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Farmers in the late 1800s had a boom in farming techniques
Fertilizer helped more crops grow
Machinery made it easier to farm the land
These advances made it easier to work the land...but it came at a price - Farmers would try to farm more land which would drive prices down.
The Farmers grew more and more crops, they had too much.
Too many crops, the market is flooded with more and more crops....
The prices bottomed out and farmers lost more and more money
When farmers shipped their goods, the railroad gave them a standard rate if it was a long haul
If it was a short haul, the railroads would DOUBLE or TRIPLE the rate
Farmers regularly put crop futures up as collateral to take out loans
If the crop failed....they were in heavy debt
Even the farm was put up as collateral to secure a loan for seed, fertilizer, or equipment
it would only take one drought, one tornado, one wildfire to wipe a farmer's livelihood away.
The Granger Movement began as a social movement for farmers
They made it their goal to help farmers with isolation and spread new information about farming techniques
When their numbers reached 1.5 million members, they got political
The Granger Movement started creating "Granger Cooperatives"
These would allow farmers to collectively sell their goods without a middle man
Farmers could directly sell their crops at decent prices and would also get discounts on buying equipment
1887 - The ICA was passed to stop the unfair practice of the Railroads
This law created the Interstate Commerce Commission that investigated complaints of unfair RR practices
Farmers won a huge legal and financial battle
Populism can be defined as "a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups."
The Populist Party got its start in 1892 and it rapidly grew
The main issue was "help the common man"
This included Farmers, Workers, and Miners
Women and persons of other races were welcomed in some areas
The populist party was convinced that the "elites" had a stranglehold on the US Government
They wanted the Gov't to take a stronger, and larger, role in American Society
Reform was the key word for the Populist Party
Unlimited Coinage of Silver
Direct Election of Senators
Graduated Income tax
Immigration restrictions
8 hour work day
secret balloting
These items drew many people to the populist party and membership grew
The US Dollar was backed by gold in the late 1800s - this restricted the amount of money in supply because of the limited supply of gold
Switching to silver, which was more plentiful, meant MORE money in circulation, and would lessen the burden of farmers...or so they thought.
Bryan rose to fame by his "Cross of Gold Speech"
The Cross of Gold
Bryan was nominated three times to be president - once as a populist, twice as a Democrat
He narrowly lost the election by less than 5% of the popular vote
The populist party started to decline rapidly after the losses
Like most 3rd party groups, the populist party fell apart
The Democratic and Republican parties absorbed many ideas the populist party ran on
This is pretty much how it works today in American for third parties