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Today's Agenda Bellwork Announcements Questions Bellwork Review Lecture Slide 2 Populist Movement Our standard today: US.5 Analyze the controversy that arose over the currency system in the late 1800s, including the impact of gold and silver strikes in the West, the contrasting views of farmers and industrialists, the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, the Gold Crisis during the Cleveland administration, and an analysis of William Jennings Bryans Cross of Gold speech. (E, H, P) Slide 3 Objective Identify the problems farmers faced and their cooperative efforts to solve them. Explain the rise and fall of the Populist Party. Slide 4 What is a Dollar Worth? Slide 5 Currency System in the Late 1800s After the Civil War, the U.S. government got the National Bank Act through congress (February 1863). This act established a monetary system whereby national banks issued notes backed by U.S. government bonds. The government then choked out notes from state banks by taxation. The U.S. Treasury then worked to get greenbacks out of circulation so that the national bank notes would become the only currency. http://www.investopedia.com/articles/07/cash_wars. asp Slide 6 Silver or Gold? During this period of rebuilding, there was a lot of debate over the bimetallic standard. Some were for using silver to back the dollar, others were for gold. The situation was resolved in 1900 when the Gold Standard Act was passed. This meant that, in theory, you could take your money to Fort Knox and exchange it for the corresponding value in gold. Another innovation brought the Federal Reserve into being in 1913. The Federal Reserve was given the power to steer the economy by controlling money supply and interest rates on loans. Slide 7 Silver? 1891 Certificate Slide 8 Gold? Slide 9 Gold!!!! Gold!!! http://www.history.com/topics/gold-rush-of- 1849 Slide 10 Silver! Comstock Mine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNKKFG WBXXI Slide 11 Farmers vs Industrialists During the 1880s, farmers believed that industrialists and bankers controlled both the Republican and the Democratic parties. Western farmers formed the Populist Party. Populists sought free and unlimited coinage of silver and a graduated income tax so the wealthy pay more than the poor. Populists sought government ownership of railroad, telephone and telegraph systems. Populists wanted the government to get more involved in the economy and wanted to stop liaize-faire economics. Aimed for a secret ballot and direct election of US Senators. Slide 12 Farmers were in debt http://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask- a-historian/25222 Slide 13 Silverties Versus Goldbugs "Silverites" were pitted against "Goldbugs" in a political conflict towards the end of the 1800s that revolved around currency policy. Silverites wanted the United States to pursue a policy of bimetallism, or joint use of gold and silver as an economic standard. Goldbugs believed the economy should stay on a gold standard and that silver would depress the economy. Free silver policies were favored by those in the west, which mined a great deal of silver. Slide 14 Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wik i100k/docs/Sherman_Silver_Purchase_Act. html Slide 15 The Gold Crisis http://www.biography.com/people/jp-morgan- 9414735/videos/jp-morgan-panic-of-1893- 29733955827 Slide 16 Cross of Gold Speech Slide 17 The Speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeTkT5- w5RA Slide 18 Our Timeline Slide 19 Populism? Slide 20 Reform Populism In The 1890s Populism emerged in the 19th century in order to reform the system from within. Creating the Populist Party with James Weaver as their presidential candidate, the Populists strove to bring their reforms into the political limelight. Although they did not succeed in electing their candidate to the presidency, many of their reforms were later enacted. Slide 21 Granger Movement? Slide 22 Granger Movement During the decade of the 1870s, U.S. farmers were beset with problems of high costs, debts, and small profits. the farmers made their grievances known through the Granger Movement. Membership peaked in the mid- 1870s. There was little the farmers could do concerning prices. Only in 1877 did the Supreme Court rule that states could regulate businesses of a public nature. To counteract unjust business practices, the farmers were urged to start cooperatives such as grain elevators, creameries, and stores. Slide 23 CO-OPs Slide 24 Granger Laws? Slide 25 Granger Laws The Grangers in various states lobbied state legislatures in 1874 to pass maximum rate laws for freight shipment. The railroads appealed to the Supreme Court to declare the "Granger laws" unconstitutional. Instead, the Court ruled against the railroads objections in Munn v. Illinois. Slide 26 Farmers Alliance? Slide 27 Farmers Alliance This alliance was a political organization created to help fight railroad abuses and to lower interest rates. It called for government regulation of the economy in order to redress their greivanes. It was founded in New York in 1873, and consisted of the Northwest Farmers' Alliance in the north and the National Farmers' Alliance and Independent Union in the south. They failed to unite, however, and in 1892 gave way to the Populist party. Slide 28 Omaha Platform? Slide 29 Populist Party Platform, Omaha Platform, 1892 The Populist party, or People's Party, was a party that represented the "common man." It was created towards the end of the nineteenth century. Some of their goals included creating postal savings banks, enacting immigration restriction, setting a graduated income tax and limiting the presidency to a single six- year term. The Populist platform represented views of farmers in the West. The Omaha platform of 1892 nominated James Weaver of Iowa for president. Slide 30 Crime of 1873? Bland-Allison Act? Slide 31 "Crime of 1873" and Bland-Allison Act Crime of 1873 is the term given to a federal law of 1873, which adopted the gold standard over the silver standard. This dropped silver coinage in favor of gold coinage, by advocating free silver. This "Crime of 1873" was one of the motivating forces behind the beginning of the Free Silver movement. The Bland-Allison Act was passed over the presidential veto in 1878 and required the secretary of the treasury to buy at least 2 million dollars of silver each month and coin it into dollars. Because of its weight and bulk and the fact that it had not been coined since 1806, most of the silver did not circulate; rather, remained in the treasury. Slide 32 Sherman Silver Purchase Act? Slide 33 Sherman Silver Purchase Act This act forced the treasury to buy 4.5 million ounces of silver each month. However, the price of silver did not rise and precious gold was being drained away from the treasury while cheap silver piled up. This act, therefore, helped to precipitate the panic of 1893, and it caused a decrease in foreign investments in the U.S. economy. Slide 34 Bi-Metalism and Free Silver? Slide 35 Bimetallism and Free Silver Bimetallism is the use of both silver and gold as the basis of an economy as opposed to the use of one or the other or none. During the gold and free silver campaigns of the early 1900s, the Republicans believed in a money system based on the single gold standard, while the democrats believed in bimetallism. Free silver was a chiefly unsuccessful campaign in the late 19th-century U.S. for the unlimited coinage of silver. Major supporters of this movement were owners of silver mines, farmers, and debtors, for whom silver production would be economically favorable. William Jennings Bryan led the democratic party to support free silver during the 1890s. Slide 36 Depression of 1893? Repeal of Sherman Silver Purchase Act? Slide 37 Depression of 1893 and Repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act Depression of 1893 was a panic that swept the country two months after the second inauguration of President Grover Cleveland. Banks closed their doors, railroads went bankrupt, and farm mortgages were foreclosed. People hoarded gold, and the treasurys gold reserve was depleting. A notable cause was the struggle between the free silver and gold advocates. In 1893 President Grover Cleveland, who stood for the gold standard, succeeded in having the Sherman Silver Purchase Act repealed over the strong objections of William Jennings Bryan. However, little gold was in the treasury; thus, the panic of 1893 could not be avoided and the crisis remained until 1896. Slide 38 Populist Movement Our standard today: US.5 Analyze the controversy that arose over the currency system in the late 1800s, including the impact of gold and silver strikes in the West, the contrasting views of farmers and industrialists, the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, the Gold Crisis during the Cleveland administration, and an analysis of William Jennings Bryans Cross of Gold speech. (E, H, P) Slide 39 William Jennings Bryan? Cross of Gold Speech? Slide 40 William Jennings Bryan and his "Cross of Gold Speech" Despite the fact that he was defeated three times for the presidency of the United States, William Jennings Bryan, the principal figure of the Populist party, molded public opinion as few leaders have done. A surprise to the public, he polled many votes during the 1896 election, which may have been a direct result of his "Cross of Gold Speech." William Jennings Bryan won the national Democratic convention's nomination for the presidency in 1896 through a vigorous appeal for free coinage of silver known as the "Cross of Gold" speech. Turning to those who wanted only gold as the monetary standard, he exclaimed: "You shall not crucify mankind upon this cross of gold." As a Populist, he did not support the gold standard since it would deflate the currency, which would make it more difficult for citizens to repay their debts. Slide 41 Group Time Four groups Slide 42 What terms did we hear? Slide 43 Populist Movement Our standard today: US.5 Analyze the controversy that arose over the currency system in the late 1800s, including the impact of gold and silver strikes in the West, the contrasting views of farmers and industrialists, the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, the Gold Crisis during the Cleveland administration, and an analysis of William Jennings Bryans Cross of Gold speech. (E, H, P) Slide 44 Objective Identify the problems farmers faced and their cooperative efforts to solve them. Explain the rise and fall of the Populist Party.