In the 1890s The Populist Party became the most successful third party in the United States since before the Civil War. In order to understand this sudden change in the political sphere one must look at the factors that led to the rise of the populist movement. The populist movement was an effort by lower class citizens to gain more power and influence in American society while simultaneous diminishing the power and influence of the elites. The Populist movement was spearheaded by farmers and laborers in the south and west and targeted big corporations. The main party platform included governmental regulation and ownership of banks and railroads, women’s suffrage, income tax on the wealthy, and called for the direct election of senators . Although the Party did not last the reasons for its rise gives invaluable insight to the conditions in the United States at the time. The rise of the populist movement can be attributed to the general grievances farmers and laborers faced, agrarian discontent and political dissent, the newfound globalization encountered due to new technology and the inclusive nature of the party itself.
For farmers and laborers in the 1880s-1990s everyday life took a turn for the worse. They now faced numerous new issues that negatively impacted their lives, and they wanted to change that. Agrarian discontent included high taxes, tariffs that increased the cost of manufacturing, a currency shortage, expensive middlemen and decreasing cotton prices . On the political and social side the power and influence held by corporations and businesses grew at an exceptional rate, creating a huge divide between the rich and poor. The lower class saw the gap grow and needed a platform to try to change their situation and the...
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...l and economic grievances and changes experienced by the working class in America leading up to the 1890s. Farmers were assimilated into the national economy but the transition was not a smooth one as businesses started controlling the flow of resources and goods and therefore the farmer’s profits. The hold robber barons and corporations had over the government influenced governmental policy, creating hardships for the working class that they wished to end. Additionally the Populist Party was formed by the combination of numerous reform groups, bringing together different races, workers, classes and uniting the west and south. The Populist movement in the US quickly rose in the early 1890s and although it did not prevail the Populist Party’s platforms influenced the policies of both the republicans and democrats, therefore having a lsting effect on American society.
...er party being formed, the populist party. This party had the belief that cities depended on farms, yet farms did not depend on cities. William Jennings Brian supported this idea in his speech, quoted on document J. In which elaborates on the opposition on gold standards and support the silver standards that would better benefit farmers.
The Transportation Revolution in the 1800s, sparked up industrialization and the building of railroads that stimulated every other industry causing an economic boom known as the Gilded Age. From the outside, America seemed like the place to go to make all your dreams come true. But in reality, in was an era of serious social problems mainly caused by an economy with a free market policy, low tariffs, low taxes, less spending, and a hands-off government. This type of economy would eventually lead to the development of monopolies. These monopolies would then, in turn, lead to worker uprisings ‒caused by the suppression of unions created mostly by unskilled workers‒ that would contribute to the rapid rise and downfall of America. An example of this suppression is the Homestead Strike of 1892; due to hostility created by the unions, the employer fired all the workers, and rehired them on the basis that there would not be any more unions. After the workers started working again, the conditions were still unbearable, so the workers shut down the facility. The police got involved, the workers were pushed back, and the facility was reopened union free.
Cities and industry grew in growth on the first of January in 1900 which created an influx of the high classes. Andrew Carnegie is a factory owner who was about to sell his steel company, but ended up becoming one of the richest man in the world. However, there was an underside of this whole excitement to earn money and the hope of the American dream. Average earnings were less than $500 a year, but in the unskilled southern workers earned an average of $300 a year. The work hours were 60 hours a week, wages were strained, and horrible child labor. The question is what was the most important problems in America during the early 1900s that needed to be addressed by The Progressive Movement. There are three main reasons: the struggling child labor, women’s voting rights, and
Afterwards, the 1900s started with the dominance of progressivism, in which many Americans tried to improve and solve the problems that were caused or had arisen because of the industrialization of the Gilded Age. It was basically the time when progressives fought for legislations like regulation of big businesses, an end to the political corruption, and protection of the rights of the people: the poor, immigrants, workers, and consumers. Thus, between the periods 1870 to 1920, big businesses had arisen and taken control of the political and economic systems through corruption and innovations. In response, American citizens reacted negatively and formed labor unions and political systems to diminish the power that large corporations had in America. The growth of large corporations had impacted American politics by causing governmental corruption because of the power some industries had in society.
... and movements, pertaining to the rise of the working class, led to an excessive analysis of the evidence within the pages of Chants Democratic. At times Wilentz’s scrutiny of the trade unions and many other pretentious accounts of the Jacksonian era led the author’s prose to become silted to the reader. In lieu to the disarray of evidence, provided by Wilentz to give application to his arguments on the rise of the labor class; the primary thesis became lost. This leads Chants Democratic to be a great hindrance for the basic student, yet is an excellent source for someone engaged in researching the rise of a working class in American history.
The time period from 1860 to 1914 is defined by the surfacing of the "mass societies." The social order practically ignored the industrial proletariat and the foundation for a reform was laid. The industrial proletariat refers to all the workers who desperately depended on their wages. These people had absolutely no role in politics or in society in general. Even as late as 1860, the workers had to depend on themselves only to improve their social conditions. During the Industrial Revolution, as the number of machines mu...
In all the history of America one thing has been made clear, historians can’t agree on much. It is valid seeing as none of them can travel back in time to actually experience the important events and even distinguish what has value and what doesn’t. Therefore all historians must make a leap and interpret the facts as best they can. The populist movement does not escape this paradox. Two views are widely accepted yet vastly different, the views of Richard Hofstadter and Lawrence Goodwyn. They disagree on whether populists were “isolated and paranoid bigots” or “sophisticated, empathetic egalitarians”; whether their leaders were “opportunists who victimized them” or “visionary economic theorists who liberated them”; whether their beliefs were rooted in the free silver campaign of the 1890s or the cooperative movement of the 1880s; and finally whether their ideal society was in the “agrarian past” or “the promise of a cooperative future”. They could not agree on anything, over all Richard Hofstadter seems to have a better idea of the truth of populism.
Farmers united to protect their interests, even creating a major political party. The party was called the peoples party which became known as the populist party. Populists drew its strength from rural areas. Populists tended to be poor and uneducated. They had ideas such as government ownership of major industries. The Populists supported labors demand for an eight hour work day. The most controversial Populist demand concerned the money supply. Farmers being both sellers and debtors, saw inflation as a way to improve their standard of living, but they wanted to expand the money supply. Farmers convinced the government to use silver as well as gold to back the money supply. The congress passed the Bland-Allison Act and the Sherman Silver Purchase. Populist platform urged congress to authorize free and unlimited minting of silver. The Populists were united in favoring the minting of silver to expand the money supply. Democrats agreed with the Populist, but most Republicans favored the gold standard and a smaller money supply. Democrats agreed on a presidential candidate that was with the mint silver, wh...
After settlements were established, farmers opposed the government. The farmers united to form their opposing union that would lead their opposing movement and solve their common problems that they had with economic distress and railroads. The grange and farmers´ alliances surged with the quest to get the government to support them. The rise of the populist party caused a scare and panic to other government groups, but it didn´t last, the populist party collapsed.
The period between 1880 and 1900 was a boom time for American Politics. The country was finally free of the threat of war, and many of its citizens were living comfortably. However, as these two decades went by, the American farmer found it harder and harder to live comfortably. Crops such as cotton and wheat, once the sustenance of the agriculture industry, were selling at prices so low that it was nearly impossible for farmers to make a profit off them. Furthermore, improvement in transportation allowed foreign competition to materialize, making it harder for American farmers to dispose of surplus crop. Mother Nature was also showing no mercy with grasshoppers, floods, and major droughts that led to a downward spiral of business that devastated many of the nation’s farmers. As a result of the agricultural depression, numerous farms groups, most notably the Populist Party, arose to fight what the farmers saw as the reasons for the decline in agriculture. During the final twenty years of the nineteenth century, many farmers in the United States saw monopolies and trusts, railroads, and money shortages and the loss in value of silver as threats to their way of life, all of which could be recognized as valid complaints.
The People's Party, also known as the "Populists", was a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1891 during the Populist movement. It was most important in 1892-96, and then rapidly faded away. Based among poor, white cotton farmers in the South and hard-pressed wheat farmers in the plain states, it represented a radical crusading form of agrarianism and hostility to banks, railroads, and elites generally. It sometimes formed coalitions with labor unions, and in 1896, the Democrats endorsed their presidential nominee, William Jennings Bryan. The terms "populist" and "populism" are commonly used for anti-elitist appeals in opposition to established interests and mainstream parties. Though the party did not win much of anything it did however shape the United States we know today.
Various people from the late nineteenth century held diverse opinions on political issues of the day. The source of this diversity was often due to varying backgrounds these people experienced. Three distinct groups of people are the farming class, the political bosses, and the immigrants, who poured into the country like an unstoppable flood. These groups of people also represented the social stratification of the new society, which had just emerged from rapid industrialization. These three groups had large differences in many aspects such as power, amount of money, and influence in political events of the day. The political boss dominated local city governments and pretended to be Robin Hoods of industrial society, but in reality were just petty thieves, attempting to earn large sums of money. The men involved in agricultural work were in a precarious situation. They experienced countless forms of natural disasters that constantly beset them and made it a formidable task to grow crops in such a hostile environment. Crops sold for ridiculously low amounts of money, and subsistence was a challenge, a challenge that many failed to overcome. The immigrants faced some of the greatest obstacles out of any class at the time. They were discriminated against by the “native-born” Americans and had to face sharp ethnic prejudice. Many immigrants were unskilled laborers and nearly all lived in poverty. These three diverse groups lived very differently from each other and held diverse views on important issues of the time period. The new emerging modes of thought contributed to the rise of new political organizations, such as the People’s or Populist party.
Bounded by the end of the nineteenth century and the American entry into World War I, the Progressive Era brought dramatic changes to the nation’s economic, political, and social sectors. Progressives included both men and women from various ethnic groups, classes, and occupations who challenged traditional attitudes about the American way of life. The roots of Progressivism date back to the mid to late 1800s, when angry farmers and small business owners formed the Grange and later the Populist Party to confront unfair practices of big business. Progressivism appealed to middle and lower-class Americans who felt helpless against industrial giants like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, whose increasing power influenced politicians and the laws and regulations they sanctioned.
Farmer’s discontent during the period 1870 – 1900 had an impact on their attitudes and actions towards politics. During this period manufacturing had a growth spurt and agricultural started to decline. This made it harder for the farmers to make a decent living. For example in document G it shows how much manufacturing increased between the 50 years. America could no longer dream to be a nation of small freehold farms. Manufacturers and people living in big cities depended on farmers to supply everything. Many people didn’t realize how much of an affect farmers had on their lives. If somebody was to take farms away, everything would have completely crashed.
Bringing Reconstruction to the broken economic structures in the United States has arguably been one of the most enduring and significant issues that the country had faced in its time. As Richard Hofstadter, explain that the progressive movement presented in his essay, “The Status Revolution and Progressive Leaders” by analyzing the common beliefs of the reform groups in the modern perspective. By doing this, it will then to elucidate historical distortions, most notably between the New Deal and Progressivism. The progressive movement brought to the place of entirely during the moment of sustained and prosperity. The reading brought views and thoughts of why did the concerns of the leaders for progression. The leaders contributed the movements for a political and intellectual stand for finance to formulate ideas. I agree with Richard Hofstadter that with a nation for a rather broad diffusion on money, status, and power for an average man in the 1870s can be influence with the absence of many nationwide sources of the powerful and prestige. Also in Hofstadter’s essay, he explained his thought that mugwunps, were Republican political activists who is against the Republican Party by supporting Democratic candidate and also a name given to the unwanted and used up, were Progressives that are victims in the disturbance status. It also presented that the United States was a land that gave people opportunity and place money; however, the civil war increased more. The Mugwump were usually Republican, that were succeeded and thrived; however, people of new wealth in the turn of the century had uncontrollable power unlike the men had seen before. They basically opposed the large attention of wealth and influence th...