Towards the end of the 19th Century, agricultural discontent was growing among the nation's farmers. In the South, cotton that was selling for roughly 30 cents per pound after the Civil War was, at times, worth under six cents in the 1890's. Wheat from the Midwest that had sold at $1.50 per bushel after the Civil War brought in 60 cents in the 1890's. The nation's agricultural base was tired of getting the raw deal from politicians, and finally made their voice heard through the Populist Party. When it first stepped onto the public stage, the party was very successful. However, the success was relatively short lived. While a number of factors contributed to the demise of the Populist Party, the failed election of 1896 played an integral role in its fall due to its inability to find a strong figurehead.…
Captain Alfred Mahan and his book “The Influence of Sea Power Upon History” said that control of the sea was the key to world dominance…
The growth of railroads was very beneficial to industries across America, but analyzing this fact was not very helpful for the farmers. Although, the benefits bought to these companies were at the expense of farmers. These practices seriously hurt the farmers by raising their shipping rates in order to lower that of larger companies. The increase the rates of Railroad companies not only made farmers lose profits but it even caused many of those farmers bound by contract to fall into debt. Although these Railroad companies gained the business of larger companies they hurt the business of farmers, and thus the farmers’ complaints were valid. These brought as a consequence those farmers from the north and from the south stared think a similar though that initialized a Alliance against the principles or the government.…
Documents A-H reveal some of the problems that many farmers in the late nineteenth century(1880-1900)saw as threats to their way of life.(a)explain the reasons for agrarian discontent and(b)evaluate the validity of the farmers' complaints.…
As the United States advanced into the twentieth century, the Populists and Progressives saw numerous economic, political, and social problems in need of reform. The Populist movement was a result of a campaign by the Farmer's Alliance. Their chief organizer was a man named Ignatius Donnelly whose proposals were passed into law in the Progressive era. The Omaha Platform was adopted by the newly formed party and it called for the free coinage of silver. From an economic standpoint, the Populists hoped that this inflationary measure would eradicate the financial burden that plagued the nation's farmers. It also demanded reformation of the banking system, the graduated income tax, the secret ballot, the direct election of senators, and the eight-hour workday.…
The populist Farmers were farmers that were generally angry over the increased amount of city industrialization and the decrease in agricultural farm land. Most farmers believed they were the reason America became successful and as developed as it is today. However, they believed that their original American government was being taken away from them. The developments that affected the farmers the most were factories, banks, and railroads. Farmers believed the developers tried to take away all of the hard earned money from them. The money spent on the equipment to take care of the crops and shipping in the long run was decreasing the farmers’ overall income as the cities’ industrialization grew. Most farmers borrowed money to afford taking care…
Through the end of the 19th centaury as the economy of the America continuously declined, the working American class suffered a lot due to immigration, competition and worse working conditions. The farmers struggled a lot with competition and immigration. They went through such problems as: Unaffordable technologies, downfall of the crop prices, poor land maintenance and, expensive transportation. Changes were brought about by Olive Hudson who tempted to educate the farmers into the creation of unions that would sponsor their legislation. The populism movement which was known as the people’s party at the time was created to inquire governmental equalities between the rich and the poor (Working Class Americans).…
Farming in the late 19th century was financially binding; most farming families relied on merchants to supply them with food, with interest being added for every dollar’s worth of provisions. Over the course of the year, the total added up to amounts that couldn’t possibly be paid with the amount of income farmers had. Essentially, farming families would “take one step forward and two steps backward”, causing farmers to contend with their poor financial situations, which in turn, changed national politics. Farmers, lawyers, and authors were all affected and changed by this difficult situation. Farmers, for example, argued that although the farmers did what they were told to, their hard work was laughed at when crops were selling for little to nothing. Lastly, authors were responsible for conveying the farmers’ opinions and viewpoints for others to see. These groups of people played key roles in the politics of the time, causing controversy and change to politics and farming.…
The Populist Party was formed because farmers and laborers called for the abolition of national banks, a graduated income tax, direct election of Senators, civil service reform, a working day of eight hours and Government control of all railroads, telegraphs, and telephones. Many people in the nation were upset with the fact that senators were elected unfairly, and they wanted a direct election so that chances of reforms happening were possible. Farmers wanted to regulate railroads because they needed fair prices on their crops. The party was founded when The Farmers Alliance promoted collective economic action by farmers and achieved widespread popularity in the South and Great Plains. The Farmers Alliance joined with the National Grange. Low cost insurance was offered through the Alliance, as well as other benefits were promised. The Alliance and the National Grange, along with other labor groups, met in 1891 and 1892 to think over plans for a Political Party. James B Weaver was appointed as the Populist Presidential Candidate in the 1892 election to run against Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland. Obviously Weaver lost, but he did have 22 electoral votes and over One Million Popular Votes.…
Farmers everywhere in the United States during the late nineteenth century had valid reasons to complain against the economy because the farmers were constantly being taken advantage of by the railroad companies and banks. All farmers faced similar problems and for one thing, farmers were starting to become minorities within the American society. In the late 19th century, industrialization was in the spotlight creating big businesses and capitals. The success of industrialization put agriculture and farmers on the download, allowing the corporations to overtake the farmers. Since the government itself was also pro-business during this time, they could’ve cared less about the farmers.…
The Populist Party grew out of the agrarian revolt that rose after the collapse of agriculture prices following the Panic of 1873. The Farmers' Alliance, formed in Lampasas, Texas in 1876, promoted collective economic action by farmers and achieved widespread popularity in the South and Great Plains. The Farmers' Alliance was ultimately unable to achieve its wider economic goal of collective economic action against brokers, railroads, and merchants, and many in the…
In the period of time following the end of the Civil War in 1865 to the turn of the century some 35 years later, American’s bore witness to the demise of an almost entirely rural and agricultural nation dominated by farmers to the rise of an urban and industrial society dictated by bankers, industrialists and city dwellers. This momentous transformation enabled the United States to mature into the wealthiest and most powerful it had ever been before. The progress was achieved, however, only with immense adversity for those in the American agricultural community. Farmers, faced numerous obstacles and…
While driving past factory farms, anyone would assume that animals live a satisfying life style. At first sight, the animals look very robust and one would think that they have a healthy diet. Appearances can always be deceiving. What one observes while driving past these farms is not what factory farms actually are. Behind closed doors, many things go on that society would never expect. Every year, animals on factory farms encounter unimaginable suffering and go through horrid living conditions.…
1. The removal agricultural tariffs and subsides, according to Oxfam, would benefit developed nations because their consumers would benefit from lower domestic agricultural prices and the elimination of the taxes they must pay in order to support the subsidies. The producers in the developed world would lose this government protection from competition as well as the financial incentives. I believe there would be a net benefit from changing our agricultural policy because:…
Is it really worth living in America if you’re an immigrant? In Jean de Crevecoeur’s Letter from an American Farmer he talks about how living in America is better than living in Europe in 1763. During this time, countless Europeans wanted to leave Europe because of increased poverty, religious freedom, and poor harvest seasons. Immigrating to America was a good idea during the 1700’s, but now its not. Many changes have occurred since 1763 like discrimination, lack of jobs, and requirements to be a US citizen.…