Guided Reading 13-3

Guided Reading 13-3

1) The farmers were trapped in a “vicious economic cycle” in the late 1800s. Prices for crops were falling, so many farmers were mortgaging their land so that they could buy more land and make more crops. The banks were foreclosing the land of increasing amounts of farmers if they couldn’t pay their loans, and the quality of land was getting worse. The railroads were also charging high prices for the shipment and storage of grain.

2) The Grange wanted to provide a social outlet and educational forum for isolated farm families, but by the late 1870s, the group was focusing most of its energy on fighting the railroads. It taught its members to organize, set up farmers’ cooperatives and sponsor state legislature to regulate railroads.

3) The platform of the Populist Party called for reforms to lift debt from farmers and give the people a greater voice in their govt. The economic reforms suggested by the party were an increase in the money supply to raise the price of goods; a graduated income tax; and a federal loan program. The party also proposed that U.S. senators be elected by popular vote, single terms for the president and vice president, a secret program to end vote fraud. They also called for an 8 hour workday and immigration restrictions

4) In 1893, the railroads had expanded faster than markets, and consequently Philadelphia and Reading Railroads went bankrupt, and then the Erie, the North

5) \Pacific, Union Pacific and the Santa Fe. The farmers were deeply in debt with many loans, and partly due to the govt.’s obligation to buy silver, the gold supply was low. This caused people to panic and trade their paper money for gold. Stocks fell quickly in Wall Street, and the price of silver plunged, which caused several mines to close. In one year, more than 15,000 businesses and 500 banks closed. Prices, consumer purchases, and wages fell, and investments declined. 3 million people lost their jobs.

6) There was a debate over what they monetary system of the U.S. should be. The two sides were the gold bugs and the people who supported bimetallism. Gold bugs were generally wealthy businessmen who believed that the currency should be exclusively backed by gold, which would make a more expensive yet more stable monetary system. Bimetallism was the monetary system in which the govt. would give citizens both silver and gold in exchange for paper money and checks. Bimetallism supporters were usually farmers and laborers who believed that bimetallism would stimulate the economy; the system would make more money, with less value to the dollar.

7) The presidential election of 1896 caused the end of populism for several reasons: for one, the group sacrificed their identity as a separate party because they didn’t nominate their own candidate, but endorsed the Democratic Party’s candidate. Their candidate lost to William McKinley, who was a gold bug, and so his election crushed the hopes of the downtrodden farmers who were the heart and soul of the party.