Populists and Populist Movements

THE ORIGINS OF American populism, and the first manifestations of populist movements, can be found in the various regional farmer revolts of the 1880s. The National Farmers Alliance, and other alliance organizations, such as the Southern Alliance and the Colored Farmers Alliance, emerged to lead campaigns against the oppressive economic circumstances that affected American agriculture following the Civil War.

In the midst of a deflationary spiral, crop prices fell steadily, and farmer debt increased at crippling rates. This initial political unrest occurred at a time of rising corporate capitalism and industrial expansion, which concentrated power in the hands of the few. The growth of major special interest political influence on both the Democratic and Republican parties resulted. This was also an era of emergent finance capitalism and banking interests that controlled loans, credit, and the money supply. Control of finance placed major pressures on the economy and on people's livelihoods.

The alliance movement rapidly expanded with the agricultural crisis, and occurred in the midst of America's late-19th-century transformation into a major industrial power. Drawing hundreds of thousands of members, the alliances hoped to forge a political force that could challenge the existing political parties and change the course of American development. They hoped to benefit the producing classes. These advocates opposed capitalist elites, whose concentrated wealth and power controlled the nation's destiny from Wall Street.

The drive toward consolidation led to the formation of the People's Party or Populist Party in the early 1890s, through mergers between the various alliances and groups such as the Knights of Labor. The movement entered the national stage in the election of 1892, when their presidential nominee, James B. Weaver, polled well over one million votes. Agrarian interests and farming needs dominated party goals, which shaped a platform that called for a nationalization of transportation and communication, opposition to the gold standard, unlimited coinage of silver, an expanded currency supply, a flexible system of credit free from the control of national banking interests, and the direct election of senators.

With their growing influence, the populists searched for a merger of their interests with the free silver elements within the Democratic Party. This led to an amalgamation with the Democratic Party in time for the 1896 election. William Jennings Bryan was nominated for the presidency and the Democratic Party adopted many populist policies for its platform. However, Bryan suffered a narrow loss by a margin of 600,000 votes to William McKinley's Republicans. Many populists continued to support the Democrats in 1900, but after this election defeat certain prominent populists, like Thomas E. Watson, chose, in 1904 and 1908, to run for the presidency under the separate Populist Party banner. By 1908, the party had clearly lost its momentum as the Republicans consolidated their political dominance and as America moved toward greater urbanization. Nevertheless, the populist movement did achieve control of a number of governorships and had a degree of congressional success.

An unfortunate offshoot of the populist movement, particularly in the south, was its association with racism as it competed for votes with a racist and segregationist Democratic Party. This tarnished the movement and led to charges that grassroots populism was typified by simple-minded prescriptions for national salvation and an array of racist, nativist, anti-Semitic, and anti-Catholic diatribes. The image that emerged was that of the populist as a demagogic rabble-rouser who exploited people's fears and anxieties for political gain. Huey Long of Louisiana adopted many of these populist approaches during the 1930s, producing a degree of notoriety and success within the south.

...