Today we listened to Conrad and Reys presentations.
5-3
What problems did farmers face on the great plains?
Who are the polulous, and what did they believe in?
Farming Problems in the 1870s/180s
Farmers Troubles
early 18802 farmers were getting into bad financial situations
good farming land was being taken quickly so many farmers had to break in new ground
breaking in new ground was difficult because of the lack of rich silt in the soil and the toughness of the sod
to add to their probles the prices of crops were dropping so they needed more to make the same amount of money as before
and more railroads werer charging very high prices to hold and ship grain
many farmers lost their farms everyday
Economy At the Time
civil wars greenbacks were b eing removed from circulation
this caused the value of money to go up, and prices to go down
this meant that they were paying more to grow their crops than they were selling them for
farmers and others tried to get the goverment to put more money into circulation
bland allison act required the gov to coin two to four million every year
The Grange
farmers couldnt take any more abuse so they began to organize
oliver hudson kelley founded the patrons of husbandry, which was ultimately known as the Grange
Originally for educated isolated farmers
soon nearly all effort was spent fighting railroad companies
Farmers Alliances
set up by farmers and people who sympatheized with them
speakers went from town to town to educate about finances and how farmers got into trouble and things like govermental control of
soon over four mill members
there was also a colored farmers alliance with over 250,000 members
they had to operate secretly so they werent stopped by racial harters
5-3
Populism
populism was the movement of the people
born because of the populists
Demands
populists conventions in omaha ne
wanted the burden of debt on farmers to be lifted
wanted a greater voice for their gov
What they Wanted
money supply(prices) (goods and services)
graduated income tax
federal loan program
election by popular vote
single terms for president and vice president
secret ballet to end vote fraud
eight hour work day
restrictions on immigration
Who was attracted and how did it impact
mainly to struggling farmers and deperate laborers
in 1892 a populist candidate won about ten percent of all the votes
five senators
3 goveners
about 1,500 state legislators
The panic of 1893
in the 1880s farmers had too many debts and took out too many loans
the philadelphia and the reading railroad had both gone bankrupt in 1893
the gov were losing gold because of the purchase of silver
Causes of the Panic
mines opened meaning they flooded the markets with their silver
farmers, midwest, suffered many droughts causing them short of money for their debts
Silver or Gold
silverites favored bimetallism which gave people gold or silver for their paper money
gold bugs favored the gold standard which took peoples paper money for just gold
End of Populism
william bryan and william mckinley both ran for election
people in the middle west elected mckinley even though they feared he would cause inflation
when mckinley was elected he put populism to its wend and giving no hope to farmers
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