The depression that began in the spring of 1893 and lasted for more than four years put nearly half of the labor force out of work, a higher percentage than during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The human cost of the depression was staggering. “I Take my pen in hand to let you know that we are Starving to death,” a Kansas farm woman wrote to the governor in 1894. “Last cent gone,” wrote a young widow in her diary. “Children went to work without their breakfasts.” Following the harsh dictates of social Darwinism and laissez-faire, the majority of America’s elected officials believed that it was inappropriate for the government to intervene. But the scope of the depression made it impossible for churches and local agencies to supply sufficient relief, and increasingly Americans called on the federal government to take action. Armies of the unemployed marched on Washington to demand relief, and the Populist Party experienced a surge of support as the election of 1896 approached.