(A) Under what circumstances did the farmers and artisans participate in the freedom struggle
of 1857
Answers
American farmers faced a myriad of problems in the late nineteenth century. Agricultural prices steadily declined after 1870 as a result of domestic overproduction and foreign competition. The high rates charged by grain elevator operators and railroads to store and ship crops were a constant source of complaint, while high tariffs made the goods farmers had to buy, such as farm machinery, more expensive. Forced to borrow money to pay for their land or equipment, many farmers were in debt and favored keeping the amount of money in circulation high, either through printing greenbacks or the unlimited coinage of silver.
The Grange and Farmers' Alliances. Farmers began to organize soon after the Civil War. The Patrons of Husbandry, or the Grange, was established in 1867 to sponsor educational and social programs for farmers and later encouraged farmer‐owned cooperatives. In the political arena, the Grange successfully secured legislation in several states to regulate railroad and warehousing rates, and many of its members supported the Greenback Labor party. As the Grange declined in the late 1870s, new farmer groups known as Farmers' Alliances came to the fore. By 1890, the two largest were the Northwestern Alliance and the Southern Alliance, which, despite their regional names, had more than three million members nationwide. Although the Alliance movement encouraged the participation of women, who were among some of its most outspoken leaders, the Southern Alliance was segregated. As a result, African‐American farmers in the Deep South formed the National Colored Farmers Alliance. Representatives of this organization met with the Southern Alliance and the Farmers' Mutual Benefit Association in Ocala, Florida, in December of 1890 to develop a platform that became known as the Ocala Demands. These demands called for the abolition of national banks, the creation of federal sub‐treasuries that would provide low‐interest loans to farmers against the value of their crops, the unlimited coinage of silver, an end to high tariffs, strict control over transportation and communication, a graduated income tax, and the direct election of senators.
The Southern Alliance stayed within the Democratic party, and following the 1890 elections the Alliance gained control of eight state legislatures, elected four governors, and sent forty‐four representatives and two senators to Washington. In the Plains, the Alliance ran third‐party candidates with very similar results. Kansas and South Dakota had senators who were Populists, as the new political movement was called, and both houses of the Nebraska legislature were in their hands as well. These victories soon led to the creation of a national party.
The Populist party. The Populist, or People's, party was officially organized in St. Louis in February 1892 and held its first nominating convention in Omaha in July. Dominated by farmers, the party also reached out to labor and reform‐minded groups and reflected this broader constituency in its platform. In addition to restating the Ocala Demands, the platform called for an eight‐hour workday and immigration restriction, strongly condemned the use of Pinkerton detectives against strikers, and supported such political reforms as the secret ballot, initiative, and referendum. The Populists took a somewhat more radical stand on government ownership, implying that the railroads should be nationalized without delay.
In the 1892 presidential race, the Populists nominated James B. Weaver, a former general in the Union army who had previously run for president as the Greenback Labor party's candidate. Although he received more than 1 million popular votes and 22 in the electoral college (including Kansas, Colorado, Idaho, and Nevada) Weaver and the Populist party lacked support in key areas. Southerners did not back Weaver because he had fought for the North during the Civil War and because of the fear that a Populist victory would lead African‐Americans to demand their full civil rights. Nor was the party's appeal to labor groups very successful, because higher agricultural prices meant higher food prices and lower tariffs meant more competition from abroad, which could result in layoffs. Although the Populists elected five senators and ten representatives, Democrat Grover Cleveland took the White House for a second time..