Populist+Party+and+the+Farmers+Alliance

=**__ The Populist Party and Farmers Alliance __**=  The Farmers Alliance and Populist Party were founded by western farmers who opposed the gold standard and supported the free silver movement. They apposed the gold standard to oppose high deflation in Agricultural prices. The party and alliance were created in the majority to ensure that farmers, western farmers especially, received a voice in the U.S. government. [])



The People's Party, or Populist Party, grew out of agrarian unrest in response to falling agricultural prices in the South and the trans-Mississippi West. These farmers were scared for there lives that there would be a drop in agriclultural prices and they wouldn't make anything of there crops. Most of these farmers had no alternative of economic gain and there certaintly was no economic opputunity so if they could not sell their crop they would fail. A main goal of the party was to make economic actions against brokers, railroads(charged high fares), and merchants. The Farmers Alliance was a precursor to the Populsit Party. []

= = =__ Accomplishments of the Alliance __= =· They set up their own local stores, which bought its goods from wholesalers so they good sell their goods at a low rate. = =· A lot of these stores posted high profits despite selling goods for cheap. Some posted income statements from 5,000 to 36,000. = =· The alliance built its own mills for flour, cottonseed oil, and corn. = =· This allowed poor farmers to bring their goods to the market at a lower cost. =

=**__ Accomplishments of the Populist Party __**= = · Called for the election of U.S. Senators by popular vote (17th amendment) = = · Demanded the Universal use of the secret ballot. This prevented workers from forcing employees to vote a certain way. = = · Called for socialist ideas such as abolishing the National Bank and for the government to own the railroads and telegraph. = = · Called for increase of circulation through the coinage of silver. = = · Pushed for wealthy to pay higher taxes than poor and middle class and for a graduated income tax [] =



__The Yellow Brick Road__ The yellow brick road represents the gold standard. The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed weight of gold. __The Silver Slippers (ruby slippers in film)__ The silver (ruby) slippers represents the sixteen to one silver ratio.

__The Wicked Witch of the East and West__ The wicked witch of the east and west represents the the local banks and railroad industry. Those both drove small farmers out of business.

__ The Scarecrow __ The Scarecrow represents the farmers in the populist party. They managed to get out of debt by making more silver coins. The return to bimetallism would would increase inflation, and lower the correct value of their debts. __ Toto __ He was thought to be short for teetotaler, or prohibitionist. The popular candidate for the populist, William Jennings Bryan,party was a teetotaler himself. Bryan can also be represented by the cowardly lion.

__The Tin Woodman__ The Tin Man represents the factory workers who worked such long, grueling days for such little economic gain. The people of the populist party believed the people had lost all properties of a human and had become a machine themselves.

__ Cowardly Lion __ The Lion represents the populist party candidate, William Jennings Bryan. He is classified as a coward because of how he withdrew his support of free silver after conditions improved in the late 1890's. Some also think the Lion could represent Wall Street Investors, given the economic conditions of the time.

__The Munchkins__ They represent the common people.

__ Emerald City __ Represents Washington D.C. and it's green paper money delusion.

__ The Wizard __ The Wizard Represent is represented by the president because of how he tricks people into believing the wields immense power.

The **People's Party**, later erroneously also known as the **Populist Party** (derived from "Populist" which is the noun which describes the member of this party) was a short-lived political party in the United States in the late 19th century. It flourished particularly among western farmers, based largely on its opposition to the [|gold standard]. The party did not remain a lasting feature most probably because it had been so closely identified with the free silver movement which did not resonate with urban voters and ceased to become a major issue as the U.S came out of the recession of the 1890s.[|[1]] The very term "[|populist]" has since become a generic term in the U.S. for politics which appeals to the common in opposition to established interests.

Works Cited

“Commentary on Platform of 1892.” //Gale Student Resource Center Gold//. Gale, 2009. Web. 7 Dec. 2009. <[|http://find.galegroup.com/‌srcx/‌retrieve.do?subjectParam=Locale%2528en%252C%252C%2529%253AFQE%253D%2528su%252CNone%252C14%2529populist%2Bparty%2524&contentSet=GSRC&sort=Relevance&tabID=T001&sgCurrentPosition=0&subjectAction=DISPLAY_SUBJECTS&prodId=SRC-1&searchId=R1¤tPosition=4&userGroupName=hunt34556&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&sgHitCountType=None&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28ke%2CNone%2C14%29populist+party%24&inPS=true&searchType=BasicSearchForm&displaySubject=&docId=EJ2160000692&docType=GSRC>.]“The Farmers’ Alliance.” //New York Times// 6 Sept. 1877: 1. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. . “Farmers and Free Silver.” //New York Times// [New York] 24 June 1893: 5. //ProQuest Historical Newspapers//. Web. 7 Dec. 2009. . “People’s party candidates for president and vice president 1892.” N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2009. . //Wikipedia//. N.p., 22 Jan. 2006. Web. 11 Dec. 2009. <