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Populist Party Thesis

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During the late nineteenth century, inequality was at its finest. Disagreements from unrightful decisions made by the government set off strikes, reforms and protests, which accelerated changes, all over the country. Oppression of farmers and wage workers hit hardest, as government decisions and how the country was running seemed to affect them the most. Gilded age farmers and workers demanded correct wages, the expansion of power of the government, and to nationalize various systems in the best interests of the people. Various interest groups were created, and aimed to gain popularity but were not successful enough to make a change. As a result, the Populist party was created, determined to affect the lives of many in the United States, by …show more content…

In response to these changes, the Populist party arose, designed to protest against the unfair livelihood the government created for farmers and wage workers. A decade before, “The Farmers’ Alliance appeared,” (Stewart) practicing “cooperative marketing and lobbied the government for various kinds of business and banking regulation.” (Stewart) Even though the Farmers’ Alliance was unsuccessful, farmers and wage workers still desired equal treatment in the workforce, which inspired the creation of the Populists party, or people’s party, in Omaha, Nebraska. The Omaha Platform was the founding documents of the Populists party, and “We have witnessed more than a quarter of a century the struggles of the two great political parties for power and plunder, while grievous wrongs have been inflicted upon the suffering people.” (The Omaha Platform) While the Republican and Democratic parties fought for the upper hand in the government, laws were created that hurt people that were already hurting. These wrongs sparked farmers and wage workers to reform and protest for the promotion and the betterment of the lives of American citizens within the workforce. The Populist party declared that “the union of the labor forces of the United States this day consummated shall be permanent and perpetual.” (The Omaha Platform) The permanence of the union of the labor forces would ensure protection over farmer and wage workers rights, and would support their interests. The Omaha Platform of the Populists party also declared that “wealth belongs to him who creates it, and every dollar taken from industry without an equivalent is robbery” (The Omaha Platform) At this time, wealthy Americans owned the majority of the country's wealth, which came from owning factories and the means of manufacturing. Farmers and wage

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Phillips-Fein generalized the conservative party as being associated with only business elites and lacked proper information on how companies were able to manipulate and teach conservative views to the labor force and steer them away from unions. Although Phillips-Fein understood what the goal was to these corporations, “weakening regulations, limiting labor unions, and rolling back taxes” she was not able to develop reasoning for why the American people believed in the conservative party. From this, it appeared that the conservative party itself was birthed and consisted of only the elites, and the party supporters were absent in voting. In her text it would have been helpful for more examples of the grassroots campaigns that took place in capturing the supporters and dismantling unions. Her writing affirmed her belief in liberal ideology and backed her views in Invisible Hands, but shaped a one sided argument which emphasized if not entirely on the negatives of the conservative

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In the middle of a deterioration in crop prices and a troubling political chaos the Populist Party was established. The Populists Party was correctly as it broadcasted, for the people. The Populist Party was a short term political party in the United States, recognized in 1891. The party was at its toughest in 1892 through 1896 and then quickly wore away. The Populists offered both better government regulation over the economy and to give the people more control over the government through the secret ballot, direct election of United States senators and replacement of the Electoral College with direct election by popular

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The party was formed in 1912 by the urban middle class, who were displeased with all of the corruption in politics. This party was very successful at achieving what the Populists could not. They succeeded at getting laws passed to restrain immigration, set up a postal savings banks, limiting work days to eight-hours, and set up an initiative, referendum, and recall. The Progressives also had several amendments passed, the sixteenth, allowing for the graduated income tax, the seventeen, enforcing the direct primary that was passed by the Populists, the eighteenth, staring the prohibition on alcohol, and the nineteenth, allowing everyone to vote regardless of their gender. Much of the Progressives success was due to muckrakers.

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In my opinion the populist party failed because within the party ideas among the members were not coherent enough. Alliances could not be formed between the Eastern and Western parts of the country because of ideological differences. The populist party was a political party who wanted forms passed into laws. The populist was organized in St. Louis in 1892 to represent mainly the farmers, and interest of railroads, bankers, processors, corporations, and the politicians in league of interest. William Jennings Bryan gave the speech in 1896 in chicago.

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The 19th century was a period of widespread social, economical and political problems in the United States, from the 1890s to the 1920s in need of reform. Both parties were created by the people’s dissatisfaction with the government and its ability to appeal to the majority. The Populist movement was founded my farmers, laborers and middle class civilians that wanted government regulation in the economy, more authority in the government, educating immigrants, to prevent government corruption and high positions to be based on experience.

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Suggesting, a reason onto to why the populists did not receive a majority vote. Ultimately, the Populist Movement in America may have not been as successful as they hoped for, but as a new party during the Political run they did make it further then they assumed in the election. The Populists also did not mind the loss, due to the fact of forming an alliance with the Democratic Party, in which their major concerns were addressed and settled in peaceful

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The Populists of the late 1800s proved to be a significant liberal movement since their ideals contradicted with the common conservative beliefs in the time period. Composed of former members of the Grange and the Farmers’ Alliance, the Populist Party formed as a result of the economic problems farmers faced in the Gilded Age. Farmers blamed their debt troubles on several powerful forces. Railroad companies overcharged for shipping and farmers faced the extremely high McKinley Tariff which made it more expensive to buy an item harder to sell crops. The farmers’ financial woes led them to develop liberal beliefs and solutions and promote the preservation of the small farming way of life during a time when the nation was becoming more industrial.

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Populism Party The Populist’s were a group of farmers, middle class activist’s, and laborers who were trying to set things straight in America for their and other people’s benefits. The Populist Party succeeded in what they were trying to accomplish. They were pushing real hard for the things that they wanted. The things they wanted to accomplish were no less than fair. The Populist Party was successful even after fading away.

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Huthmacher conveys that liberalism of Americans made the type of political system they were wanting. He asserted that the government got involved because of how the lower class portrayed their rights and voted for legislation. The low class was looking for improvement for working conditions. He provided job security, better wages and working conditions, and gave some benefits of production to consumers. “As a result, we find urban lower-class representatives introducing a large variety of business regulatory measures on the local and state levels during the Progressive Era”(Huthmacher 13).

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Populism impacted the life of the United States was that the people want to treat everyone equally. Populism want the person who works for the money to be just as much equal as the person who is employing them. Also, they want the person who works all day in the fields, be treated the same

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The populist movement was a success. It grew into a national movement that mobilized a huge group of Americans. First the populist party started from farmers and grew into a political party. Secondly ideas from the populist party were adopted and are used today. Lastly they were able to have a candidate run for president of the United states.

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The Populist Party otherwise called the People’s Party was founded before the Civil War, the party consists of farmers, laborers, and socialists, where most of the populist came from the South and the West. The party adopted a system to change the debt-stricken way how the farmers, support the laborers and the shortening of workdays for the industrial workers and a few types of reforms, for example the right to referendums, recall and female suffrage, which many farmers and workers believed that the Populist Party was a voice for their anger and a gross for inequality and injustice in the American society. In the meantime, Labor 's efforts to organize and collectively bargain with the trusts were systematically suppressed. All these things

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The introduction of a progressive income tax, which would have increased taxes on the wealthiest and transferred wealth to the general community, was one of their major goals. They pushed for the state's ownership of important areas of the economy, such as the railroads and telegraphs, to place them under government control and stop the wealthy class from taking advantage of them. The eight-hour workday and the banning of child labor were only two of the many social reforms that the populists supported. They thought that these changes would make working people's lives better and close the wealth-poverty gap.

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Profits for the farmers were getting smaller and smaller due to the increase in prices for the goods to be sold. These farmers believed in many different things- they believed in rules and regulations for the road (which included the fact that the government should control the railroad), lower tariffs, and that money should be based off of silver standard. For the industrial workers, their working conditions were not ideal. Each worker did not get paid nearly enough to support them and their families, even though they worked ten plus hour days, six days a week. Workers were not paid for sick days or injury.

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The rise of populist parties shows a change in people’s idea of how their country should be ruled. Someone stated that the rise of these parties in the US and Europe has been good for democracy; however, I strongly disagree with this statement. Before explaining my viewpoint supported by a few examples, I will define what populism is, how it has raised, the actors involved in this movement and finally, how it affects the democracy. According to the definition of the Oxford dictionary populism is “a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups.”

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