1984 DBQ: Farmer
It's amazing that a group of farmers sick of their surroundings and the inequalities all around them could get together a political party that would be the first third-party in history to mount one millions votes. That party, of course, is the Populist party, which was introduced and invented by planters who were irate about getting the rest of the nation rich. These farmers of the late 1800's were bitter, and most of their reasons for this bitterness were valid arguments. Their farms and crops were lining the pockets of many different people involved in the farm industry, but not the farmers themselves. They were isolated and in debt, working hard to keep the nations agriculture alive. They were at the mercy of many other people, including intermediaries such as grain elevators, and of course railroads. They knew what was happening to them and they wanted it to stop. Although some farmers stretched to find reasons for their own poverty, most were faced with many real problems and inequalities and had genuine valid claims. The farmer's revolution of the late 1800's started with a sharp depression in the 1880's. The price of agricultural goods declined and farmers began to feel the pressure
The claims made by the farmers were almost all valid, although some were exaggerated a bit. Many of the claims that were being made actually were helping farmers. For example, the tariffs that helped manufacturers actually helped farmers of wool and sugar as well. Also, railroad rates dropped from 1865 to 1880. It is still true, however, that many of the other people involved in agriculture were getting rich. Another claim that farmers made was that silver coinage was neglected, but free-silver advocates convinced Congress to enact two silver acts: the Bland-Allison Act in 1878 and the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1890, which obligated the government to purchase 4.5 million ounces of silver per month. That was the peak of free-silver, and when McKinley was elected in 1896 he mentioned free-silver and the reality of it in his acceptance speech. He said, "We must not be misled by phrases, nor deluded by false theories. Free silver would not mean that silver dollars were to be freely had without cost or labor...It would not make labor easier, the hours shorter, or the pay better. It would not make farmer less laborious of more profitable..."(Doc. B) Free silver advocates ended up failing, and after Republican William McKinley's presidential victories in 1896 and 1900, Congress enacted the Gold Standard Act, which made gold the sole standard for all currency. For farmers, free silver was just an excuse for their problems, and J. Lauren Laughlin makes a good point of this in "Causes of Agricultural Unres
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1018
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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