The Populist Movement
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Section Chronology
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 a 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, they 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.
People's Party (Populist Party)
Political party formed in 1892 by the Farmers’ Alliance to advance the goals of the Populist movement. Populists sought economic democracy, promoting land, electoral, banking, and monetary reform. Republican victory in the presidential election of 1896 effectively destroyed the People’s Party.
CHAPTER LOCATOR
Why did American farmers organize alliances in the late nineteenth century?
What led to the labor wars of the 1890s?
How were women involved in late-nineteenth-century politics?
How did economic problems affect American politics in the 1890s?
Why did the United States largely abandon its isolationist foreign policy in the 1890s?
Conclusion: What was the connection between domestic strife and foreign policy?
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The sweeping array of Populist 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.
The Populist Platform
> The Populist Platform
- Championed land reform, including a plan to reclaim excessive land granted to railroads or sold to foreign investors.
- Proposed government ownership of the railroads and telegraph system to put an end to discriminatory rates.
- Supported free silver to ease the nation’s tight money supply.
- Called for electoral reforms, such as the direct election of senators and 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.
- Supported the eight-hour workday.
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