Mary Elizabeth Lease was born Mary Clyens in 1850, in Western Pennsylvania. As the daughter of Irish immigrant parents, Lease grew up Catholic. Although many Irish-Americans were Democratic, Lease developed a hatred towards both Republican and Democratic parties due to the fact that her family was poor. However, this hatred began to fuel a lifelong battle when her father died in the infamous Andersonville Prison, a confederate prison with abnormally harsh conditions.
Lease began her career by studying law, focusing on certain issues like women’s suffrage, labor issues, and eventually the conditions of farmers. In 1877, she became a lecturer for the Farmers Alliance, an organization that came together in order to fight for reforms that benefited farmers. Some of these reforms included government control of railroads, and the elimination of national banks. In 1888, farmers and laborers came together to form a new group, called the Union Labor Party, which stirred up Lease’s enthusiasm. She even proceeded to give a powerful speech at a convention in Wichita regarding this new party.
Lease also ran for a position on her county office, but lost narrowly. The Union Labor Party also failed due to a lack of interest from its members. Those from the Farmers Alliance and other labor groups made a new party, which was called the Populists. Lease immediately began to work as a stump speaker for the party (some who traveled around the nation to make public addresses for a political candidate), and was going around the nation, tirelessly working, giving numerous speeches to the public. Lease also played a pivotal role in unseating Senator John J. Ingalls. She made many speeches attacking the federal government, powerful industrialists, and the upper class. She was also known for constantly criticizing Wall Street, calling the government “no longer a government of the people, by the people and for the people, but a government of Wall Street, by Wall Street, and for Wall Street.”
As the Populist party grew, the party nominated James B. Weaver as their presidential candidate. Lease campaigned heavily for him, and even though he lost narrowly, Weaver was able to win more than one million popular votes and four majority state votes.
In 1897, Lease moved to New York, working as a political writer. Although she was still a speaker, she no longer had the same reputation that she had during the Populist movement. Although Lease died in 1933, her legacy lives on through her powerful speeches, her courage in fighting for women’s rights in a male-dominated society, and her book that she wrote in 1895, called The Problem of Civilization Solved.
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I found this post extremely interesting in the way that one person went after the government. This post taught me who Mary Elizabeth Lease was and what she stood for, the people. Something interesting that I learned was Mary Elizabeth Lease's father was also extremely outspoken, and the reason why they moved from Ireland was because her father was trying to escape a death sentence for rebelling against the English.
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