What led to the rise of the Populist movement, and what effect did it have?
1 Answer
Mar 17, 2017
It contested the hegemony of big corporations and big banks by attacking the gold standard.
Explanation:
At the end of the 19th century, the economy was controled by a number of trusts which controled for instance the railways. Due to their share of the market, they could impose the prices they wanted.
The gold standard created deflation which reduced the income of farmers by reducing the prices of their crops. Their loans were thus made more expensive.
William Jennings Bryan is the man who ran for the Populists in the 1896 presidential campaign, in his famous speech "Cross of Gold" in his hometown of Omaha he ferociously denounces the gold standard which ruins farmers in the Midwest.
