Question 12 (21 Questions)

BP 1 - Poor Economic Conditions

1. After the civil war, farmers were faced with drops in demand, causing prices to fall dramatically and put farmers into poor conditions. 2. Homestead Act of 1862 permitted settlers to buy 160 acres of land for a fee in exchange for living on land for 5 years. It failed since legislations failed to recognize increasing costs and mechanization needed to run a farm, and 160 acres was too small for grain farming of Great Plains 3. Inequitable Freight rates 4. High Interest Rates 5. Prices

BP 1 - Formation of Granges

1. By forming Granges, farmers unified to gain political power in their state legislatures and to receive better rates for shipping and grain storage. 2. By uniting, they maximize the power they could have, which did control some legislatures which allowed them to pass laws against railroads, known as the Granger Laws.

BP 1 - Coinage Act of 1873

1. Farmers in granges wanted increased inflation by expanding the money supply through silver. Farmers thought debts would be more easily paid. 2. Removal of Bimetallism caused deflation and shrunk the money supply, angering farmers since their debts were more difficult to pay off. 3. Populist party developed the Omaha platform in 1892 which called for the remonetization of silver at a 16:1 ratio with gold. 4. Demo Pop WJB failed to beat McKinley who supported the gold standard since employers convinces employees that WHB world make them lose all their jobs.

Workers

1. Prior to the civil war, northern states were forced to industrialize to overpower the South in terms of supplies and man power, but it only really took off after the civil war. 2. New transportation like canals steamboats and railroads, with communication like the telephone created a marketplace for sale and distribution of goods. 3. US benefitted from vast resources like land, forests, oil 4. New migrant workers entered the US creating an army of low wage high energy workers while expanding the amount of consumers to buy products. 5. Some took advantage of post war conditions and became large scale industrialists focused on raising capital (Good business is good for the country) 6. Laborers formed labor unions to protect themselves from exploitation.

BP 1 - Wabash v. Illinois

1. Struck down Granger laws and deemed it unconstitutional because they control interstate commerce, which was a government responsibility of the Government after Gibbons v Ogden. 2. This made control farmers possessed in state governments far less powerful, and they didn't not have numbers to pass laws in congress. 3. The ICC was created to create rules similar to the Granger Laws, but was in effectively passed as it was run by railroad executives.

Thesis

1. Though farmers and workers tried to face their problems through the formation of labor unions like the KofL or the Grange, they were unable to get sustained leverage. 2. Ultimately, their attempts were blocked by the government as seen in Wabash v Illinois which struck down granger laws and were passed and the anti unions application of SHAT in the Pullman Strike which was meant to protect works but instead said that it was an interference of interstate commerce. 3. The election of 1896 shows how both farmers and workers lost as Demo-pop WJB failed to beat Gold Standard McKinley on a pro worker and farmer platform.

Farmers

1. Thousands of miles of railroad tracks were laid down to transform agriculture into a major industry, transported raw materials into factories, and served a means for transporting crops to the East Coast. 2. This growth often conflicted with the interest of the farmers.

BP 1 - Munn v. Illinois

1. Win for farmers as SCOTUS ruled in favor of Granger Laws which established public regulation of private business. 2. Protected legislative power farmer had worked to win.