Farmers had problems right after the Civil War Falling crop prices Increased debt due to buying new equipment Competition from foreign farmers Power of big business Government refused to help Solution: Farmers united
Tariffs: tax on imported goods to encourage people to buy domestic goods How tariffs helped farmers: Kept competition away How tariffs hurt farmers Business farms raised prices to make more profit, therefore hurt individual farm sales Prevented foreigners from earning American currency, which they needed to buy American crops, thus hurting trading with American farmers Farmers protested when the government raised tariffs-thought the government was favoring eastern farms/business and not helping western farmers
Many farmers were isolated and thus when problems/unfair policies arose, they could do nothing about it Due to improved transportation and communication, farmers started to unite to address problems and protest
1866: Oliver H. Kelley toured southern farms and was concerned about the isolation of farmers Created The Grange/Patrons of Husbandry Helped farmers form cooperatives Farmers buy large quantities of products and then share for a cost savings Pressured government to regulate business that farmers depended on to make it more fair Example: Railroads were charging more money to western farmers, than large industrialized eastern business
Late 1880 s What Farmer s Alliance did: Attacked powerful monopolies Demanded businesses that farmers used to be regulated Wanted more money in circulation to combat deflation Wanted to create a State Department of Agriculture Supported anti-trust laws Wanted to establish farm credit so farmers could buy what they needed to produce crops
Very popular: 3 million members Helpful to farmers that experienced difficulties such as drought, flooding, blizzards that killed cattle and damaged crops African American farmers created their own alliances, Colored Farmers Alliance
Most of the time the government did not get involved or pass laws that helped farmers Grover Cleveland said, though the people support the government, the government should not support the people. They did pass some legislation that helped farmers Interstate Commerce Act: 1887 Regulated the railroads Created the Interstate Commerce Commission to enforce laws Sherman Anti-Trust Act: 1890 Controlled the power of trusts and monopolies
Alliances founded their own political party called the Populist Party (People s Party) Demanded radical change in social and economic policies Their political stand: Increased circulation of money Supported unlimited minting of silver (helps raise value of money) Supported progressive income tax (more money you make, the more you are taxed instead of flat rate) Wanted government ownership of country s communication and transportation systems Wanted an 8 hour work day Opposed the use of Pinkertons Supported equal treatment of black and white farmers
1892: Populism was popular, but presidential candidate won barely a million votes 1896: Due to problems during President Grover Cleveland s term, the Populist way of thinking was popular during the 1896 election Republican: William McKinley Democrat and Populist: William Jennings Bryan
Open your book to page 194 and read about Bryan s Cross of Gold. Look at the cartoon of William Jennings Bryan on page 195. Look at the map of election results for the 1892 and 1896 presidential election.
The country was put back on the gold standard vs. the silver standard by 1900 Crop prices slowly rose much to the surprise of the farmers After the silver movement died, Populism died with it (Remember, Populism was based on the free minting of silver, so when the silver movement died, so did Populism) Goals of Populism still lived on Re-emerged during the Progressive Era
6.1.2b