APUSH Plight of the Farmer
Interstate Commerce Act (1887)
National regulation of the railroads
Problems of the Greenback-Labor Party
Race was a problem and the party split into the Southern Alliance and the Colored Farmers' Alliance
The Omaha Platform
1. Free and Unlimited Silver coinage (16:1) 2. Graduated Income Tax 3. Government Ownership of RRs, telegraph, and telephone 4. Direct election of Senators 5. Initiative and Referendum 6. 8 hr day and Immigration Restriction 7. Sub-treasury Plan
Historic Position of American Farmers
1. Jeffersonian Ideal - selfless profession 2. After 1865 New Ideal - businessmen (ultra wealthy)
William McKinley (R) vs. William Jennings Bryan (D)
1. McKinley - hard money 2. Bryan - free silver (west & south) 3. McKinley wins 4. Populist Party fizzles out
Problems and complaints of farmers in the late 19th century
1. Prices of agricultural commodities decline by 50% 2. Debt and high interest rates 3. High Railroad rates 4. Middlemen take a cut of farmers' profits 5. Protective Tariffs
The Panic of 1893
1. caused unemployment and wage cuts 2. attracts more workers to Populism 3. Congress reduced silver coinage (repealed Sherman Silver Purchase Act) 4. Populists decide to focus on the "free silver" issue at the expense of the rest of the Omaha Platform
Roots of the Populist Party (Farmers' Alliance Movement)
Greenback-Labor Party ('70s-'80s) : wanted "fiat money" which was unbacked paper money which would work better than gold since gold has no intrinsic value
Munn v. Illinois (1877)
Supreme Court ruled in favor of the farmers and against the railroads (railroads could be regulated because they operate in the public interest)
The Grangers successes
The "Granger laws" were state laws regulating the rates of railroads
Political Problems for the Populists in 1892 election
The racial divide (black southerners can't vote)
The 1896 Democratic Party Convention
William Jennings Bryan (D) was endorsed by populists
The Grangers goals
cut out the middlemen, control the different levels of the agricultural industry, get railroad regulation passed
The Grangers tactics
electing pro-farmer representatives in the state legislatures and pressuring these legislatures to pass railroad regulations
The 1892 Election
populists nominated James Weaver and he received 22 electoral votes
Wabash v. Illinois (1886)
railroads argued that they couldn't be regulated by state law because railroads are interstate commerce (railroads win)