources.
 Captains of Industry
John D.
Rockefeller:
Cornelius Vanderbilt:
Railroads
Oil
paints a more positive
image of hard work and
success in the building of
the business world as we
know it.
Big Business: draw in your notes
Cause and Effect: Growth of Big Business
Causes
Railroad boom lowers the cost of shipping.
New inventions make business more efficient.
Nation has rich supply of natural resources.
Growth of Big Busines
Effects
Steel and oil become giant industries.
Monopolies, cartels, and trusts dominate major industries.
Factory workers face harsh working and living conditions.
Big Business Problems 11.A & C





Monopoly: complete control of a product or service.
Cartel: a loose association of business that make the same
product.
Trust: managing companies as a single unit. Ex. Standard
Oil (John D. Rockefeller)
Sherman Antitrust Act: law that prevents any combination
of companies that restrain interstate trade or commerce.
Social Darwinism: Those who were more “fit” would
“survive” in the business world. (Carnegie really believed in
this idea)
 Methods of Industrial Control


Horizontal consolidation (same type of business bought
by one company, ex. Rockefeller w/oil)
Vertical consolidation(different type of business bought
by one company, ex. Carnegie w/steel; ex: t-shirts)
OKAY, THAT’S PRETTY MUCH
ALL OF 11.A-D
“Industrialization and Workers”
 The Growing Work Force

Immigration:




1860 – 1900 14 million immigrants to U.S.
Contract Labor Act: 1864 law allowed
employers to enter into contracts with
immigrants.
Similar to Indentured Servants.
8 – 9 million migrants entered the cities.
Immigration:
 Religious Persecution, Economic strife, and
the promise of a better life in America brought
millions of European immigrants to the
country in the late 1800’s.
 B/t 1865-1920, over 30 million people came to
USA.

The population doubled!!!
The Journey
 With new steamships, journey
was one week.
 Most stayed in STEERAGE.



Large open area beneath
ship’s deck.
Limited toilets, no privacy,
poor food.
Cheap fare.
 From Europe?
 Came to Ellis Island on East
Coast, “The Golden Door.”
(NY)
 From Asia?
 Came to Angel Island on West
Coast.
 Most used to be from Germ,
GB (old).

Now, they were from Eastern
Europe and the Middle East.

Russia, Italy, Greece. (new)
Immigrants from Europe
 1892, US Gov’t opened Ellis Island, with
Statue of Liberty, to immigrants.

Seen as a symbol of the US as a place of refuge
and hope.
 All immigrants had to have a physical.
 If they had a contagious disease, went into
quarantine.

Could be deported, like those with trachoma (eyes).
 Criminals waited on ports to trick immigrants
out of money with fake jobs/lodging.
 Went and settled in areas where previous
settlers of their homeland were (ghettos).

Mostly in port of entry, only 2% went south.
 Found jobs with less than average wages.
The Statue of Liberty
“Give me your tired, your poor, your
huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
the wretched refuse your teaming shore.
Send these, the homeless tempest tossed
to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden
shore.”
Immigration
 On the West Coast, Asian immigrants found
America less tolerant than the east coast.
Cultural differences made Asians the target of
suspicion and hostility.

Held at Angel Island for longer
 Discrimination caused Chinese immigrants to
settle together (Chinatown, etc…).
 Labor Unions excluded the Chinese, as they
drove wages down, and eventually, even the
government discriminated, passing the
Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882.
The Growing Cities
Not only were immigrants moving to
the cities, Americans were migrating to
the cities to escape the economic
problems facing farmers.
Growing Cities
 The percentage of
 Racial
America’s
population living on
farms fell from 72%
to 54%.
 Technological
advances reduced
the need for farm
labor.
discrimination drove
many African
Americans out of
the South.
 The influx of people
forced new
construction,
especially subways
and skyscrapers.
Increasing Efficiency (FYI, background knowledge)
 In 1881, Frederick Winslow Taylor set out to improve
worker efficiency in the steel plant where he was
chief engineer.
 He began to study the workers, trying to see how
much time it took to do various jobs.
 Then he broke down each task into a # of steps and
determined how long each step should take.
 He wanted more productivity from less time.
 The workers hated Taylor’s ideas, they feared that
increased efficiency would result in layoffs or a lower
rate of pay for each piece of work.
Frederick Winslow Taylor
 In 1911, he wrote, The
Principles of Scientific
Management.
 Many people continue
to use this formula in
their business.
Factory Work
 Factory workers were(are) ruled by the clock. When
to start, stop, or break.
 Factory work changed “work” from the days of being
a craftsman.
 A craftsman would traditionally make a product from
start to finish, which required a variety of tasks.
 Factory workers performed only one small task, over
and over, and rarely saw the finished product.
 This concept became known as “Division of
Labor.”
Life in a Factory
 Workers called
“Hands”
 Discipline was strict
 Loud, dark, and
ventilation was poor
 Many fires from: fatigue,
faulty equip., &
carelessness
 Fined for being late,
talking back, or
refusing to do a task
 Many deaths on the job
 In 1882, average #
 Work was boring
killed was 675 a WEEK,
today it is around 120
week
Working Families

Because of low wages, everyone in the family had
to work.

Children left school at 12 or 13.

Mother’s worked in the factory.

Some boys after 13 stayed in school, but most girls
went to work in the factory.

If a parent died, 6 – 7 year olds had to work. (no
work, no food)

Social Darwinism = govt. aid did not exist.
 Women & Children
 Women
 No chance of advancement.
 No training.
 Excluded from higher paying jobs.

Children
 1880’s 5% of working population.
 No child labor laws.
 Stunted growth.
 1892 Jacob Riis wrote, Children of the Poor
 By the early 1900’s, child labor legislation was
implemented.
Section #4
“The Great Strikes”
Rich
vs. Poor
1890
9% of pop. held 75% of nations wealth.
Socialism:
economic and political philosophy that favors
public (social) control of property and income.
Cooperate,
Karl
Labor
not compete.
Marx = “Communist Manifesto”
Unions
Trade
Unions
The Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers (shoemakers)

1806, Outlawed for engaging in strikes.

National Trades Union

Section #4 cont.
The
American Federation of Labor
(AFL)

Samuel Gompers

Only skilled workers.

Three main issues for unions:

Higher Wages

Shorter Working Hours

Safer Working Conditions
Collective Bargaining: group
bargains with employer for
changes

Samuel Gompers
Employers forbade union meetings and fired
union organizers.
“Yellow Dog” contracts – workers promised not
to join or strike
Refused collective bargaining if strikes occurred.
Refused to recognize unions as the workers’
legitimate representatives.
Four Major Strikes
1877-1894
1.
2.
3.
4.
Railroad Strike – 1877
Haymarket Strike – 1886
Homestead Strike – 1892
Pullman Strike - 1894
Railroad Strike – 1877 (FYI)
 When the B&O RR announced a 10% wage cut in the midst of a
depression, workers reacted with violence.
 The rioting spread rapidly from Baltimore to Pittsburgh, Chicago,
St. Louis, and other cities.
 President Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881) sent in federal
troops to put down the strike in W. Va.
 Soldiers fired on the rioters, killing and wounding many. A
crowd of 20,000 set fire to the RR company property.
 From the 1877 strike on, employers relied on federal and state
troops to repress labor unrest.
 A new and violent era in labor relations had begun.
Haymarket Strike – 1886 (FYI)
 May 1, 1886, groups of workers mounted a national
demonstration for an eight-hour workday.
 Their slogan was, “8 hrs. work, 8 hrs. rest, 8 hrs. for
what we will!”
 This led to fight at Chicago’s McCormick reaper
factory between strikers and scabs.
 Scabs are workers called in by an employer to
replace striking laborers.
 Several of the workers were killed when police tried
to break it up.
Haymarket Strike – 1886 (FYI)
 Union leaders called for a protest rally on the evening
of May 4 in Chicago’s Haymarket Square.
 A group of anarchists, radicals who violently oppose
all gov’t, joined the strikers.
 That evening someone threw a bomb into a police
formation, killing seven officers.
 A riot followed and over a dozen were killed.
 Investigators never found the bomber, yet eight
anarchists were tried for conspiracy to commit
murder.
Haymarket Strike – 1886 (FYI)
 Four were hanged, another committed suicide.
 Governor John P. Altgeld of Illinois decided later
there was not enough evidence so he pardoned the
remaining three.
 To many unionists, the anarchists who took part in
the Haymarket Riot forever would be heroes.
 To employers, however, they remained vicious
criminals determined to undermine law and order.
 Much of the American public came to associate
unions in general w/violence and radical ideas.
Homestead Strike – 1892 (FYI)
 Summer of 1892, while Andrew Carnegie was in
Europe, his partner Henry Frick tried to cut workers’
wages at Carnegie Steel.
 The union at the Carnegie plant in Homestead, PA
called a strike.
 Frick intended to crush the strike and he hired a
private police force to do the job.
 Again, several people were killed and many
Americans were angry with the steel company,
until…..
Homestead Strike – 1892 (FYI)
 Anarchist Alexander Berkman tried and failed
to assassinate Frick.
 Berkman was not associated w/the union, but
the public connected him anyway.
 This led to a huge distrust of unions in many
Americans’ eyes.
Pullman Strike – 1894 ***
 This strike involving the RR marked a shift in the Federal
Government’s involvement with labor-employer relations.
 Sleeping-car maker, George Pullman considered himself
a caring industrialist.
 He donated money to build schools, banks, and utilities in
his hometown of Chicago.
 But, when the economy took a nose dive in 1893, he had
to lay off workers and cut wages.
 A small group tried to protest to him and he fired them on
the spot, causing the local union to go on strike.
Pullman Strike - 1894
 Pullman refused to bargain and shut down the plant.
 The American Railway Union, lead by popular labor organizer
Eugene V. Debs, called for a boycott of Pullman cars throughout
the country.
 By June of ’94 over 120,000 RR workers joined in the strike.
 The strike got out of hand and the fed. Gov. was brought in to
help.
 The strike broke the Sherman Antitrust Act
 On July 4, 1894 President Grover Cleveland(1885-89 & 1893-
97) sent in 2,500 federal troops to enforce the law.
Pullman Strike - 1894
 The Pullman strike and its outcome set an
important pattern.
 In the years ahead, factory owners appealed
frequently for court orders vs. unions.
 The Fed. Gov. regularly approved these
appeals and helped to limit the growth of
unions for the next 30 years.
Moving West (FYI)
 Why did they want to go west?

1.) Explore!


2.) New Beginnings!


In life, opportunity, etc.
3.) Be own Boss!


The Great Plains, the Pacific Northwest, & the
Southwest.
Can own their own farm.
4.) Overpopulated!

East is way too crowded.
Moving West: FYI
 Big Business owned land.
 RR companies profited as settlers moved.
 Land next to RR especially popular.
 Morrill Land Grant Act
 Created to support state colleges.

Fed Gov’t gave land to state gov’t, they sold it to
fund agricultural land-grant colleges.
 Homestead Act (signed by Pres. Lincoln)
 Fed Gov’t gave land directly to settlers!
It’s a “hard knock life” for settlers: FYI
 Water was scarce, used buckets to collect
rain.

This carried “Prairie fever” or typhoid.
 Working prairie sod was back-breaking labor.
 Women made soap, clothing, candles, and
preserved food.
 Families cooperated in raising houses/barns,
sewing quilts, husking corn, etc.
Conflict with Native Americans
 Remember…
 Clearing the East of Indians; President Jackson; Trail
of Tears; Reservations; Assimilation; War.
 Clashes of Culture!
 Indians and settlers looked at the world differently.
 Settlers felt that the resources were there to be used.


Settlers used large scale hunting, mining, and farming.
Plains Indians used only the resources they needed
for their actual needs.

They saw the white settlers as being greedy and destructive.
Fighting begins, with the Sioux
 Little Bighorn
 The Black Hills of South
Dakota had been set
aside for the Sioux and
Northern Cheyenne
 1874 - U.S. Army
exploring party found
gold



Settlers went looking
Gov. tried to buy the
Black Hills for gold (Sioux
considered land sacred)
1875 and 1876 - Sioux
warrior left their
reservations and united
under the leadership of
Sioux chief, Sitting Bull
Massacre at Wounded Knee

After Sitting Bull
died, some
American soldiers
tried to arrest some
Indians who left
their reservation.

Shots were fired
and more than 200
unarmed Sioux
(women & children)
were killed.
Indians way of life destroyed: FYI
 Whites killed buffalo
 Indians depended on buffalo to survive (how?)
 As conditions grew worse and Indians were
forced onto reservations, many whites wanted to
help & an Indian Rights Movement began.

Helen Jackson wrote, A Century of Dishonor and
said, “It makes little difference…where one opens the
record of the history of the Indians; every page and
every year has its dark stain.”
 Some felt Indians should be more “civilized”
 What does this mean? How can this happen?
 Many white though that only
solution was to make the
Indians become more like the
whites
- Assimilation - to adopt the
culture of the people around you
 Dawes Act (1887)
 Intended to make Indians give
up their traditions and accept
White customs
 Reservation lands were divided
up in farm plots for families and
individuals (40 to 160 acres)
 Any remaining land was sold to
white settlers
 Profits used to pay for Indian
schools
 Indians who accepted the plots
of land could become citizens
for the 1st time
Assimilation: FYI
 Dawes Act failed
 Many western Indians didn't
want to settle down as farmers
 Lacked tools and training
 Many sold their plots to white
settlers cheap
 End 1800's - situation of the
American Indians was tragic

20th century U.S. government
finally realizes importance of
Indian way of life
What happened with Indian Territory? FYI
 70 Indian Nations forced onto Reservations.
 After the Civil War, many settlers began to
enter their government-given land.
 Due to large amount of settlers Gov’t opened
up 2 million acres of Indian Territory, that
hadn’t been assigned yet, to the settlers.

These settlers, “Boomers”, staked off hundreds of
claims within a few hours.
 Oklahoma City had 10,000 resident at the end of the
1st day.

Some settlers, “Sooners”, had already sneaked
past the gov’t to stake a claim.
Cause and Effect: Westward Expansion
 Causes:





Big Business put Western
land up for sale.
Morrill Land Grant Act
provides state gov’ts with
millions or acres to sell.
Homestead Act gives land
to settlers willing to farm.
European immigrants,
people seeking
opportunity, and people
fleeing racial prejudice in
the East seek land in the
West.
California Gold Rush
draws thousands of
fortune seekers.
 Effects:





Violence erupts between
settlers and Native Americans.
Many Native American groups
are destroyed or displaced.
Challenges of prairie farming
lead to increased
mechanization.
Bonanza farms and cattle
ranching industries develop.
Frontier myths influence
national identify.
The Presidents: Write it all =)
 20.) James Garfield
 Assassinated
 21.) Chester Arthur
 Est. civil service exams
 22.) Grover Cleveland
 Indiscretions….
 Tried to lower tariffs
 23.) Benjamin Harrison
 Created huge debt; highest tariffs
 24.) Grover Cleveland
 Used troops in Pullman strike
The Gilded Age
 Coined by Mark Twain.
 Gilded – “covered in a thin layer of gold”.
 Means a thin but glittering layer of prosperity
covered the poverty and corruption of much of
society.
 Golden time for industrialists.
 So much that it covered:


The immigrants poverty
Abuse of power in business and gov’t.
 So… what’s Gilded??????
THE REST OF THIS
IS JUST FYI…..
Populism
 Farmer’s Complaints

Crop prices were dropping, big business and the
gov’t wouldn’t help.
 Farmer’s and Tariffs:

Tariffs helped farmers by:


Protecting them against competition from farm
imports.
Tariffs hunt farmers by:


Raising the prices of manufactured goods.
Preventing foreigners from earning the American
currency they needed to buy American crops.
 Reduced the international market for American farm
products.
Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems
 More $ the Fed Gov’t puts out – inflation
 Helps people who sell things.
 If Gov’t reduces $ supply – deflation
 Helps people who lend money, interest.
 Dollar is greater, drop in prices of goods.
 Post Civil War, Americans had a Deflation.
 Monetary Policy
 The Fed Gov’t plan for makeup and quantity of the
nation’s money supply, thus emerged as a major
political issue.

Supporters of inflation and deflation begins to speak out.
Gold Standard vs. Free Silver
 Supporters:

Gold Bugs: bankers and
wealthy industrialists.
 Position:

A Gold Standard would
limit the amount of money
in circulation and deflate
prices.
 Benefits:

The economy would be
more stable. The wealthy
would have protection for
their money.
 Supporters:

Silverites: silver miner,
farmers, and debtors.
 Position:

The unlimited coinage of
silver would increase the
money supply and inflate
prices.
 Benefits:

The economy would be
stimulated. Farmers would
get more money for their
goods; debtors would more
easily repay loans.
Gold Bugs
 1873 – supporters to tight money won.

$ was on a bimetallic standard.


Currency consisted of gold or silver coins or US treasury
notes that could be traded in for gold or silver.
1873 – To ensure economic stability, Congress
put the nation’s currency on a gold standardy.

Reduced amount of money in circulation because the
money supply would be limited by the amount of gold
held by the gov’t.
 Conservative Gold Bugs were pleased.
 Many were big lenders who liked the idea of being paid
back in money backed by the gold standard.
Silverites
 Mostly silver-mining interests and western
farmers, were furious at the nation’s move to
a gold standard.

Claimed the end of silver as a monetary
standard would depress the prices of farm
produce.

Called for free silver – unlimited coining of silver
dollars as a means of increasing the money
supply.
Silverites & Bland-Allison Act
 The Bland-Allison Act (1878)


Huge victory for Silverites.
Required the Fed Gov’t to purchase and coin
more silver, increasing the money supply and
causing inflation.


Passed by Congress, vetoed by President Hayes,
and Congress overrode veto.
Treasury Dept. did not follow through.
Organizing Farmer Protest
 The Grange
 Helped form farming cooperatives.


Where farmers saved money by buying goods in large
quantities.
Pressured state legislatures to regulate business on
which farmers depended.

Grain elevators that stored crops and RR that shipped
them.
 Was popular, but Farmers wanted more options…
Farmer’s Alliances
 Wanted:
 Federal regulation of RR
 More $ in circulation
 Creation of state departments of agriculture
 Farm credit
 Women served as chief officers
 Mary Elizabeth Lease said, “raise less corn, and
more hell!”
 African Americans had their own “Colored
Farmer’s Alliance.”
 Natural disasters fueled these alliances.

How would the Federal Gov’t help?
An Inactive Gov’t
 In all elections, 1876-1892, no candidate won a
popular vote.

So, Presidents lacked power of bold action.

Many were friends of big business, that weren’t friends with
farmers.
 G. Cleveland signed Interstate Commerce Act,
in 1887.

Response to many complaints against RR.



Regulated prices that RR charged to move freight b/t states,
requiring rates to be in proportion to distance traveled.
Illegal to give certain rates to certain customers.
Said Congress could regulate the RR.
 In 1890 – Sherman Anti-trust Act was passed.
 But enforcement was lax.
The Populist Party
 1880's - Several political parties combined
 Populism - movement of the people
 Populist Party wants reforms
 Economic: increase money supply, graduated income
tax (more on the wealthy), & federal loans
 Political: Senate elected by popular vote, secret ballot
& 8-hour day
 1892 - Populist candidates elected at different
levels of government
 Democratic Party eventually adopted platform
The Populist Party (cont.)
 Wanted to unit African American and White
Farmers.
 They generated a lot of buzz for the 1892
election, but only got about one million votes.

Nominated James Weaver.
 Cleveland won again, and alienated labor by
putting down the Pullman strike.

Made farmers mad by backing a gold standard,
and he tried to lower the tariff.
 The farmers became even more known and
American added “hayseed Socialist” to their
list of scary unified peoples.
Panic of 1893
 Railroads expanded
faster than markets
- Some went bankrupt
 Government’s gold
supply became
depleted
- Led to rush on banks
- Businesses, banks
collapse
- Panic became
depression
Bryan’s “Cross of Gold”
 1896 – Republicans nominated
William McKinley.
 1896 – William Jennings Bryan,
captured Democratic nomination
by arguing for free silver.

“You shall not crucify mankind upon
a cross of gold!”


He was so good that the Populists
loved him too!
Bryan lost, despite best efforts.

He actually campaigned modern
day style.
 McKinley stayed at home,
campaigning was undignified.


Urban and Industrial Midwest and
Northern states feared free silver
would eat away the buying power of
their wages.
Urban American defeated Rural
America.
Is it the end of Populism?
 It could not bridge the divided b/t America’s
farms and cities.
 Nor could it slow America’s transition from an
agricultural nation to an industrial nation.
 From 1900-1920, the nation’s gold standard
actually allowed crop prices to slowly rise.

The silver movement died, as did Populism.
 The goals live on…