Dbq Populist Movement

“The urban workmen are denied the right to organize for self-protection, imported pauperized labors beats down their wages, a hiring standing army, unrecognized by our laws, is established to shoot them down, and they rapidly degenerate into European conditions.” So, the creation of Populist party came from the urge for farmers to boost their economy due to them losing their land; since, the farmers couldn’t afford to pay off their debt. On the other hand, in the North big cooperation’s were taking advantage of their workers. “The State has both the right and the duty to compel all employers to pay a Living Wage.” The Populist party needed a reform because they weren’t getting paid enough to survive and take care of their families. Both, seemed to be ignored by the Senate and federal government. Populist ignored Democrats and people who rejected to abandon the office of Lincoln. The Progressive movement ignored governmental politics and subjugate of

The onset 20th Century holds two main movements: The Populists and The Progressives. These two parties are similar, but their policies and philosophies hold diversities. The Populists party comprises of farmers and poor whites in the south; they focus on eastern interests i.e. railroads and banks. The Populists also call for government action, to intervene and to create an efficient society which includes a flourishing middle class. The Progressives include educated middle class men and men of universities, they too demanded for reform, but accomplish their goals through legislation and the judicial system. The Progressives focused on reform as well as destroying the Robber Barons. Some Progressives were actually a part of the Populist Party; they weren’t contradictory parties. To simplify the matter The Populist party held picnics in order to present discussions, while the Progressives hold educated and sophisticated men of great esteem who were much more formal.

The Progressive Era was an era that used social reforms to rapidly transform the major problems of the United States. The two major reforms that took place during the Progressive Era was the Populist Movement of the 1890s and the Progressive Movement of the 1900s. During the period of the 1870s and the 1880s, referred as “The Gilded Age”, most American citizens supported the principles of a laissez-faire. Many people would disregard the Congress and the government, because they were expected to not make any reforms during this time. Because of this, the Democratic party, who controlled the House of Representatives, and the Republican, who controlled the Senate, are now so equally balanced that they decided to take stands on controversial issues,

The Populist party was a third party of the 1890s formed to fight for the rights of working people. This party was largely made up of farmers. There were several reasons why this party was formed. By the beginning of the 1880s, millions of farmers had found themselves trapped under the mountains of debt that they couldn’t get out of. There were various causes of why this happened with these farmers.

The 1891 founded peoples party became an alternative party to the democratic party and the northern republican party due to its support for the growth of the working-class Americans. Most of its demands were to exchange the gold money standards to silver money standard which limited money supply for the working-class Americans. The movement also demanded the direct election of the senators and taxation according to income basis. William Jennings Brayan a former Democrat ran as a Populist leader in the 1896 which ended in a failure. The federal public demand election of 1896 was won by the Republican Ted Roosevelt which marked the commence of the Populist party. The populist party legacy gave the working class of the Americans the treatments

The Progressive and Populist Movements of the Late 19th and early 20th century were both movements that sought to give specific groups in the population better representation/rights as a whole. The Populist Movement began due to major economic changes brought on by the railroad. Farmers could no longer make a living selling their crops due to overproduction leading to low prices. The Populist Party was established in order to promote the economic and political interests of farmers. One notable member of the Populist Party was William Jennings Bryan, a Presidential candidate who believed in inflating the money supply and the coinage of silver. The party would go on to create Granger Laws, laws designed to place government regulations on railroads.

Although vastly different in their characteristics and motives, the Populist and Progressive era was chiefly caused by the lack of control among the masses and the government. With power revolving around large corporational bosses, individuals of this era sought to enact alterations in order to return order and strength to the people by attempting to limit the authority of corruption. With Progressivism focusing on the purification of American politics, social reforms, such as Women’s Suffrage and prohibition, and the implementation of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth amendments were the main results of the Progressive era. For followers of the Progressive era, eliminating the political corruption of the United States government would only be achieved following the amelioration of their social standards and the unity of the masses. On the other hand, Populists focused their efforts on the repairment of America’s economy. Consisting of frustrated farmers who felt that their agrarian society was threatened by the rise of industrialism. With political machines relying on industries, such as steel and railroads, for their economic needs, the American economy eventually lost the focus on farmers. In order to regain the respect and power previously held, the Populist party called for alterations including an increase in currency and a revenue tariff. Ultimately, Populism and Progressivism acted as a direct representation of the anger and desperation felt by Americans towards those involved in the corruption that shaped America’s

The Omaha Platform of 1892 didn’t immediately bring the results that the Populists were looking for. However, it did eventually lead to some precisely notable changes in the governmental practices America knows today. Take, for example, the Graduated Income Tax demand made in the Omaha Platform. The Populists asked for a change in the way workers were paying taxes, considering at that time, taxes were paid by the population of each state, not by how much that population earned. Furthermore, the taxes were not managed by the federal government, they were collected by the individual states. There was an obvious problem with this type of taxation and the Populists demanded that the issue be solved.

Populists: The Populist movement also influenced progressivism. While rejecting the call for free silver, the progressives embraced the political reforms of SECRET BALLOT, INITIATIVE, REFERENDUM, and RECALL. Most of these reforms were on the state level. Under the governorship of ROBERT LAFOLLETTE, Wisconsin became a laboratory for many of these political reforms. The Populist ideas of an income tax and direct election of senators became the SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH AMENDMENTS to the United States Constitution under progressive direction.

To better understand where the populist movement, and the People's Populist Party came from you must first track back from the official formation of the party in 1892, to the real beginning, the Omaha Platform, which was drafted as a result of the crusade by the Farmer's Alliance in the late 1880s ( The Omaha Platform). The Farmer's Alliance took the place of The Grange after its decline in the late 1870s (Nash 430). Both of these organizations were created to fight for the "immense helpless mob" (429) of farmers in the post Civil War period. Both black and white farmers were beginning realize that the only way for them to improve their own lives was through banding together and taking collective action. Specifically, those included in this

Populism was a narrow movement, confined mostly to the western and southern farmers, and was a movement of small- town ignorance lashing out against progress and espoused many ideas which simply could be categorized as fear of the other, a sort of “conspiratorial theory and… suspicion of the stranger that haunted, and still tragically haunts, the nativist American mind”(82). Hofstadter quotes editorials and poems from farmers’ magazines which display their state of mind, and their suspicion of cities and city- life. Progressivism, however, took some of the issues of the Populists and made a genteel, nation- wide movement of reform. The Progressives, according to Hofstadter, were the long- established wealthy professionals who were losing in status and prestige in comparison with the nouveau riche robber barons and railroaders and losing political clout to the ‘bosses’ who controlled the immigrant populations of the cities. Hofstadter refers to the Progressives as ‘gentry’ and they took a stance of liberal, well- intentioned, noblesse oblige, which had the final goal as putting the country back on the right track. Of course, the right path for the country was the one that placed them in prominence once again, and limited the power of the big businesses and eradicated the political bosses of the cities. As with the Populist movement, Hofstadter reviews literature, editorials, and

The populist movement began in the 1880’s with the beginnings of the farmers’ alliances which were small political parties the represented as the name implies, farmers. These parties wanted to improve the conditions for farmers similarly to how the factory workers wanted improved conditions. To achieve this the farmers’ alliances were mainly focused on crop prices and credit facilities. Although they had some success in small scale elections, they never had any effect on the national level. In 1892 many of the farmers’ alliances formed together to create the Populist Party or the people’s party which dissolved many of the former alliances. The new Populist Party was still largely focused on farmers and their needs, the

While the Populists failed to win national office or displace either or both of the major parties, they significantly affected the American political and administrative systems. A large number of the Populist requests, which came across as radical and compelling in the 1890s, shortly afterwards. By 1920 we elected U. S. senators directly, a federal income tax was in operation, railroad regullations significantly, protective tariffs had been lowered, short-term credit had been made available in rural areas, etc. While the Populists were unable to enact their platform during their existence, they prepared the way for these adjustments to an advanced, more complicated American society.

During the latter half of the nineteenth century, Minnesota was rampant with political discontent (MNopedia). National movements called for shorter work days, restrictions on child labor, as well and safer working conditions. This movement, known as populism, came from citizens want for change. This movement would shape politics for the rest of the century. This movement would take many forms in a number of political groups, most notably, the Grange, the Anti-Monopoly Party, and the Alliance.

The Populist Movement, also known as the Forming the People’s Party, are all about the “We” in America. They are a group of people who formed because of the agriculture economy and didn’t put too much emphasis on race. They wanted more room for their crop (land wise), better pay, and even supported fair work-days for industrial workers. The Populist Movement was big in its time and made a lot of changes. What really made Populism grow was the depression that hit in 1893. William Jennings Bryan knew this and exploit what they wanted to get ahead in the presidential race.