Populism and Protest The Plight of the Farmers Section 4.3.
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Transcript of Populism and Protest The Plight of the Farmers Section 4.3.
Populism and ProtestThe Plight of the Farmers
Section 4.3
What was the Populist (People’s) party?
• Third party• Coalition of farmers,
laborers, reformers• Favored:
–Immigration restrictions
–Shorter workday–Bimetalism (Both gold
and silver coins)
Homestead Act
What happened to farmers in the 1880s?
• Homestead Act
• New farming methods
• New machinery
• So things were going well, right?
• NO
What happened to farmers in the 1880s, continued…
• overproduction – led to falling prices
• heavy mortgages, high tariffs, high transportation prices
• widespread poverty, natural disasters, loneliness
What should the farmers have done?What factors might hinder them (that would not hinder an urban worker)?
Who were the Grangers? (1867)• Farmers union
• Held mass meetings
• Pooled money together – purchase supplies,
equipment, negotiate
• Lobbied Midwestern legislatures for Granger laws regulating:
– Rates charged by RR,
– Grain operators
To which side of the political spectrum are the Grangers leaning?
What is significant about the Munn v. Illinois case of 1877? (Not in text)
• Supreme Court upheld right of Illinois to regulate private property– Giant elevators used for
grain • Decision restricts railroads
from using predatory (monopolistic) business practices against small merchants– Rebates and discounts for
huge hauls
What does this decision indicate regarding government’s role in
the economy?
• Are they leaning right, left, in the middle?
• Are they becoming liberal, conservative?
• What element (main concept) of pure capitalism is starting to be changed?
Radical Liberal Conservative Reactionary
What did the Supreme Court decision in the Wabash case (1886) do to Munn v
Illinois?• Judicial Review destroyed it• Railroad lawyers argued Article I,
Section 8, Clause 3 of the US Constitution– That Congress (NOT STATES)
shall have the power:• To regulate commerce with
foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes
Whose side is the Supreme Court on in this case?
What were the results of the Wabash case?
• Interstate Commerce Commission (1887) created
– Congress asserts its right to regulate interstate trade
• A weak law
• Cleveland was laissez-faire
• Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890
– Prohibited monopolies restraints in trade
• Circumvented by monopolies
• Morphed into “holding companies”
• Not enforced by courts
Class work/Homework• Explain this political
cartoon.• Who would support
it? A farmer, or a businessman?
• What does it suggest about the railroad industry?
The AmericanFrankenstein1874