Date post: | 14-Sep-2014 |
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Education |
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POPULISMEssential Questions:
1.Why and how did the Populist Party form?
2.What was the Panic of 1893?
3.What was the debate about the gold standard?
4.Who was William Jennings Bryan?
5.What is the legacy of Populism?
FARMERS AND THE RAILROADS Farmers began to enter a cycle
(1880s)
Prices were falling Farmers had to mortgage their
farms to buy more land to produce more crops to sell
Railroads took advantage of farmers Charged high prices for
shipping Worked with middlemen which
allowed them to control prices
Farmers organized to create reform The Farmer’s Alliances
Attempted to organize farmers to combat the railroads
POPULIST MOVEMENT BEGINS Farmers' Alliance was
unable to achieve its wider goals
But Alliance members did learn something: They needed to
develop a political agenda/platform
To enact the reform they wanted they needed to enter national politics
THE POPULIST PARTY In the 1890s the Democrats
and Republicans refused to take up the reforms advocated by the Farmers Alliance
Populist Party was formed by members of the "Alliance"
The party flourished among farmers in the South and Great Plains
Promoted a free silver platform Received support in the
Mountain states (silver mining was heavy)
First political party in the United States to include women
PARTY PLATFORM
Populist Party platform: Abolition of banks Graduated income tax Direct election of U.S.
Senators Civil service reform Work day of 8 hours Government control of
the railroads, telegraphs, and telephones
Opposed the gold standard
PANIC OF 1893 Philadelphia and Reading
Railroads went bankrupt
The dollar was no longer trusted People started only
accepting payment in gold People panicked and traded
paper money for gold
The stock market crashed!
More than 15,000 businesses and 500 banks collapsed
Panic turned into depression as 3 million people lost their jobs
GOLD STANDARD VS. SILVER STANDARD
Many people viewed paper money as worthless
The two major political parties argued on which metal to base the nations monetary system: Gold or Silver?
What does that mean? Fixing the price of the dollar
to a certain amount of gold or silver
Others favored bimetallism Basing the U.S. monetary
system on both gold & silver
ELECTION OF 1896 By 1896 the Democratic
Party had taken up many of the Populist Party's causes Took votes and supporters
away from the Populist party
Populists supported the democratic candidate for president, William Jennings Bryan
He backed the Populist opposition to the gold standard in his “Cross of Gold” speech Advocated Bimetallism
Bryan lost to William McKinley by a margin of 600,000 votes
LEGACY OF POPULISM Many Populist voters
supported Bryan in 1900 The party instead
nominated a ticket of Wharton Barker and Ignatius L. Donnelly
The party ceased to exist
The Populist movement left two powerful legacies: The message that the
average citizen could organize and have political impact
An agenda of reforms
A PARABLE ON POPULISM Parable
A allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, principle, or lesson
Wizard of Oz Written by L. Frank Baum
Scholars have interpreted the story as an allegory or metaphor for the political, economic, and social events of America of the 1890s
Baum never said that the story was an allegory for politics
But he never denied it
A PARABLE ON POPULISMItems in the Film What do they symbolize?
Yellow Brick Road
Scarecrow
Cowardly Lion
Tin Man
Dorothy’s Slippers
Dorothy
Wizard
Winged Monkeys
Wicked Witch of the East
Wicked Witch of the West
Good Witch of the North
Munchkins
Emerald City
Tornado
Gold Standard
Farmers
William Jennings Bryan
Industrialization
Silver Standard
“Plain People”
Politicians
Indians in the West
Bankers with nothing for Farmers
Nature (Nature vs. Farmers)
Businesses of the North
Middle and Lower Classes
Washington, D.C.
Idea of Change
YOUR ASSIGNMENT After viewing The Wizard of Oz you will write
a 2-3 page paper on the history of Populism as well as discuss your interpretations of the populist message and symbols in the film
Your paper will discuss the following: Background information on Populism (platform of
the party, debate surrounding the gold standard vs. silver standard, Panic of 1893, etc.)
How The Wizard of Oz was a political statement of the Populist movement For example, explain how the Yellow Brick Road
symbolized the Gold Standard, the Wizard…Politicians, the Winged Monkeys…the Indians in the West, etc.