A Short History of the Populists

[Dems Will Win]

As the laissez-faire economics of the 19th Century gives free rein to the Robber Barons of the day, disaster comes quickly, not only to the environment but to the economy as well—compounded by the outrageous prices the railroad magnates charge farmers to haul their grain and travel on the trains. The federal railroad land grants—which deeds to the Robber Barons huge tracts of land on either side of the track—does not stop the rail companies from draining the farmer’s only chance of profit.

At the same time, the Panic of 1873 had deflated agricultural prices and the farmers had been hurting for well over a decade. Believing that increasing the amount of currency available would help the economy and raise prices, farmers start the Greenback Party, yet despite sending 14 Congressmen to Washington, the party collapses. Farmers want more greenbacks, more paper dollars in circulation, for since the Civil War, the U.S. government had withdrawn greenbacks from circulation, as their value in gold was only half of their face value. Desperation follows as economic ruin and Depression ravage the U.S. economy.

One could not say that many farmers have philosophically dissected the struggle between the Mechanistic and Organic paradigms. Yet some farmers are radical Socialist immigrants from Europe and their input—plus common economic sense—reveals a new progressive path. Farmers’ Alliances form in the North and in the South, and the black farmers, not allowed to join the Southern Alliance because of their skin color, form their own Colored Farmers Alliance, led by the white minister Richard Humphrey.

On Election Day in November 1890, the People’s Independent Party win clear control of the Nebraska Senate, with 18 seats--compared to the combined total of 15 for the Republicans and the Democrats. They also win complete control of the House, by 54 Populist Assemblymen to the combined Republican/Democrat total of 46 seats. Yet the Democrat wins the Governor’s race by a mere 1,144 votes over the People’s Independent candidate. The Republican comes in third. William Jennings Bryan, on the Populist and Democrat ticket, is meanwhile elected to Congress, along with Populist Omer Kem.

In the first state government of its kind, the Populists and Democratic Governor Boyd quickly pass a set of new laws specified in the People’s Party platform. These included:

· Free public education for every Nebraskan child
· Free Textbooks
· Public Fund Deposit Law
· The 8-hour day as a legal day’s work, except farm labor

The main Populist goal, however—the regulation of the railroad freight rates—is vetoed by the Democratic Governor. That proved to be the undoing of the uneasy alliance between Democrat and Populist. At the same time all this is going on, a wave of Populism is sweeping through farming communities North, South and West, and more State governments are soon taken over by the rural radicals.

The preamble for the 1892 Populist platform for the Presidential Election reads:

The conditions which surround us best justify our co-operation; we meet in the midst of a nation brought to the verge of moral, political and material ruin. Corruption dominates the ballot box, the legislatures, the Congress, and touches even the ermine of the bench. ..The newspapers are largely subsidized or muzzled; public opinion silenced; business prostrate, our homes covered with mortgages, labor impoverished and the land concentrating in the hands of capitalists. The urban workmen are denied the right of organization for self-protection; imported pauperized labor beats down their labor; a hireling standing army, unrecognized by our laws, is established to shoot them down, and they are rapidly disintegrating to European conditions. The fruits of the toil of millions are boldly stolen to build up colossal fortunes, unprecedented in the history of the world, while their possessors despise the republic and endanger liberty.

And that’s just the beginning of the preamble! The People’s Party nominates George Weaver, who takes a million votes and 22 Electoral College votes in the ’92 election. The million votes get noticed and injects the goals of populism firmly into the political debate.

In the very next election cycle, a young orator, the editor of the Democratic paper, captures the spotlight with hot populist rhetoric, pledging to throw the Republicans out. It is William Jennings Bryan, one of the most exciting speakers in all American history. At the 1894 convention, William Jennings Bryan and Silas Holcomb bring together the Populists and Democrats, with Bryan on the ticket for U.S. Senate and for every other major post a Populist—including Holcomb for Governor. Due to local splits and a strong Prohibition campaign, however, the Republicans end up controlling the Nebraska Legislature for much of the decade. The last Populist Nebraska Governor is William Poynter in 1898.

William Jennings Bryan, meanwhile goes on in 1896 to ride the Populist Wave--all the way to the Democratic Presidential nomination. Bryan’s nomination unites the Democrat and Populist parties, effectively bringing to an end the revolt against the two-party system. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party of that day is so racist and Southern white-oriented that black Populist voters are immediately offended—and Populism as a force strong enough to win elections is finished. Bryan loses to McKinley.

Despite its demise, populist ideas thereafter help guide the Democratic Party while insurgent Republicans form a Progressive wing, which is soon running the country in the form of Teddy Roosevelt.

Although black and white farmers and workers had briefly united in this dramatic third party attempt, racism and economic issues kept them mostly divided for the rest of the century, and the more rural white communities returned to conservative voting patterns.

Nevertheless, populist sentiment remains close to the surface in most farming regions to this day, waiting to be tapped by some future political movement.

NOTE HOW THE REPUBLICANS USED THE WEDGE ISSUE OF PROHIBITION LIKE THEY DO ABORTION AND GAY MARRAIGE TODAY.

[sangh0]

1. The Populists were very racist

and their economic policies, while noble, made little sense. They were for silver, IIRC, which would have destroyed our economy and were opposed to central banking.

[el_gato]

3. I'm opposed to central banking

It's a scam in case you didn't know.

[H2O Man]

2. Very good!

I'll add one thing, if you do not mind, because it has a lot to do with today. It has to do with the "expanding" economy in the era of which you write. Many people associate "manifest destiny" with covered wagons and the 1862 Homestead Act, which allowed citizens title to 160-acre lots, for a registration fee. But that was a minor part of the westward expansion.

Most of it was accomplished by the senators who earned the less than complimentary title of the "Gilded Age" from Twain; they were little more than lap dogs of the railroad "robber barons." Many went back and forth from one office to another, lining their pockets all the time. The county you are in had a bit of that nonsense with a couple railroads.

Anyhow, between 1865 and 1900, politicians gave the barons more land than the combined area of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. It was part of the national conflict in values, between the Hamiltonian and Jeffersonian influences.

Today we see the same conflict. The democrats would do well to consider using Jefferson as a symbol of the parties' values. It would not imply en embrace of all of his flaws; rather, it would be a potent symbol of the good our party represents.