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1. Get Off . . .

Source: American Nonconformist (Winfield, KS), July 16, 1891

In this illustration, the "people" are represented as Jonathan Swift's fictional character Gulliver and various interests (Wall Street, Democratic and Republican parties, and monopoly) appear as Lilliputians. Many Populist cartoons showed quite a bit of detail. The label to the palette on which Gulliver is tied, for instance, reads "National Democratic-Republican Platform." The shields held by those following the Wall Street banner read "Gold Dollar."

There are a number of useful overviews of Populism:

Clanton, Gene. Populism: The Humane Preference in America. Boston: Twayne, 1991.

Goodwyn, Lawrence C. Democratic Promise: The Populist Moment in America. New York, Oxford U P, 1976. Abridged as The Populist Moment: A Short History of the Agrarian Revolt in America. New York, Oxford U P, 1978.

Hicks, John D. The Populist Revolt: A History of the Farmers' Alliance and the People's Party. 473 p. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota Press, 1931. Reissued: Lincoln, U of Nebraska P, 1961.

Holmes, William F. American Populism. Problems in American Civilization Series. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath & Co., 1994.

McMath, Robert C., Jr. American Populism: A Social History, 1877-1898. New York: Hill and Wang, 1992.

Miller, Worth Robert. "Farmers and Third-Party Politics in Late Nineteenth-Century America." In The Gilded Age: Essays on the Origins of Modern America. pp. 235-60. Edited by Charles W. Calhoun. Wilmington, Delaware: Scholarly Resources, Inc., 1996.

2. Labor vs. Greed

Source: Southern Mercury (Dallas, TX), July 23, 1896

Plutocracy was a synonym for monopolist in the late nineteenth century. In Greek Mythology, Pluto was the god of the lower world, also known as Hades. Populist newspapers frequently reprinted particularly good cartoons from other Populist newspapers. Watson Heston of Carthage, Missouri, drew this illustration for Jacob Coxey's newspaper, Sound Money (Massillon, Ohio). Henry Vincent, former editor of the American Nonconformist, which carried many Watson Heston cartoons, worked for Coxey in 1896, and copyrighted the illustration, which the Southern Mercury of Dallas, Texas, reproduced. Notice that the balance bar at the top of the scales is labeled "Corrupt Legislation." Populist contended that it was corrupt legislation that allowed exploiters to steal from producers. Also, note that the sword in the farmer's hand is labeled the "last resort." Although farmers expressed considerable anger toward banks and mortgage companies, very little actual violence occurred. The People's Party was firmly committed to the democratic process.

Cartoons commonly use popular stereotypes to get their message across. The Rothschild's, a family of European Jewish bankers, frequently appear as villains in Populist cartoons. Scholarly critics of Populism, like Richard Hofstadter, have charged Populists with anti-Semitism. Were Populists Anti-Semitic? By today's standards, they probably were. But, they were no more anti-Semitic than other elements of Anglo-Saxon America at the time. Anti-Semitism was widespread in Europe and America before the Holocaust of the 1940s. Populist Anti-Semitism was limited to anti-banker/moneylender sentiment. Very few Populists joined the American Protective Association, the major nativist organization of the 1890s. In fact, the Populist Rocky Mountain News mounted a crusade against the APA in its pages during the mid-1890s.

For Hofstadter's charges, see:

Hofstadter, Richard. The Age of Reform: From Bryan to FDR. 330 p., index. New York: Knopf, 1955.

For an early rebuttal, see:

Woodward, C. Vann. "The Populist Heritage and the Intellectual." American Scholar. 29(1):55-72. Winter 1959. Reprinted in The Burden of Southern History. 250 p. Revised edition, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State U P, 1968.

3. Washington's Prophecy Fulfilled

Source: Anthony Weekly Bulletin (KS), March 30, 1894

Populists opposed the greed and exploitation implicit in the reigning ideologies of social Darwinism, laissez-faire capitalism, and the gospel of wealth. They were especially incensed by the growing wealth, power, and aristocratic pretensions of Plutocracy, which they considered a subversion of American republicanism. In the 1890s, almost all European governments had some form of institutionalized privilege (monarchy, aristocracy, etc.). America, on the other hand, symbolized republican equality and a fair opportunity for the less privileged. In this cartoon, Populists invoke the warnings of Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln about the degeneration from republican equality to plutocratic privilege that they see in late nineteenth century America.

Cartoons used in this presentation that are drawn from the Anthony Weekly Bulletin, Kansas Populist, and Republic County Freeman were part of "boiler-plate" syndications (which also contained several news and propaganda items) that many smaller Populist newspapers used. The National Reform Press Association (the organization of Populist editors), the A.N. Kellogg Co. of Kansas City, Missouri, and the Industrial Free Press of Caldwell and Winfield, Kansas (among others) regularly provided such pages. They usually contained cartoons.

For more on Populism and republicanism:

Clanton, Gene. Populism: The Humane Preference in America. Boston: Twayne, 1991.

. "Populism, Progressivism, and Equality: The Kansas Paradigm." Agricultural History. 51(3):559-81. 1977.

Hahn, Stephen. The Roots of Southern Populism: Yeomen Farmers and the Transformation of Georgia's Upcountry, 1850-1890. 340 p. New York: Oxford University P, 1983.

McMath, Robert C., Jr. American Populism: A Social History, 1877-1898. New York: Hill and Wang, 1992.

Miller, Worth Robert. "A Centennial Historiography of American Populism." Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains 16, no. 1 (Spring 1993): 54-69

_____. Oklahoma Populism: A History of the People's Party in the Oklahoma Territory. Norman and London: U of Oklahoma P, 1987.

_____. "The Republican tradition," in William F. Holmes, American Populism. Problems in American Civilization Series. pp. 209-14. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath & Co., 1994. This chapter is drawn from the previous selection.

4. Millionaires and Tramps

Source: Anthony Weekly Bulletin (KS), May 4, 1894

The 1892 Omaha Platform of the Populist Party charged that the nation was "rapidly degenerating into European Conditions . . . (from which) we breed two great classes -- tramps and millionaires." The widening gulf between rich and poor that appeared in late nineteenth century America symbolized Europe's more static and unfair social system. Millionaires, they charged, obtained their wealth through illegitimate manipulation of the political system, which included protective tariffs, railroad land grants, and corporate charters. This, in turn, impoverished those who actually built the nation through their labor. In other words, the laws that created millionaires likewise created tramps out of those not favored by such legislation.

5. The Powers That Be

Source: American Nonconformist (Winfield, KS), April 12, 1888

The American farmers' share of the gross domestic product dropped from 38% in the 1870s to 24% by the 1890s. By 1890, the states of Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, and the Dakotas had more farm mortgages than farm families. Between 1889 and 1893 creditors foreclosed on more than 10,000 Kansas farms. Many lost their status as independent operators and either became tenants to were driven completely off the land and had to become urban wage earners.

As with all good caricaturists, Populist cartoonists particularly enjoyed throwing the enemy's most indiscrete statements back in their face. Populists argued that the result of the widening gap between rich and poor would be the proletarianization of common people. "The powers that be" would become so powerful that they would permanently establish their positions of privilege and become a traditional aristocracy in the European fashion.

This cartoon from 1888 actually predates the People's Party. There were several forerunner third parties connected to the Populist party in leadership and programs. The cartoonist and newspaper involved with this cartoon supported the Union Labor Party in 1888 and the Populist Party in the 1890s.

6. What God freely Gives to Man

Anthony Weekly Bulletin (KS), April 24, 1895

Most Americans would agree that the industrious should get ahead. In this cartoon, capitalistic greed upsets nature's order. Populists charged that exploiters, such as landlords, gained their wealth illegitimately. Populists were exponents of the "labor theory of value" -- the idea that all value comes from the physical labor involved in creating a product. With this theory, wages, rents, and interest were thinly-disguised robbery by owners, landlords, and financial speculators. Today, the idea sounds Marxist. In fact, Karl Marx took the idea from Adam Smith, the great proponent of laissez faire capitalism. Populists, however, more likely got the idea from the Founding Fathers who also read Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776). The idea probably filtered down to Populists through the ideas of Jefferson, Jackson, and Lincoln, who Populists considered America's three greatest democratic heroes.

For more on Populism and the "labor theory of value," see:

Palmer, Bruce. "Man Over Money": The Southern Populist Critique of American Capitalism. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1980.

Pollack, Norman. The Just Polity: Populism, Law, and Human Welfare. Urbana and Chicago: university of Illinois Press, 1987.

7. Follow the Course of the Arrows

Source: Alva Review (OK), August 30, 1894

Populist farmers particularly complained about middle-men. They appeared to profit with laboring. In this illustration, middlemen stand between the producers and consumers in order to levy tribute. According to the labor theory of value, middle-men were speculators rather than producers. Thus, their profits were considered illegitimate. The middle-men in this cartoon are labeled (clockwise from the top right) banker, transportation agent, speculator, broker, middle man, and note shaver.

8. "Reciprocity" or "Tariff for Revenue "

Source: American Nonconformist (Winfield, KS), April 30, 1891

Populists attributed most of the nation's problems to politics. Politicians were viewed as cynical men who worked primarily in their own interests. The People's Party wished to redirect political discourse from the issues that mainstream party politicians found rewarding to issues they believed more clearly addressed the people's interests. In this cartoon, mainstream politicians are seen promoting partisan conflict as a diversion so they can rob their own supporters.

9. Bark Up My Lively Pups

Source: Southern Mercury (Dallas, TX), May 21, 1896

Mainstream party politicians were seen as only a manifestation of what was wrong by many Populists. Financiers, bankers, and the "Money Power" were the root cause of the people's distress. In this cartoon, the Wall Street representative of the "Gold Syndicate" demonstrates the economic elite's control over the mainstream politicians, who appear eager to do Wall Street 's bidding in return for political preferment.

10. Ye Have Turned it into a Den of Thieves

Source: Kansas Populist (Cherryvale, KS), June 14, 1895

Religion almost certainly played a part in Populist's moralistic orientation. This cartoon probably was inspired by the publication of If Christ Came to Congress (1895) by Populist Congressman Milford Howard of Alabama. There is a "Populism and Religion" section to the bibliography provided elsewhere on this website.

For more on Populism and religion, see

Argersinger, Peter Hayes. "Pentecostal Politics in Kansas: Religion, the Farmers' Alliance, and the Gospel of Populism." Kansas Quarterly. 1(4):24‑39. Fall 1969.

Lengel, Leland Levi. "Radical Crusaders and a Conservative Church: Attitudes of Populists Toward Contemporary Protestantism in Kansas." American Studies. 13(2):49‑59. Fall 1972.

11. Alliance Lending Library

Source: American Nonconformist (Winfield, KS), July 9, 1891

Late nineteenth century egalitarian third parties, such as the Greenback, Union labor, and Populist parties, grew out of nominally non-partisan producer groups like the Grange, Knights of Labor, and Farmers' Alliances, respectively. Pivotal to farmer radicalism was the conviction that non-producers had rigged the economic system through its control of politics. If mainstream politicians misled voters with sham battles over meaningless issues, as Populist leaders charged, then educating citizens as to how the economic and political system really worked was the obvious solution for Alliancemen. An informed citizenry is the bulwark of democracy. The Southern Farmers' Alliance was the most important non-political organization involved in founding the People's Party.

Populist authors produced a large number of book-length treatises during the late nineteenth century. Authors who affiliated with the People's Party included Edward Bellamy (who wrote Looking Backward), Ignatius Donnelly (who wrote Caesar's Column), and Terence Powderly (Grand Master Workman or president) of the Knights of Labor. Populists also read books with a Populistic bent by non-Populists, such as Henry George's Progress and Poverty.

For more on the Southern Farmers' Alliance, see:

McMath, Robert C., Jr. American Populism: A Social History, 1877-1898. New York: Hill and Wang, 1992.

. Populist Vanguard: A History of the Southern Farmers' Alliance. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 1975.

Schwartz, Michael H. Radical Protest and Social Structure: The Southern Farmers' Alliance and Cotton Tenancy, 1880-1890. 302 p. New York: Academic P, 1976.

12. Keeping Out of Politics

Source: Southern Mercury (Dallas, TX), August 20, 1891

Political affiliation was almost akin to church membership during the late nineteenth century. Committing farmers to issues that neither mainstream party would accept was the first step to weaning them from old party loyalties. Only when they realized that their old party would not support their interests was it possible to recruit them into the People's Party. For Populists the realization came earlier in the Plains States, where the Republican Party showed insensitivity to their concerns. At first, southern Democrats attempted to coopt the Alliance movement, hoping they could mute some of the Alliance's more radical ideas while drawing western Alliancemen away from the GOP. The 1891 southern legislative sessions, however, were highly disappointing to many Alliancemen, who then joined their western counterparts in the Populist Party.

For more on Farmers' Alliance educational efforts, see:

Clevenger, Homer. "The Teaching Techniques of the Farmers' Alliance: An Experiment in Adult Education." Journal of Southern History. 11(4): 504‑518.

Mitchell, Theodore R. Political Education in the Southern Farmers' Alliance, 1887-1900. 242 p. Madison: U of Wisconsin P, 1987.

13. Purification of Politics

Source: American Nonconformist (Winfield, KS), October 16, 1890

Senator John J. Ingalls of Kansas proved to be one of the Republicans who most antagonized Alliancemen. His most infamous comment was that "the purification of politics is an iridescent dream." Populists swept the state elections in 1890 and replaced Ingalls in the Senate with farm editor William A. Peffer in 1891.

For more on the response of Plains State Republicans to Farmers' Alliance demands, see:

Ostler, Jeffrey. Prairie Populism: The Fate of Agrarian Radicalism in Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa, 1880-1892. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1993.

For more on William A. Peffer, see:

Argersinger, Peter Hayes. Populism and Politics: William Alfred Peffer and the People's Party. 337 p. Lexington: U P of Kentucky, 1974.

For more on Kansas Populism, see:

Clanton, O. Gene. Kansas Populism: Ideas and Men. 330 p. Lawrence: U of Kansas P, 1969.

14. How to Lift the Burden from Labor

Source: Kansas Populist (Cherryvale, KS), October 18, 1895

The term, "Non-Interest Bonds," meant greenbacks (paper money not backed by silver or gold), which Populists and their forerunner third parties, the Greenback and Union Labor parties, advocated. If labor alone created wealth (according to the labor theory of value), then money was only a method of keeping count, and could be made of anything. All major industrialized nations today accept the idea that money need not be backed by precious metals. But, the idea was controversial during the late nineteenth century. The man labeled "Populist Party" in this illustration is Jacob Coxey. He led a poor people's march on Washington, DC in 1894. This cartoon was originally drawn for Coxey's newspaper, Sound Money.

For more on Coxey, see:

Schwantes, Carlos A. Coxey's Army: An American Odyssey. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 1985.

15. The War is Over

Source: Republic County Freeman (Belleville, KS), July 28, 1892

In this cartoon, Weaver and Field are seen bridging the "Bloody Chasm" of Civil War and Reconstruction animosities. Republican President Benjamin Harrison (left) and Democratic presidential candidate (and former president) Grover Cleveland (right) try to divert attention from the Populists. The Lodge "Force Bill" of 1890 threatened to place southern elections under federal control (in other words revive Reconstruction) and raised the specter of "Negro Supremacy" among white southerners. Although the bill never became law, the threat it posed became a rallying point for southern Democrats, and impeded the growth of the People's Party in the South. Harrison's "Granpa" was ex-president William Henry Harrison.

| Document -- Omaha Platform |

16. The Law Condemns the Man or Woman

Source: Anthony Weekly Bulletin (KS), January 4, 1895

The poem used with this illustration originated with the English Enclosure Movement, which drove many farmers into destitution and subservient dependence. It was centuries old by the 1890s. For Populists, and many other Americans, the Enclosure Movement symbolized what was wrong with the Old World. The Omaha Platform called for an end to alien land ownership. The wording was unfortunate. Democrats and Republicans misrepresented the plank as anti-immigrant. In fact, Populists wanted land set aside for actual settlers, whether foreign or native-born. They opposed land ownership by foreign speculators. Foreign investment in western ranching corporations was significant by the 1890s. The plank was largely a product of the farmer-rancher rivalry of the late nineteenth century West.

Another product of this rivalry was the euphemism, "Cattle Baron." The earliest use of this phrase that I have seen was by Samuel Crocker, editor of the Oklahoma War Chief (Caldwell, KS), in 1885. He was active in the Greenback, Union Labor, and Populist movements. Crocker's allusion to aristocracy (Baron) was conscious. He was born in England.

Critics of Populism have labeled the movement Anglophobic. To Populists, England symbolized aristocratic privilege. It had nothing to do with ethnicity. Several prominent Populists (or their parents) were born in England, including the father of Henry and Leo Vincent. Their newspaper, the American Nonconformist, was named after an English newspaper of the 1840s and 1850s.

Signs reading "Keep off the Grass" and "No Trespass" became common in Populists cartoons after Jacob Coxey's poor people's march on Washington in 1894. Police arrested Coxey for stepping on the White House Lawn when he tried to deliver a petition to President Cleveland. The Constitution, of course, gives citizens the right to petition their government. The event symbolized how far America had strayed from popular control of politics.

For more on the land issue, see:

Ashby, N.B. The Riddle of the Sphinx: A Discussion of the Economic Questions Relating to Agriculture, Land, Transportation, Money, Taxation and Cost of Interchange.... 474 p. Des Moines, Iowa: Industrial Publishing, 1890.

Clements, Roger V. "British Investment and American Legislative Restrictions in the Trans-Mississippi West, 1880-1900." Mississippi Valley Historical Review. 42(2): 207-28. September 1955.

17. US Railway and Telegraph Office

Source: Republic County Freeman (Belleville, KS), April 14, 1892

Many Populists considered the railroads, telephones and telegraphs to be natural monopolies. This circumstance conferred upon their owners more economic (and political) power than was safe in a democratic nation. Note that Populists expected the government to operate these natural monopolies in the interests of the people, and the result would be better, more efficient service than that provided by monopolistic, privately owned enterprises. The plank was considered fairly radical, and not all Populists supported it. There was, however, always a significant socialist presence in the People's Party, which included such socialist notables as Edward Bellamy, Eugene V. Debs, and Julius Wayland.

For more on Populism and the railroads, see:

Frank. Thomas. "The Leviathan with Tentacles of Steel: Railroads in the Minds of Kansas Populists." Western Historical Quarterly 20(1):37-54.

Higgs, Robert. "Railroad rates and the Populist Uprising." Agricultural History. 44(3): 291-97. July 1970.

18. The Farmer and Demonetization

Source: Southern Mercury (Dallas, TX), October 19, 1893

The money issue of late nineteenth century America is best viewed as a debtor-creditor rivalry. America suffered from massive deflation between 1865 and 1896. The production of goods and services expanded considerably faster than the supply of money (gold and silver) at the time. Students today have lived through a period of inflation. Deflation, however, is much worse. Major economic depressions are characterized by deflation (consumers fail to purchase goods and services, which drives prices down). Two of America's three worst depressions occurred during the late nineteenth century (1873-79 and 1893-97).

If a person owned a dollar in 1865, the same dollar would purchase 1.88 times as much in 1896. This means that the person owning the dollar saw its value nearly double without performing any labor. Thus, owners of wealth (the rich) benefited from deflation by obtaining considerably greater purchasing power. But, if a poor person needed a dollar, he would have to perform almost twice as much labor in 1896 as in 1865 to earn it. Also, a person who took out a loan in 1865, would have to pay the loan back with increasingly more valuable dollars over time. In addition, because the per capita amount of money in circulation decreased over this period, interest rates increased. Third party supporters of this era blamed the metallic basis of money (gold and silver). The production of such metals did not keep up with the production of other goods and services. They advocated greenbacks (fiat money -- not backed or based upon precious metals). Greenbacks were used during the Civil War to meet governmental expenses, but retired (exchanged for gold certificates) afterward. The amount of greenbacks in circulation could be decreased or expanded in order to create monetary stability. Today, all modern industrial nations use fiat money. But, nineteenth century people (including most Americans) feared they might become worthless. If irresponsibly produced, greenbacks could be inflationary.

Minting silver and gold at a ratio of 16 to 1 also would have reversed deflation after 1873, although to a much lesser degree than greenbacks. Advocating the "Free (untaxed) coinage of silver and gold at a ratio of 16 to 1," or "free silver," however, had the advantage of circumventing the argument about the value of fiat money. In 1873, the federal government removed silver dollars from the list of coins to be minted. The relative market values of gold and silver at the time meant that most people used gold, and hoarded silver anyway. Later in 1873, large deposits of silver ore were discovered. If the pre-1873 ratio had still been in effect, the results would have reversed deflation. Westerners immediately labeled the new minting policy a conspiracy by the "Money Power." Although scholars have found no evidence of a conspiracy, the circumstances certainly looked suspicious to those hurt by the new policy. It became known as the "Crime of '73."

Because the "free silver" issue circumvented the arguments over fiat money, many inflationists (or more accurately, reflationists) found it easier to promote, and it came to overshadow the call for greenbacks. Congress periodically found it expedient to "do something for silver." This usually meant do something for silver mine interests, rather than debtors. In 1878, Congress passed the Bland-Allison Act, which required the secretary of the treasury to purchase between $2 and $4 million of silver. The Treasury Department usually purchased the minimum amount at the market value and made legal tender notes redeemable only in gold, thus maintaining the gold standard. In 1890, Congress passed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, which committed the federal government to purchasing 54 million ounces of silver a year (roughly the total American production). This was about twice the amount purchased under the Bland-Allison Act. But, avoiding the bimetallic standard at 16 to 1 meant that neither of these acts had a major effect upon deflation. The Omaha Platform called for both "free silver" and a "circulating medium . . . of not less than $50 per capita." The latter phrase meant greenbacks.

For more on the money issue, see:

Freedman, Milton and Schwartz, Anna Jacobson. A Monetary History of the United States, 1867‑1960. 860 p. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1963.

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19. Here Lies Prosperity

Source: Sound Money (Massillon, OH), August 22, 1895

Creation of the National Banking System (which the Federal Reserve System replaced in 1913) essentially placed banking and currency policy in the hands of bankers (especially northeastern and New York bankers). The "Crime of '73 is explained in the notes to the previous cartoon. In 1893, Congress repealed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 (see Cartoon 26 for an explanation). Each was believed to contribute to the deflation of the late nineteenth century.

20. Postal Savings Banks

Source: Republic County Freeman (Belleville, KS), April 7, 1892

These proposals were designed to reclaim control of banking and currency policy from bankers and facilitate the transfer of money between the various sections of the nation. Farmers saw the efficient transfer of capital to the agricultural sections of the nation (West and South) at harvest time as essential to raising commodity prices. This flexibility was a major feature of the Federal Reserve System, which replaced the National Banking System in 1913. An added benefit of Postal Savings Banks would be government responsibility for the safety of deposits, the importance of which would become obvious between 1929 and 1933 when more than 5,000 American banks defaulted, wiping out the savings of millions of Americans. Afterward, the federal government established the FDIC to insure bank deposits.

The subtreasury plan of the Southern Farmers' Alliance was another part of the money plank to the Omaha Platform. The plan called for the federal government to establish warehouses (called subtreasuries) to store farmer's crops. Instead of dumping their crops on the market at harvest time when it was glutted, farmers could store their crops in a subtreasury and use them as collateral for government loans of up to eighty percent of the market value of their crop. The resulting warehouse receipts could be used to pay debts. This would expand the money supply at harvest time when more money was needed, and contract it as receipt holders sold their crops.

For more on the subtreasury plan, see:

21. The Blue and the Gray

Source: Southern Mercury (Dallas, TX), September 3, 1891

Both mainstream parties claimed that splitting off from their party to join the Populists would be catastrophic for dearly-held priorities. The captions written on the sides of the "Bloody Chasm" read, "A Solid North for Fear of Rebel Brigadier Rule" (left side) and "A Solid South for Fear of Negro Supremacy" (right side).

In this era, both the South and West primarily produced low-value raw materials which were processed elsewhere. In turn, southerners and westerners purchased high-value finished products from outside the region. Instructors might find a discussion of the similarities between this situation and the relationship between the United States and today's third world nations instructive. This might give students a better appreciation for the problems of international trade and disparities in wealth today. I suspect that students in the conservative South and West of today have no idea of how radical their late nineteenth century ancestors sounded.

22. United We Stand

Source: Southern Mercury (Dallas, TX), December 24, 1891

Eugene V. Debs and Terence Powderly were the best known labor leaders to affiliate with the People's Party (Powderly eventually defected to the GOP). The People's Party appeared to gain ground in the more heavily ethnic Midwest and Northeast when John McBride, the Populist president of the United Mine Workers, defeated Samuel Gompers (who opposed Populism) for president of the American Federation of Labor in December, 1894. Gompers, however, narrowly defeated McBride for reelection a year later. This was the only defeat that Gompers suffered between the founding of the AFL in 1886 and his death in 1924.

For More on Populism and Labor, see:

Grob, Gerald. "The Knights of Labor, Politics, and Populism." Mid-America 40(1):3-21. 1958.

Pierce, Michael. "The Populist President of the American Federation of Labor: The Career of John McBride, 1880-1895." Labor History 41(1): 5-24. 2000.

Salvatore, Nick. Eugene V. Debs: Citizen and Socialist. Urbana and Chicago: U of Illinois P, 1982.

23. Grover and His Scarecrow

Source: American Nonconformist (Winfield, KS), September 15, 1892

A third coalition the Populist attempted was to bring together was that of impoverished black and white farmers in the South. Populist Congressman Thomas E. Watson of Georgia told both groups that "the accident of color can make no difference in the interests of farmers. . . you are kept apart that you may be separately fleeced of your earnings." Racism, however, proved to be a major obstacle to cooperation. It was difficult for white southerners to leave the white man's party less than two decades after the end of Reconstruction. Blacks had similar trouble abandoning the GOP. In addition, black leaders feared losing their positions of power in the Republican Party. There is evidence that where white Populists protected blacks (physical safety was their primary concern in this era), they supported the People's Party. Republican Party loyalties, racism, election fraud, intimidation, and even murder prevented Populists from receiving the majority of black votes. Despite direct appeals for interracial cooperation by Populist leaders, many white southerners still joined the People's Party. Democrats, however, defeated Watson for reelection in 1892 and 1894 through such outrageously fraudulent means that even prominent Democrats denounced them.

For more on blacks and the Populist Party, see:

Cantrell, Gregg. The Limits of Southern Dissent: The Lives of Kenneth and John B. Rayner. Urbana: U of Illinois Press, 199*.

Gaither, Gerald H. Blacks and the Populist Revolt: Ballots and Bigotry in the New South. University: U of Alabama P, 1977.

For more on violence and corruption directed against the Populist party in the South, see:

Goodwyn, Lawrence C. "Populist Dreams and Negro Rights: East Texas as a Case Study." American Historical Review. 76(5):1435‑1456. December 1971.

Miller, Worth Robert. "Harrison County Methods: Election Fraud in Late Nineteenth-Century Texas." Locus 7: 111-28. Spring, 1995.

| Reprint of �Harrison County Methods� |

For more on Populism and disfranchisement, see:

Kousser, J. Morgan. The Shaping of Southern Politics: Suffrage Restriction and the Establishment of the One-Party South. 319 p. New Haven and London: Yale UP, 1974.

|Document -- The Negro Question in the South|

24. Western Republican Wolf - Southern Democratic Tiger

Source: Republic County Freeman (Belleville, KS), May 12, 1892

Before the Populist Era, the Democratic Party dominated the South and the Republican Party generally did the same in the West. Thus, the People's Party initially was seen as a scheme to split the dominant party in each region and put the other mainstream party in power. The success that Populists enjoyed under such circumstances suggests a significant degree of dissatisfaction with voter's former parties in the 1890s. By 1894, the People's Party was the major electoral threat to the dominant mainstream party in both sections. The Democratic Party had collapsed in the West and the GOP did the same in the South. Because the argument probably swayed many voters, Populist sentiment was greater than voting for the People's Party indicated.

25. Mr. Cleveland Tackles the Financial Question

Source: Anthony Weekly Bulletin (KS), August 18, 1893

The railroad expansion that took place during the late nineteenth century meant that few Americans remained isolated from the effects of business stagnation. By the end of 1893, some five thousand banks and sixteen thousand business firms had closed. A number of factors, in addition to monetary problems, appear to have contributed to the depression. European investors began liquidating American investments beginning with the collapse of the London banking house of Baring Brothers in 1890, lessening American financial liquidity. Railroads over expanded into markets that never materialized. Industries closely connected to such expansion, like steel, also suffered when cutbacks came. Speculative booms in western lands went bust. Agricultural expansion, both in America and overseas, caused the price paid for farm products to plummet.

For more on the Depression of the 1890s, see:

Hoffman, Charles. The Depression of the Nineties: An Economic History. 326 p. Contributions in Economics and Economic History, No. 2. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood, 1970.

26 & 27. The White House Cuckoo Clock - Repeal & Responded

Source: Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO), October 20, 1893

In the late 19th century, Great Britain set the terms of international trade, and demanded gold for U.S. Treasury Notes. Repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, thus, appeared to be primarily in the interest of British financiers. For most of the twentieth century, the United States has set the terms of international trade. A good subject for class discussion would be a comparison between the British-American trade relations of a century ago and US-Third World trade relations today. This could give students a better understanding of the animosities some have toward the World Trade Organization today.

For More on President Grover Cleveland, see:

Welch, Jr., Richard E. The Presidencies of Grover Cleveland. Lawrence: UP of Kansas, 1988.

28. What the Goldbugs are doing for Uncle Sam

Source: Kansas Populist (Cherryvale, KS), September 27, 1895

In January, 1894, the Cleveland Administration floated the first of several bond issues designed to bolster American gold reserves. Because Cleveland's purpose was to raise foreign gold, the bonds were issued in large denominations and sold secretly through the J.P. Morgan banking firm primarily to foreign investors. Populists viewed this as favoritism to foreign speculators. Since 1790, U.S. Bonds have been one of the safest investments in history, something speculators would favor during a depression.

Populists noted that bonds, like greenbacks, were backed only by faith in the credit of the federal government. If financial instruments that were not backed by metal were to be issued by the government, Populists claimed that they should be for the benefit of the common people. Specifically they should be non-interest bearing bonds (greenbacks) issued openly in small enough denominations for average citizens to use in their day to day business transactions. Secretary of Treasury John Carlisle, Republican financial leader John Sherman, and Grover Cleveland are pictured as selling Uncle Sam to British financial interests in this cartoon.

29. That Great Wave of Prosperity

Source: Anthony Weekly Bulletin (KS), January 10, 1896

As the Depression of the 1890s deepened, faith in the Cleveland Administration's anti-depression measures declined rapidly. Populists blamed corruption, selling out to British financial interests, and incompetence.

30. The Gate to Honest Labor

Source: Anthony Weekly Bulletin (KS), October 12, 1894

Many, Populists and non-Populists alike, believed that apocalypse was near by 1894. Unemployment, labor conflict, destitution was rampant. The depression appeared to create a greater sympathy for the underdog and more currency for the humane ideals of Populism.

John Sherman, Shylock, and Grover Cleveland, who Populists blamed for the distress, peer out from behind the gate in this cartoon. Sherman considered the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 to be a compromise that allowed the United States to avoid commitment to "free silver." He was a leader in getting the act repealed in 1893.

For more on Populism, Utopia, and Apocalypse, see:

Roemer, Kenneth M. The Obsolete Necessity: America in Utopian Writings, 1888-1900. Kent: Kent State UP, 1976

Thomas, John L. Alternative America: Henry George, Edward Bellamy, Henry Demarest Lloyd and the Adversary Tradition. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1983.

| Document -- The Tramp Circular |

31. Got 'Em on the Run

Source: Anthony Weekly Bulletin (KS), November 2, 1894

Although many individual Democrats and Republicans favored silver, only the People's Party had endorsed the issue in their 1892 platform. When repeal of the Sherman Act catapulted the free silver issue to prominence, Populists expected to benefit. This cartoon, which appeared just before the 1894 Congressional elections, shows the Democratic and Republican parties (portrayed as Cinderella's two ugly sisters) taking cover from the political storm that is brewing. Populists, of course, hoped that their party, like Cinderella, would experience a meteoric rise in status. They also frequently drew analogies between the People's Party and the early Republican Party, which won its second national campaign (1860).

32. Result Election Returns

Source: Anthony Weekly Bulletin (KS), November 23, 1894

In this cartoon, which appeared shortly after the 1894 election, the Democratic and Republican parties are show as swept away by the political storm which resulted in Populist victories. Although the Populist vote increased more than 40% (despite the lower voter turnout of an off-year election), a close examination of the results gave many western Populists pause for concern. Most of the new votes were from the South. Many Populist officeholders in the West actually lost their elections. They had won in 1892 only because of fusion with Democrats. When Populists and Democrats failed to fuse in 1894, Populists alone could not muster a majority in many races. While southern Populists learned that straight Populist tickets, or fusion with local Republicans (the minority mainstream party in the region) could win elections, many western Populists came to the conclusion that only fusion with Democrats (the minority mainstream party in their region) could place them in office. The stage, thus, was set for intra-party conflict over electoral strategy in 1896.

For more on the lessons that western Populists learned from the 1894 elections, see:

Pollack, Norman. The Populist Response to Industrial America. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1962.

33. In Which Box Will the Voter of '96 Put His Ballot

Source: Kingfisher Reformer (OK), November 29, 1894

In 1894, the Democratic Party collapsed in the West. Their candidate for governor of Kansas, for instance, received only 6% of the vote. Likewise, Republicans collapsed in the South, receiving only 12% of the vote in Texas. Thus, many Populists believed that a major shifting of political allegiance was at hand for the all-important 1896 elections.

Western Populists had some reason for concern with the 1894 election results. Most of the new Populist votes were from the South. Many western Populists had won in 1892 only because of fusion with Democrats. When Populists and Democrats failed to fuse in 1894, they could not muster a plurality by themselves in many races. While southern Populists learned that straight Populist tickets, or fusion with local Republicans (the minority mainstream party in the region) could win elections, many western Populists came to the conclusion that only fusion with Democrats (the minority mainstream party in their region) could place them in office. The stage, thus, was set for intra-party conflict over electoral strategy in 1896.

For their part, southern and western Democrats and Republicans desperately began a campaign to turn their parties to "free silver" in the wake of the 1894 elections.

34. What It Means

Source: Kansas Populist (Cherryvale, KS), February 9, 1894

The organizations represented by the ships in the background already were Populist. The Industrial Legion was founded by Populists. The Union Labor Party and Alliance were forerunners of the People's Party. Most Single Taxers in the South and West supported Populism (although their founder, Henry George, did not affiliate with the party).

In order to promote a larger coalition of reform interests under the Populist banner for the crucial 1896 election, the party's executive committee set the date for the Populist's national nominating convention for late July, after those of the Republican and Democratic parties. The Republican Party, which was strongest in the nation's Northeast could be expected to endorse the pro-Northeast gold standard. Populists hoped that this would cause a bolt of western Republicans who they could welcome into their party. The Democratic Party, Populists believed, would also endorse the gold standard. The incumbent President was Grover Cleveland, a pro-gold Northeasterner, and the party had a two-thirds rule for nominations that would give pro-gold forces enough strength to force a compromise on the money issue that many southern and western Democrats could not accept. They also would be ripe for recruitment into the Populist fold after their convention.

35. To The Rescue

Source: Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO), July 14, 1896

The Populist strategy of holding a late convention backfired badly in 1896. Republicans nominated William McKinley and (in a roundabout fashion) endorsed the gold standard. They chose to emphasize the tariff issue for the campaign. But, Democrats bolted from Cleveland's dominance and nominated William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska for president. Bryan was close to Populist on some issues, particularly "free silver." This left Populists and pro-silver Republicans with little choice but to support the Democratic nominee. Splitting pro-silver forces would surely result in victory for McKinley and pro-gold standard forces.

|Document -- Bryan's "Cross of Gold Speech"|

|Document -- 1896 Populist Platform|

Republicans used all the forces of ridicule that the establishment could muster to defeat the Democratic-Populist coalition of 1896. William Allen White, Republican editor of the Emporia Gazette (KS) penned the most widely used broadside against Populism.

|Documents -- "What's the Matter with Kansas" and "Another Bottle Sold"|

36. Chicago Nomination

Source: Southern Mercury (Dallas, TX), August 6, 1896

Populists, and previous third parties, had wrestled with how to deal with mainstream parties for decades by 1896. Those who advocated coalition with one of the mainstream parties were known as fusionists. Those who advocated a straight third party approach were called middle-of-the-roaders (they opposed veering off the road to reform for expedient coalition victories). Populists split badly at their 1896 convention into fusionists, who supported Bryan's nomination, and mid-roaders, who wanted a straight third party ticket. Democrat's nomination of Arthur M. Sewall, a Maine banker and capitalist, for vice president provided a major obstacle to nominating Bryan. In the end, Populists nominated Bryan for president and Populist Thomas E. Watson for vice president. This pleased almost no one. Only special negotiations prevented separate Democratic and Populist Bryan tickets from appearing in most states. In the end, Bryan lost anyway. He carried the South and most western states, but failed to carry any state in the Northeast or Midwest. Free silver had little appeal to northeastern urban laborers who feared inflation would raise the price of necessities.

For more on the 1896 Populist national convention and subsequent campaign, see:

Durden, Robert F. The Climax of Populism: The Election of 1896. 190 p. Lexington: U of Kentucky P, 1965.

Middle-of-the-roader Henry Demarest Lloyd of Chicago gave the following assessment of the 1896 Populist National Convention.

| Document -- "The Populists at St. Louis" |

37. The Political Puzzle

Source: The Representative (Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN), May 24, 1900

Middle-of-the-road and fusionist factionalism was not new to the third party movement in 1896. Both the Greenback and Union Labor parties suffered from the same divisions. But, the split beginning in 1896 was more severe than before. Because Democrats constituted the political elite in the South, southern Populists saw them as the enemy. In the West, however, Republicans dominated. This made Democrats potential allies in western Populist eyes. Thus, the fusionist/middle-of-the-roader conflict also manifested itself as a western/southern split within the People's Party. This division broke the most successful of Populism's three electoral coalitions (westerners and southerners, labor and farmers, whites and blacks). In 1900, mid-roaders met in Cincinnati and Fusionists in Sioux Falls. The split essentially meant that a national third party no longer existed.

38. Two Industries That Show Abundant Signs of Revival

Source: Norman Peoples Voice (OK), July 22, 1898

Prosperity, which slowly emerged after the 1896 election, also played some role in destroying the People's Party. This cartoon, however, suggests that the return to full prosperity was not as rapid as those in power claimed. The price of cotton, for instance, bottomed out in 1898, at the very time the Populist Party met almost universal disaster at the polls in the South. Prosperity may have played some role in the demise of Populism. Wheat prices, for instance, did climb beginning in 1896. The major gold discoveries of the late 1890s slowly began to reverse deflation. But, prosperity was not the only factor in the demise of the People's Party.

39. Did You Do It

Source: Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO), February 17, 1898

The Spanish-American War of 1898 also helped bring the North and South closer together. Ex-unionists and ex-rebels could finally root for the same side again. The resurgent nationalism not only smoothed over sectional differences, but instilled greater pride in being an American. This, too, made criticism of the nation's institutions and leaders less acceptable.

40. They Can't Phase Her

Source: Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO), November 28, 1898

The end result of victory over Spain and acquisition of an empire was a rise in nationalistic pride that helped silence the most severe criticism of reformers, for a while at least. Note that while this cartoon appeared in a Populist newspaper, it was taken from a non-Populist source, the New York Journal, a sure sign that the Populist Revolt was nearing its end.

Afterward

Many have noted that much of the Populist's Omaha Platform of 1892 became law during the first two decades of the twentieth century (anti-monopoly, banking and currency reform, election reform). This suggests that Populist's reforms were not unreasonable. But, these reforms were adopted piecemeal, and did not achieve the egalitarian society Populists sought. Nor were these reforms designed to achieve a Populistic society by most of those who passed them into law. A good subject for debate would be the relationship (if any) between Populism and the reforms of America's Progressive Era (ca. 1900-1920).