1. 6.4Populism “What you farmers need to do is raise less corn and more Hell!” Mary Elizabeth Lease (1890) Populist Organizer Unrest in Rural America

2. “Which Will Win”

3. Farmers in the West are in Serious Trouble Mechanization & competition amongst farmers Mechanization and need for land = debt Specialization of crops (leads to trouble if that one crop has trouble) Disasters (floods, boll-weevil, grasshoppers) Corporate greed (a system setup by the US government were banks and the railroads seemed to be in control of all the money) Rebates, short v. long trip rates Mortgages, interest rates, etc

6. The Farmers Feeding, The Bankers Milking

8. The Money Supply… After the Civil War the US began printing greenbacks – paper money This caused Inflation – the value of money decreases To fight this government stopped making money and this caused deflation – value of money goes up Sounds good right? When in debt…inflation is good, deflation is bad Farmers wanted the government to either print more greenbacks or put more silver into circulation

9. Criticizing Inflation

15. Granger Laws set maximum railroad rates to restrict the government from taking advantage of farmers

16. US government ruled in Wabash v. Illinois that the government couldn’t interfere in interstate commerce

17. Another big win for big business

19. The People’s Party What?

23. SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? BY 1890 THE US HAS A LEGITIMATE 3rdPARTY TO RUN AGAINST THE REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS.

25. 1892 Election – James Weaver Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison WINNER!!!!

26. Weaver = Green States

27. William McKinleyRepublican Candidate 1896 William Jennings BryanDem/Pop. Candidate 1896 VS

33. ELECTORAL VOTES!!!

34. Populism in 10 Minutes