In the earliest days of the Alliance movement, a leader of the Southern Farmers’ Alliance insisted, “The Alliance is a strictly white man’s nonpolitical, secret business association.” But by 1892, it was none of those things. Advocates of a third party carried the day at the convention of laborers, farmers, and common folk in 1892 in St. Louis, where the Farmers’ Alliance gave birth to the People’s Party and launched the Populist movement. The same spirit of religious revival that animated the Farmers’ Alliance infused the People’s Party. Convinced that the money and banking systems worked to the advantage of the wealthy few, Populists demanded economic democracy. To help farmers get the credit they needed at reasonable rates, southern farmers hit on the ingenious idea of a subtreasury—a plan that would allow farmers to store their nonperishable crops until prices rose and to receive commodity credit from the federal government to obtain needed supplies. To the western farmer, the Populists promised land reform, championing a plan to claim excessive land granted to railroads or sold to foreign investors. The Populists’ boldest proposal called for government ownership of the railroads and the telegraph system to put an end to discriminatory rates.

The Populists solidly supported free silver, in the hope of increasing the nation’s tight money supply. To empower the common people, the Populist platform called for the direct election of senators and for other electoral reforms, including the secret ballot and the right to initiate legislation, to recall elected officials, and to submit issues to the people by means of a referendum. In support of labor, the Populists supported the eight-hour workday.

The sweeping array of reforms enacted in the Populist platform changed the agenda of politics for decades to come. More than just a response to hard times, Populism presented an alternative vision of American economic democracy.