American Populism of the 1880s and 1890s marked the political high-water mark of the social movements of farmers, wage earners, women, and other sectors of society in the years after the Civil War. These movements forged the People’s Party, also known as the Populist Party, which campaigned against corporate power and economic inequality and was one of the most successful third parties in US history. Populist candidates won gubernatorial elections in nine states and gained some forty-five seats in the US Congress, including six seats in the Senate, and in 1892 the Populist presidential candidate, James B. Weaver of Iowa, received over a million votes, more than 8 percent of the total. The Populist Party was not a conventional political party but a coalition of organizations, including the Farmers’ Alliances, the Knights of Labor, and other reform movements, in what the Populists described as a “congress of industrial orders.” These organizations gave the People’s Party its strength and shaped its character as a party of working people with a vision of egalitarian cooperation and solidarity comparable to the labor, farmer-labor, and social-democratic parties in Europe and elsewhere that took shape in the same decades. Despite their egalitarian claims, however, the Populists had at best a mixed attitude towards the struggles for racial equality, and at worst accommodated Indian dispossession, Chinese exclusion, and Jim Crow segregation. In terms of its legacy, veterans of the Populist movement and many of its policy proposals would shape progressive and labor-farmer politics deep into the 20th century, partly by way of the Socialist Party, but mainly by way of the progressive or liberal wings of the Democratic and Republican Parties. At the same time, the adjective “populist” has come to describe a wide variety of political phenomena, including right-wing and nationalist movements, that have no particular connection to the late 19th-century Populism. Show
As the United States evolved into an industrial powerhouse in the decades following the Civil War, the growing strength of the railroads and the banks particularly, coupled with the impact of mechanization on agricultural practices, challenged the financial stability of American farmers in ways never before experienced. The late 1860s saw the birth of the Grange (a.k.a. the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry), an organization dedicated to the social and political uplift of farmers. Throughout the 1870s and 1880s, farmers organized collectively, at first locally, and eventually nationally into the Farmers Alliance, an organization that promoted economic cooperation and broad economic reform to protect the interests of farmers. Both of these movements helped to create the People’s Party, or the Populist Party, which officially established its party platform in Omaha, Nebraska, on July 4, 1892. The Populists would reach the high water mark of their political power in 1896, when the Democratic Party nominated William Jennings Bryan as its candidate for President of the United States. Significance of the TopicThe Populists reiterated a long-significant question in the American experience: Why do some have and others have not? Historians can find similar patterns of populist agitation throughout all of US history, particularly when examining the interests and points of view of rural vs. urban citizens. As Populists challenged the increasing power of the moneyed interests in the national economy, they paved the way for a movement of broad social reform that would sweep the nation throughout the early twentieth century. Essential QuestionWas the Populist movement a success? To what extent do populist ambitions come to light in our political discourse in the twenty-first century? Motivation / Do Now
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Questions and ActivitiesAfter students have recorded their own insights regarding borrowing / lending of money, the teacher will use their comments to explain the mechanics of loans and the appeal that the unlimited coinage of silver held for struggling American farmers. The teacher will then briefly discuss students’ perceptions of the three primary source readings from the homework, focusing particularly on the Omaha Platform as it relates to wealth, work, and the farmers’ political demands. After the teacher introduces the political context of the presidential election of 1896, students will individually read and then discuss in small groups William Jennings Bryan’s "Cross of Gold" speech. Students should use the Questions for Consideration to guide their small group discussion. Once students have read individually and in small groups discussed the "Cross of Gold" speech, the teacher will guide a large group discussion to ensure collective understanding. How did the Populist Party influence politics?The platform also called for a graduated income tax, direct election of Senators, a shorter workweek, restrictions on immigration to the United States, and public ownership of railroads and communication lines. The Populists appealed most strongly to voters in the South, the Great Plains, and the Rocky Mountains.
What were the effects of the rise of the Populist Party?The effects that the party had were: Their proposals for economic, governmental, and political reforms made them very popular with the farmers and they even won 10% of the total votes in the election of 1892. Their reform programs later became the platform of the democratic party (487).
What ideas did the Populist Party promote?The Populists were an agrarian-based political movement aimed at improving conditions for the country's farmers and agrarian workers.
What were the causes and effects of the Populist Party?Populist Party | PBS. The Populist movement was a revolt by farmers in the South and Midwest against the Democratic and Republican Parties for ignoring their interests and difficulties. For over a decade, farmers were suffering from crop failures, falling prices, poor marketing, and lack of credit facilities.
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