Populism

Mrs. CivitellaA.P. United States History

Push-Pull Factors to Western Settlement

Push factors• Civil War had displaced

thousands of farmers, former slaves (Exodusters), and other workers

• Eastern farmland was increasingly costly for lower class whites and immigrants

• Failed entrepreneurs• Outlaws on the run

Pull factors• Pacific Railway Act 1962• Morrill Land Grant Act 1862• Homestead Act 1862• New federal and state laws

enforcing property rights for farmers, miners, cattle ranchers- land parcels were measured, registered and deeded

The Money Issue - inflation

• If the government increases the money supply, the value of every dollar drops

• This drop in value shows up as inflation, a widespread rise in prices on all goods

• People who borrow money benefit from inflation because the money they eventually pay back is worth less than the money they borrowed

• Inflation also helps sellers, such as farmers, because it raises the prices of the goods they sell

The Money Issue- deflation

• If the government reduces the money supply, the value of each dollar becomes greater causing deflation

• Deflation causes a drop in the prices on goods• People who lend money are helped by

deflation because the money they receive in payment of a loan is worth more than the money they lent out

Monetary Policy following the Civil War

• After the Civil War, the nation’s money supply shrank as the government took the paper money issued during the war out of circulation

• The nation experienced a period of deflation• Monetary policy became a major political

issue• “tight money” supporters wanted deflation

Monetary Policy- continued

• Prior to the panic of 1873 the U.S. had been on a bimetallic standard meaning that U.S. Treasury notes could be traded in for gold or silver

• to stabilize the economy, congress put U.S. currency on a gold standard reducing the amount of money in circulation because the amount of money supply was limited by the amount of gold held by the government

• Conservative “gold bugs” were pleased

Silverites

• The move to the gold standard outraged silver mining interests and western farmers

• Fearing that an end to silver as a monetary standard would depress farm prices

• “Silverites” called for free silver- the unlimited coining of silver dollars to increase the money supply

The Wizard of Oz as a monetary allegory

• the Scarecrow - the wise, but naive western farmers • the Tin Woodman - the dehumanized, Eastern factory workers • the Wicked Witch of the East - the Eastern industrialists and bankers who controlled the

people (the Munchkins) • the Good Witch of the North - New England, a stronghold of Populists • the Good Witch of the South - the South, another Populist area • the Wizard - President Grover Cleveland, or Republican Presidential candidate William

McKinley • the Cowardly Lion - Democratic-Populist Presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan • Dorothy - a young Mary Lease; or the good-natured American people • Dorothy's silver shoes - represents the 'silver standard' (acc. to the Populists, "the free and

unlimited coinage of silver") • Toto - the 'teetotaling' Prohibitionists (or Temperance Party), an important part of the

'silverite' coalition • the Yellow Brick road - the 'gold standard' - paved with gold, but leads nowhere • the land of Oz - oz. is the standard abbreviation for ounce, in accordance with the other

symbolism • Emerald City - Washington, D.C., with a greenish color associated with greenbacks • the Poppy field - the threat of anti-imperialism