Chicago citation styleJamie Lathan. The Populist Movement. 2016. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, //dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-populist-movement. [Accessed November 6, 2022.]APA citation styleJamie Lathan, [2016] The Populist Movement. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, //dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-populist-movementMLA citation styleJamie Lathan. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America .
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In the early 1890's, alliance leaders of the Farmers’ Alliances, Knights of Labor, and other Labor Parties realized that they needed a new approach in a political landscape. In 1892, delegates met in Omaha, Nebraska and formed the People’s Party or Populists. Recently, farmers had been paying ridiculously high prices for railroad transportation and wanted reform. The Populist Party supported government owned railroads and land grants given to settlers. They preferred the initiation of silver into the currency and a graduated income tax. It would result in the rich being taxed more than the poor. It also called for postal savings banks since the banks were government owned. They also wanted direct election of senators, reduction in tariffs, and an 8-hour workday. They were not influenced by big business; they were just concerned with giving the working class a voice and a vote. The Populist Party was in need of a presidential leader. Their representative James B. Weaver ran for President but only won in four states. The Populist Party did not do well because Southern Populists aligned with Republicans since African Americans did not want to give up the little power they had within the Republican Party. In the Midwest and Northeast, a third party was not necessary. The Populist Party began to downplay their reforms and focus on the money issue of bimetallism. Surprisingly, the Democratic Party nominated William Jennings Bryan as their candidate. He shared a passion for bimetallism and opposition to high tariffs. Since he shared the same beliefs as the Populist Party, they realized that it was in their best interest to join with the Democratic Party, and they did. After the 1896 election of Republican William McKinley, Populism came to an end. Public support had ended and there were no Populists in Congress after 1903. As a result, the idea lived on that the government is responsible for reforming social injustices.
Caption: This photograph portrays the Independent People’s Party or Populist Party Convention in Columbus, Nebraska where Omer Kem was nominated for Congress in 1890. At the Convention, multiple people were nominated as candidates. The campaign that followed was full of excitement as the Populist Party tried to gain political power nationally.
The Populist movement was a revolt by farmers in the South and Midwest against the Democratic and Republican Parties for ignoring their interests and difficulties. For over a decade, farmers were suffering from crop failures, falling prices, poor marketing, and lack of credit facilities. Many farmers were in debt due to a drought that affected the Midwest in the 1880s. At the same time, prices for Southern cotton dropped. These disasters, combined with resentment against railroads, money-lenders, grain-elevator owners, and others with whom farmers did business, led farmers to organize.
In Georgia, Tom Watson led the Populist revolt against the Democratic Party. Watson appealed to rural black voters by promising to respect their political and civil rights. Watson organized picnics, barbecues, and camp meetings and formed political clubs for blacks. But political cooperation did not mean socializing; blacks and whites sat separately when together. Yet that did not prevent them from cheering wildly when Watson spoke of their common plight: "You are made to hate each other because on that hatred is rested the keystone of the arch of financial despotism which enslaves you both. You are deceived and blinded because you do not see how this race antagonism perpetuates a monetary system that beggars you both. The colored tenant is in the same boat as the white tenant, the colored laborer with the white laborer and that the accident of color can make no difference in the interests of farmers, croppers and laborers." Using fraud and violence, and rallying support by appealing to white supremacy, the Democrats held on to their power in Georgia and other Southern states. Many Democrats refused to endanger white supremacy by voting against the Democratic Party. In 1896 the Populists fused into the Democratic Party. With the defeat of Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan and with the Democrats successfully launching white unity campaigns in the South, the Populists gradually disappeared as a political force. -- Richard Wormser |