Election Of 1896 Research Paper

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Presidential Election 1896
The presidential election of 1896 was a battle between Republican William McKinley and Democrat Williams Jennings Bryan, which resulted in a victory by McKinley. Politicians of 1896 considered this campaign to be an election that ended the Third Party system and began the Fourth Party system. The country’s main affair was the money supply because of the economic depression that began in 1896. The community opinion was divided between those who supported the gold standard and those who supported free silver. Which was a type of currency intended to relieve the depression. McKinley and Bryan were different in immense ways because while McKinley supported the gold standard Bryan supported free silver. Free silver would have extended the nation’s money supply but wouldn’t have solved the country’s economic problems. It would have raised the expense of silver compared to gold. Historians considered this to be one of the most dramatic and complex campaigns in …show more content…

Bryan is known for his Cross of Gold Speech which showed his favor for free silver. Demanding the free coinage of silver, Bryan shouted, "You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold!" Thousands of delegates roared their approval, and at the age of thirty-six. Bryan’s nomination for president in 1896 was no surprise, him and his managers had been working long and hard to line up the necessary delegates over his speech. Bryan’s speaking skills were the best of his generation and he quickly became know as the the “great commoner” and developed a reputation known as the defender of the farmer.
Many different things led to Bryan’s defeat my McKinley, he was unable to win a single state in the populous Northeast. Laborers feared the free silver idea as much as their bosses. Although Bryan lost the election his supporters continued to control the Democratic Party good into the twentieth