Populism. The emergence of the Populist Party and its ideas stemmed from the late 19th century, where thousands of farmers from all around the United States grouped themselves together and brought their discontent to a national level.

Paul Chang

Populism

The emergence of the Populist Party and its ideas stemmed from the late 19th century, where thousands of farmers from all around the United States grouped themselves together and brought their discontent to a national level. The emergence of Populism can be attributed to the major problems that the farmers had encountered during that time. Some of these problems were bankruptcy, loss of social status, and government neglect. As farmers slowly lost recognition in the United States, they turned to the Populist Party (People’s Party) because of its farmer-friendly policies of silver coinage, taxes on the rich, government owned railroads, and the reduction of tariffs. Despite its immense popularity with farmers, the Populist Party and its ideals didn’t appeal to the masses until the nomination of Democratic Candidate William Jennings Bryan.

The start of the Populist Party has been mainly attributed to the multiple problems farmers encountered. The first of these problems was the increase of big businesses. The main big business that hurt the farmers the most was the railroad. Railroad companies during this time not only set unfair prices on shipping, but also owned the storehouses that farmers put their products in. Thus, railroad tycoons could set their prices at ridiculously high prices because farmers had nowhere else to ship and store their food. An ever-increasing problem with farmers during this time was the Middleman. The Middleman was the person that bought the product from the farmers, and marketed that same product to the rest of America. Therefore, whatever profit farmers would have made when they sold their product, was absorbed by the Middleman. However, the Middleman was indispensable. Farmers couldn’t have marketed their own products, as they didn’t have the resources or skills to do so. Thus, the farmers were not just losing money to Railroads; they were losing their profit to the Middleman. By far one of the largest problems farmers endured however, was the increase of their debt. Because of the major Industrial Business increase that the American Economy had encountered, money started appreciating, and it made it harder for farmers to pay off their debt. Thus, farmers had to pay more money just to get out of debt. As the money value increased, so did their debt. Government neglect was also a major problem during this time. Despite government efforts to destroy monopolies and bring the common person back into national politics, farmers were largely neglected. The government tended to focus on industrial needs, and less on the farmer’s needs. This reason for this however, was obvious. Industry was growing, and farming was shrinking. Thus, the Populism Party grew into power because it attended to the farmer’s needs.

The origins of Populism started with the formation of the Farmer’s Alliance. The Farmer’s Alliance was formed in 1876 in Texas, and grew until its death in 1889 due from failure to attract attention. In 1890 however, the Populist Party grew from its ashes and sent over 20 senators and representatives combined to the United States Congress. Populism then swept the country, as dozens of farming states supported Populism because of its farmer-friendly policies. It was also popular because unlike the other political parties, Populism attended specifically to the farmer’s needs.

Populism’s popularity has been largely been attributed to ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Populism’s popularity has been largely been attributed to its controversial farmer-friendly policies. The biggest controversial policy by far was its currency policy. During the late 19th century, the US government had passed a law in which gold was the only money standard to be used. This created uproar, as money increasingly grew in value, and the debts of farmers also increasingly grew. Thus, the Populist Party pushed largely for the unlimited coinage of silver, and to use silver-backed dollars rather than gold-backed dollars. This would lower the worth of money, thus helping farmers get out of their debt. In addition to getting themselves out of debt, the farmers could then regain the profit they had lost to the Middleman, and soon make a living once again. The Populist Party was also well known for pushing for government owned railroads, as that would eliminate the railroad monopoly, and lower shipping prices. By doing this, farmers could save enormous amounts of money, as they didn’t have to pay ridiculously high prices for shipping and storage of their products. The Populist Party was essentially the poor man’s party. The Party was known for advocating the gradual income tax, and the reduction of tariffs. By reducing the tariff, farmers could buy cheaper foreign goods, rather than buying the more expensive domestic goods. All these policies created by the Populist Party were used to get the farmer out of debt and regain his political and social status. Despite its beneficial properties to the farmer however, it would essentially ruin the American economy. With cheaper money, it would require more money to buy essential items such as food and clothing. In addition, because the Populists were pushing for silver coinage, the value of money would drastically improve. It would not simply depreciate; the money might have pushed the rest of America to the brink of a depression. With a reduced tariff, thousands of cheaply made foreign products would have invaded America and put dozens of American-owned businesses out of business. Surprisingly however, the figures of the Populist Party never reached national attention until in 1896 when it endorsed Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan.

Populism’s first major figures were never seen as major to the rest of America, but their popularity was shown by other major figures later on. The first of these was William Pfeffer. Pfeffer was among the first 20 senators and congressman that were elected into Congress during the election of 1890. Pfeffer has been attributed to as the first famous Populist, but was seen as something of a joke to most easterners. In the election of 1892, the Populist Party made great strides by nominating candidate James Weaver to run for president. Weaver fell significantly behind in the standings, but accomplished something no other third party candidate had ever done: win four states. Despite Weaver’s failure to get into office, the Populist Party was off to a great start, by sending 20 Congressmen in 1890, and winning for states in 1892. Their popularity significantly grew when in the election of 1896, they backed the nomination of William Jennings Bryan. Bryan was actually the Democratic nominee, but he was backed by the Populists because of his silver coinage policy. Bryan was did not start popular at first, but quickly gained national popularity after his famous “Cross of Gold” speech. On Election Day, Bryan held a close election with republican nominee Bryant McKinley. After the their defeat in the election of 1896, the Populist Party quickly lost whatever power they had remaining.

Despite its quick rise and fall of power and popularity, the Populist Party has been commonly labeled as the most successful third-party organization of all time. They have set records not just on sending 20 congressmen to Washington DC, but the 1892 candidate James Weaver has won more states than any other third-party in US history. Their popularity skyrocketed in the Election of 1896, by the backing of Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan. After Bryan’s defeat to Republican McKinley, the Populist Party quickly disappeared from the political stage. The success of the Populist Party can mainly be attributed to the fact that they specifically appealed to the one social group that the rest of America had forgotten: the farmer.