The Farmers Revolt Analysis

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The Farmers’ Revolt The vacancy of American politics may have began from the middle class.The country was growing; no foreign countries threatened America; poor people were mostly blacks, immigrants, and others who had very little influence, and who were easily dismissed by the upper class. However, one group of people in society had suffered greatly as the years went by, and that group was the farmers. This force finally, around the 1890s, brought the United States to open their eyes to the problems of the age. The farmers were rapidly being left behind in the race for wealth and status. “The American farmer is steadily losing ground. His burdens are heavier every year and his gains are more meager; he is beginning to fear that he may …show more content…

One candidate was Republican William Mckinley he supported the Gold standard. James Laughlin wrote about the gold standard opposing the populist, “The farmers, in all honesty, have attributed their misfortunes to the “constriction in prices, caused, as they think, not by an increased production of wheat throughout the world, but by the “scarcity of gold” (Doc 3). The second candidate was Democrat William Jennings Bryan, he supported the Silver and Gold standard. Bryan also had a speech called “Cross of Gold”. This speech was for free silver and thereby captured the presidential nomination. Bryan was the popular vote and actively campaigns. Mckinley fought back with his campaign manager Marcus Hanna. They fought back with Mckinley’s “front-porch campaign”. Bryan did very well, however, he lost to Mckinley. “Boy Bryan’s defeat. Defeat of western silver. Defeat of the wheat.” (Doc 4) Bryan lost and so did the Populist idea. Mckinley helped the United States make greater changes as they moved into the 20th Century. To do so, they had to leave the old ways behind. Leaving, again, the farmers’ behind. The Populist movement dies out after the election of 1896. So, the plights of the farmers were never

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