Rise And Fall Of The Populist Party In Texas

he Rise and Fall of the Populist Party in Texas

Shorty after the turn of the century, the once rural and agricultural America that had existed before the Civil War and shortly after, was dying. In it’s place a more urban, industrial society was born, dominated by bankers, and industrialists. While this proved beneficial for much of the country, Texas, being rural and agricultural, was especially hard hit. As problems mounted, and elected officials proved either unable or unwilling to address them, a third political party emerged. Known as the Populists Party, or The People’s Party, it was the most successful of the third-party movements in the state, challenging the long-held power of the Democratic Party. Following the Civil War, agricultural

The movement was officially established in 1891, with the formation of The People’s Party in Dallas,Texas. The party organized conventions on the county, district and state level, with an executive committee overseeing the work at each level. To help spread the word of the newly formed party, meetings similar to revivals were held, where speakers, many of them preachers, waged war upon the opposition in hopes of recruiting political converts. They also encouraged the production and distribution of newspapers which supported their cause. They founded almost 100 newspapers within the state, two of the most popular being the Advance and the Southern Mercury, both published in Dallas, which contributed to the Populists’ early success. But control of the government would be a hard-won battle. To overthrow the Democrats the Populist needed to show credibility and win the support of the dissatisfied farming community, who in spite of their complaints, would be more likely to vote Democrat if they could not be persuaded otherwise. Another challenge was the issue of race. In order to overthrow the Democrats, the Populist needed the support of all the dissatisfied farming population, including black farmers. But because of the racial views at the time, most Anglo farmers refused to join with blacks in the challenge. Yet in spite of their obstacles the Populist party did meet with some success

Demanding the free coinage of silver, the Populist party garnered most of their support in the South, Midwest and the West, where the demand had gained attention and intensified. With the onset of a depression, money was even further restricted and the problems with indebtedness prevailed, resulting in a stronger demand to abandon the gold standard. In an unexpected turn, the Democratic party responded by nominating William Jennings Bryan, who based his presidential platform on embracing the idea of free silver, the Populists primary demand; enticing the dissatisfied farmers to once again support their party. This placed the Populist party in a delicate political balance. If they nominated their own candidate on the free silver platform, the political vote would then be divided, ensuring that the Republican candidate, William McKinley, would win the election. Since McKinley was a strong supporter of the gold standard, there would be no end in sight for the ongoing depression. However, if they united with the Democrats to insure the success of free silver, they would eliminate their own party. While some refused to join forces with the Democrats, in the end the Populist party supported the nomination of the Democratic candidate, William Jennings Bryan, with the hopes of insuring free silver, but much to the disappointment of all, Bryan lost the