In the late nineteenth century, a new political group formed as tensions sprouted over the falling economy and poor labor treatment. The Populist Party, also known as the People's Party, was a coalition of agrarian farmers, labor unionists, and blacks that advocated for political and economic changes.
During the 1880s, before the Populist Party came to be a power on the national scale, local political groups, known as Farmer's Alliances, formed to protest crop failures, falling prices, and poor marketing. White these groups gained some success, they failed to gain influence on the national scale because there was no one widespread group but instead small, individual groups located in different areas. As a result, in 1892, the Populist Party was created and most of the Farmer's Alliances were destroyed. Even though the Populist Party broadened the group of people making up the party, it still remained primarily made up of agrarian farmers.
The original goal of the Populist Party was to create a movement that promoted collective economic action. This can be seen through the Ocala Demands which called for collective bargaining, government ownership of the railroads, an expansionary monetary policy, and the establishment of federally-controlled warehouses to aid farmers. However, the party also argued for political measures to give farmers economic equality with the businesses in the cities. For example, it asked for an increase in currency, a graduated income tax, a tariff on revenue, and the direct election of US senators.
The Populist Party achieved some success in the 1892 election as it received 22 electoral votes and about one million popular votes. However, since the party was largely agrarian, it failed to receive votes for urban laborers. By the year of 1896, the Populist Party had grown since it started in 1892, but the election of 1896 lead to a major collapse. This is because the party was split into fusionists who wanted to combine with the Democrats and mid-roaders who wanted to stay independent. The Populist Party eventually agreed to elect the Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan, but the Republican candidate, William McKinley, ended up winning the election. The Populist Party never fully recovered after this because it became less independent after fusing with the Democrats and it eventually died out.
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I really like how you went in a chronological order with your post and elaborated on the downfall of the Populist Party. I searched up modern-day Populism in the United States and found an article highlighting how Eufaula High School's AP US History classes participated in a farming simulation to better understand the Populist Party. The students acted as farmers and examined what caused market prices to rise and fall based on factors such as drought and failing economic conditions. I think it would be really interesting to examine through historical documents (if possible) what occurred each year (government taxes, weather) that led to the rise of the Populist Party. Also, maybe the fall of the Populist Party wasn't just caused by William McKinley being elected, but also an improvement in the economic conditions.
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https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/episodes/on-the-media-a-likely-story
I like how you described the populist party and how they formed as a result of a failing economy and poor labor treatment, where at the end of your blog you described how the Populist party split in the election of 1896. To add on to your description, the populist party decided to combine with the democrats so that they would have a better chance at beating the republicans since the Populist Party had started to split due to the conflicted opinions about the needs of farmers versus the workers. Overall, great job with your blog post about the Populist Party.
ReplyDeleteSource - https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-caused-end-populist-movement-348839