the populist party

warm up

Section 1 00:00:00 I'm [? Miss Mirsai. ?] Welcome to our discussion of the Populist Party, a party that was formed by farmers and other common people who felt that they were under-represented in American politics in the late 1800s. The political cartoon on the screen in front of you shows Populist Party leader William Jennings Bryan as a snake, swallowing the Democratic Party, from which 00:00:23 he was once a member. The Populist Party has a short but colorful history that reflected the nation's struggle with its growth and industrialization. Before we get started talking about this, you need to learn a little bit more about the troubles that faced the nation's farmers, troubles that led to the formation of the Populist Party. Section 2 00:00:00 Farmers, particularly those in the West and the South, suffered economically in the late 1800s from lower commodity prices, which affected cotton in particular. But we also saw a general decline in prices for many crops as they became overproduced. There were also higher shipping costs because many of the railroads charged exorbitant amounts of money and were engaged in often unfair business practices. 00:00:28 There were also higher grain storage fees and rising debt for many farmers who were unable to support their families, and who became engaged in a cycle of debt, having to frequently borrow money in order to sustain their farms. As such, it was very difficult for many of these farmers to support their families. Struggling farmers took action. 00:00:49 They organized into Granges and Alliances. These groups focused on business and political issues that were important to farmers, such as opposing corporate banks and monopolies, favoring financial aid and financial reforms, and monetary issues, including whether money should be based on gold or on silver. Section 4 00:00:00 So our objectives for this lesson are to describe the factors leading to the rise of Populism in the West and explain the effects of the movement in America, also to describe the reforms or changes desired by members of the Populist Party, and finally, to identify William Jennings Bryan and explain his impact on American politics. So let's get started.

summary

Section 1 00:00:00 In this lesson, we answered the question, how did the Populist Party influence American politics? Now let's take a look at some of the big ideas that we covered over the course of this lesson. Section 2 00:00:00 Well we talked about the rise of populism in the west. And we said that populism is any political movement that represents the needs of the common people, those with limited economic and political power. The Populist Party was founded by farmers who were struggling economically. And populists wanted a political system for everyone, not just for the wealthy elite. 00:00:21 The People's Party outlined it's ideology in the Omaha Platform. These ideas included free silver, which was a way to increase then the currency in circulation by also turning to the cheaper silver away from the gold. Introducing government owned railroads and banks, introducing a graduated income tax, and turning to the direct election of senators, and improving working conditions 00:00:48 by going to an 8 hour workday. William Jennings Bryan was a democrat who ran for president in 1896 with the support of the Populist Party. He gave his famous "Cross of Gold" speech in favor of free silver at the Democratic National Convention. This speech is considered one of the most influential American speeches. Now, although Byran did not win the election that year, 00:01:11 his ideas and the ideas of the Populist Party, influenced the progressive movement. We still see many of the reforms of the Populists existing in our society today.

lecture

ection 1 00:00:00 In this lesson, we're trying to answer the question, how did the Populist Party influence American politics? To do this, we're going to first talk about why the Populist Party formed. Now you know that farmers were discontent. They had economic struggles. We also need to look at what Populist stood for and what effects Populism had on American 00:00:19 government and society. Keeping in mind what the challenges farmers were facing, we're going to talk about why the Populist Party was created as a way to deal with some of the issues and concerns and challenges facing farmers. So let's get started. Section 2 00:00:00 What is Populism? Well, you can see that it's very similar to the word popular. And by popular, it doesn't mean necessarily well-liked, it means covering the largest base, the most people. And really, the Populism came to represent the common people. It's a political movement that claims to represent these 00:00:23 common people, those with limited economic and political power. Now some of the common concerns of Populism included the economic struggles. Whether it be from rising unemployment, or farm debt, and the abuse of power by the elites. These would be the upper-class, those with a great deal of social, economic and political power, and the 00:00:45 inaccessibility of political power for the weak. So what did that mean? Well, Populism was really rooted in farmer discontent. Now when farmers were struggling, they started these Farmers' Alliances, or Granges. These unified farmers in the South and the West. And they were organized locally, sometimes regionally, but they weren't able to organize on a large scale. 00:01:08 Now Farmers' Alliances took it one step further than the Granges. And Farmers' Alliances really tried to get into the political realm, but still they were lacking. So what was needed? Well, they needed a voice in state and national politics, and a clear, defined platform. So out of this problem comes a solution. 00:01:29 Farmers knew they needed more influence in government at the state and local levels. The Democratic and Republican parties at that time controlled all the state legislature and the national government. But many of the common people, many of these farmers, felt that those two parties didn't represent them. Instead, those parties represented the businessmen, 00:01:48 the bankers, and the land-owning elite. The people who didn't support reforms for farmers, the people who were responsible for foreclosing on farms. For lending out money and increasing the cycle of debt, or contributing to that cycle of debt that many of these farmers were locked into with sharecropping and crop-lien systems. So from this arose the need for a new political party. 00:02:15 And that new political party was going to be the Populist Party. Section 4 00:00:00 And so the Populist Party was born in 1891. It was also known as the People's Party. Now factors leading to its formation included deflation, which is the dropping of prices across an entire economy. Also the growing support of labor unions, such as the Knights of Labor. And finally people's distrust of the two main political 00:00:20 parties, the Democratic party and the Republican party, who many of the common people felt really represented that wealthy elite. Section 6 00:00:00 Remember, our goal in this lesson is to answer the question, how did the Populist party influence American Politics? Well we know that the Populist Party was formed to meet the needs of farmers. Now we're going to talk about what the Populist stood for. And that's going to be answered by examining the Omaha Platform. 00:00:17 So let's take a look at what the Omaha Platform was. Section 7 00:00:00 In 1892, the Populist Party, or the People's Party, held a convention in Omaha, Nebraska. There they identified several issues and then proposed solutions to those issues. The first issue was to fight deflation, or falling prices. Their solution was to put more currency into circulation, and this currency would come from less expensive silver. By putting that into circulation, it might create a 00:00:25 situation of inflation, which would help drive prices up, for example, of crops. They also wanted to break up railroad monopolies. They came up with a plan for a network of government-owned railroads and banks. They wanted to provide tax relief. And their idea was to establish a graduated income tax whereby the more money you made, the more money 00:00:46 you'd pay in taxes. And the less money you made, the less money you'd pay in taxes. They also wanted to give more political power to the people. Their idea was to allow for the direct election of senators, who at that time were actually chosen by state legislatures. They wanted to improve working conditions, for example, 00:01:07 establish an eight-hour work day. And so here we see cooperation between labor unions and the Populist Party. These goals and reforms became known as the Omaha Platform. Section 9 00:00:00 With the Omaha Platform, Populists identified deflation as a major concern. They wanted to fight deflation by putting more money into circulation. Now at the time, the United States had a gold standard. This was a system that gives money a fixed value and allows it to be traded for a specific amount of gold for the treasury. 00:00:19 So for every paper dollar that was in circulation, there was an amount of gold tied to that, sort of supporting the strength of that dollar. Now, many Western and Southern farmers thought that it actually drove their incomes down and the cost of borrowing up. Free silver was a rallying cry by those who wanted the government to mint an unlimited 00:00:42 number of silver coins. In addition to farmers and Populists, free silver was also supported by owners of silver mines in the West. Now, there was also an idea or support growing among some for bimetallism. Now this was a system of money based on both gold and silver which could be minted in any amount that the government wanted. 00:01:04 Opponents of this plan thought that since each nation set its own exchange rate, it would make trade more difficult and less fair. So it would make it more difficult to actually trade with other countries. Manufacturers really favored the gold standard, because it had a fixed value and it was tied to a specific amount of gold. 00:01:26 But many believed that it kept wages and other costs low, and crop prices were falling. Populists opposed the gold standard because of the decreasing crop prices. But also because the costs of other goods and services were actually going up, and especially borrowing, these things weren't falling. They believed that increasing the currency would lead to 00:01:51 inflation and cause crop prices to rise as a result. Increasing the currency would increase their income, and it would make it easier for many of these farmers to repay their debts. Section 11 00:00:00 We're one step closer to answering our lesson question. How did the Populist Party influence American politics? Now you know why it was formed, to meet the needs of farmers. And you know the goals of the Populist Party, as outlined in the Omaha Platform. Now you're going to talk about what effects Populism had. And to do that, we're going to look at the evolution of the 00:00:19 Populist Party, and see the emergence of one of its most famous leaders, William Jennings Bryan. So let's get started learning more about him. Section 12 00:00:00 In 1892, the first People's Party candidates ran in a national election. James B. Weaver lost the presidential run to Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland. Weaver won four states and received more than a million votes, however. But by 1896, the Populists realized that they had to align themselves with candidates from one of the two 00:00:20 major parties. They chose Democrat William Jennings Bryan as their candidate. Now, Bryan was a charismatic and fiery public speaker from Nebraska, and he was a supporter of free silver and bimetallism. He was elected to Congress very early at the age of 30 and he was a presidential candidate three times, in 00:00:39 1896, 1900, and 1908. He also served as the Secretary of State during World War I, and he was a lawyer and speaker active in public life. He gave a famous speech known as "A Cross of Gold" speech. He delivered it at the 1896 Democratic National Convention. Now this was interesting because the president at that 00:01:01 time was Grover Cleveland, and Cleveland was a supporter of the gold standard. Many in his party, many Democrats, were actually supporters of free silver or bimetallism. Bryan blamed the wealthy for supporting the gold standard at the expense of ordinary workers. He used historical and religious imagery to get his ideas across. 00:01:24 Historians today consider this one of the most influential speeches in American history. Bryan said that "you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold." Meaning that it was almost suicide to just stay with that gold standard and not explore other options. And that we were being detrimental to the American people by only sticking to the gold standard. And this is why he had garnered so much support from 00:01:55 the Populist Party which endorsed him, and farmers and miners across the country. Section 14 00:00:00 Well after the election of 1896, we're going to see a decline of the People's Party. Populist and William Jennings Bryan lost the election of 1896. Republican William McKinley's campaign actually outspent Bryan's 5 to 1. McKinley spent $3.5 million. And even with the support of silver supporting Republicans 00:00:22 and Democrats, and farmers and an endorsement by the Populace Party, William Jennings Bryan still couldn't win the election. The two major parties went on to adopt much of the Populist Platform. And this would really cut out a need for having a third party alternative. But it does lead to the Progressive Movement. 00:00:41 And Progressives are going to pick up on many of these Populist ideas, including graduated income tax, business reforms, and improved working conditions for laborers.