What Is The Main Point Of Jennings Bryan's Cross Of Gold Speech

Analysis of William Jennings Bryan’s Speech: “Cross of Gold” (1896) As the presidential campaign of 1896 drew closer, there was no clear candidate that would represent the Democratic Party while the Republican Party already had a strong candidate with William Mckinley. The issues of the 1896 election centered around the economy because the past two decades had been plagued by recessions, and the Panic of 1893 had forced the economy into another three year-long economic depression. One of the central economic issues of the election of 1896 was the money supply question of whether or not to use gold or a combination of gold and silver, or bimetallism, as backing for the U.S. money supply. This money supply question created two distinct sides

Bryan’s speech was written to appeal to the common people of the United States who were struggling to pay their debts with such a small money supply and low inflation of the dollar. He refers to all workers, no matter how successful, as “businessmen” because he believed all workers are equal, and the Republican Party’s stance on economic issues, particularly their stance on money supply question, catered to wealthy investors, wealthy businessmen, and large-scale farmers. Bryan argued that all workers deserved to be represented when making decisions about the economy while the Republicans did not take into consideration the well being of the common workers. He split the country in two with his speech by pitting the debtors and the common people against the large businessmen and farmers. This split would guarantee that Bryan had a strong following who supported his idea of bimetal coinage going into the election, but his speech was not just persuasive; it clearly stated his campaign platform and his stance on the economic issues presented in the 1896

economy if Bryan had been elected in the 1896 election. The gold standard only allowed gold to be struck as legal dollar coins. There is only a limited supply of gold in the world which caused a limited money supply in the United States, but the population was still growing steadily, meaning less money per person. The gold standard maintained the purchasing power of the dollar which favored investors, creditors, and debt collectors, but it made it almost impossible for debtors to pay back what they owed because there is not enough money in circulation throughout the economy. Bryan believed coining silver and gold would encourage inflation and increase the money supply, helping the masses of the country who owed money to pay off their debts and would stimulate the economy by pumping money into it. The question of bimetallism versus the gold standard asked by William Jennings Bryan represents a larger question about the growth of the American economy. Bryan wanted to make progress for the working class of the United States which seemed to be forgotten about when the government made political and economical decisions in the decades prior. When the gold standard was finally abandoned in 1933 under Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression, the government was able to pump money into the economy