Download Unrest in Rural America

Unrest in Rural America
FARMERS IN AN UPROAR
I. Unrest in Rural America
A. Populism
1. In the 1880’s, a
political movement
called populism
emerged.
2. Its goals were to
increase the political
power of farmers
3. And to work for
legislation for
farmers’ interests.
B.
The nations money supply
concerned farmers.
1.
Greenbacks
a.
To help finance the Union in the Civil
War, the government issued millions of
dollars in greenbacks, or paper
currency.
b.
These greenbacks could not be
exchanged for gold or silver coins.
2. Inflation
a. Greenbacks created a rapid increase in the
money supply without a rapid increase in
goods for sale
b. When this happens inflation occurs-a
decline in the value of money.
c. The price of goods greatly increased.
3.
Deflation
a. To get inflation under control,
the federal government stopped
printing greenbacks and started
paying off bonds.
b. Congress also stopped making
silver into coins.
c. As a result, the country did not
have a large enough money
supply to meet the needs of the
growing economy.
d. This led to deflation-or an
increase in the value of money
4. Deflation’s effects:
a.
b.
Deflation forced most farmers to borrow money to plant their crops.
The short supply of money caused an increase in interest rates that the
farmers owed.
5. Some farmers wanted more greenbacks printed to expand money
supply.
6. Others wanted the government to mint silver coins.
C. The Grange
1. The Grange was a national
farm organization founded
for social and educational
purposes.
2. When the country
experienced a recession,
large numbers of farmers
joined the Grange for help.
3. The Grange changed its
focus to respond to the
plight of farmers.
D.
Cooperatives
1. Grangers put their money
together and created
cooperatives-marketing
organizations that worked to help
its members.
2. The cooperatives pooled members’
crops and held them off the
market to force the prices to rise.
3. Cooperatives could negotiate
better shipping rates from
railroads.
E. The Grange was unable to improve the economic
conditions of farmers.
F.
By the late 1870s, many farmers left the Grange and
joined other organizations that offered to help them
solve their problems.
II. The Farmers’ Alliance
A.
Formation
1.
2.
The Farmers’ Alliance was formed in 1877.
By 1890 it had between 1.5 and 3 million members with strengths in the
South and on the Great Plains.
B. Exchanges
1. The Alliance organized large
cooperatives called exchanges for
the purpose of forcing farm prices
up and making loans to farmers at
low interest rates.
2. These exchanges mostly failed.
3. Many exchanges overextended
themselves by loaning too much
money at low interest rates that
were not repaid.
4. Wholesalers, manufacturers,
railroads, and bankers
discriminated against the
exchanges.
5. The exchanges were too small to
dramatically affect world prices for
farm products.
C. The Populists
1. Members of the
Kansas Alliance
formed the
Peoples Party, or
Populists.
2. The Populist
wanted to push
for political
reforms that
would help
farmers solve
their problems.
D. Most Southern leaders of the
Alliance opposed the People’s
Party
1. The Southern Alliance wanted
the Democrats to retain control
of the South.
2. Charles Macune
1.
2.
3.
Charles Macune, was a Southern
Alliance leader
He came up with a “Subtreasury
Plan.”
He wanted warehouses where
farmers could store their crops to
force prices up.
III. The Rise of Populism
A. In 1890 the Farmers’ Alliance
issued the Ocala Demands
1. The Ocala Demands were
common goals to help farmers
choose candidates in the 1890
elections.
2. The demands included
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
The adoption of the subtreasury
plan
The free coinage of silver
An end to protective tariffs and
national banks
Tighter regulation of the railroads
Direct election of senators by
voters.
D. The Populist Convention
1. In July 1892, the People’s Party
held its first national
convention where it nominated
James B. Weaver to run for
president.
2. The People’s Party platform
called for
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Unlimited coinage of silver
Federal ownership of railroads
Graduated income tax, one that
taxes higher earnings more
heavily.
An eight-hour workday
Restriction of immigration
It denounced the use of
strikebreakers
Populism and the People’s Party
Between 1890 and 1892, the Farmers’ Alliance, the Knights of Labor, the
National Colored Farmers’ Alliance and other organizations formed the
People’s Party.
Though the party lost the 1892 presidential race, Populists elected three
governors, ten congressional representatives, and five senators.
H.
The Panic of 1893
1.
2.
3.
The Panic of 1893 was caused by the bankruptcy of the Philadelphia and Reading
Railroads.
It resulted in the stock market crash of 1893 and the closing of many banks.
By 1894 the country was in a deep depression.
I.
Gold Versus Silver
1. President Cleveland wanted to stop
the flow of gold and make it the
sole basis for the country’s currency
(Gold Standard).
2. He had Congress repeal of the
Sherman Silver Purchase Act.
3. This caused the Democratic Party to
split into the goldbugs and the
silverites.
4. Goldbugs believed the American
currency should be based only on
gold.
5. Silverites believed in coining silver
in unlimited amounts was the
answer to the nation’s economic
crisis.
IV. The Election of 1896
A.
Democrats
1.
2.
3.
4.
The Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan for the
presidential election of 1896.
He strongly supports the unlimited silver coinage.
Populists also supported Bryan for president.
He was an outstanding public speaker and campaigner.
B. Republicans
1. The Republicans nominated William McKinley of Ohio for
president.
2. He promised workers a “full dinner pail.”
3. Most business leaders liked McKinley because they thought
the unlimited silver coinage would ruin the country’s
economy.
4. He ran a “front porch campaign” so he wouldn’t be compared
to Bryan as a speaker
C. McKinley won the election of 1896.
1. New gold strikes in Alaska and Canada’s Yukon Territory and
in other parts of the world increased the money supply
without needing to use silver.
2. As the silver issue died out, so did the Populist Party.