Analyze reasons for the emergence of the populist movement in the late nineteenth century?

Answer 1

In the political landscape of the late nineteenth century, the Populist party was recognized even by its critics as being ahead of its time. Its members saw themselves as bearers of a reform message vital to the nation, reflecting agrarian America's anxiety that the country was moving toward a new form of slavery in the face of changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution. These issues were for many Americans the "Crisis of the Nineties," and Populists met that crisis with a stand against imperialism, a commitment to human rights, and a deep distrust of big business.

While most studies of Populism have focused on regional activities or on its intellectual and social underpinnings, little has been written about the record of this radical party in the national legislature. Now one of our foremost scholars of Populism presents the first comprehensive treatment of the party in Congress, revealing the programs and personalities that shaped and ultimately doomed the movement.

Gene Clanton has combed the Congressional Record to document how these visionaries performed on the national stage during that tumultuous decade. He examines the contributions of the fifty Populist legislators elected by sixteen states and one territory from 1891 to 1903-from Senator William Peffer of Kansas to Congressman William Neville of Nebraska-to show how they represented the party line on such issues as the gold standard, taxation, immigration, government railways, and the Spanish-American War.

Clanton demonstrates that congressional Populism was a positive and humane force in American politics totally distinct from the reactionary political movement that flouishes today under its name. He also suggests that the issues which Populist congressmen grappled with and the policies they advocated have continued to affect us even into the present. Long awaited by scholars of the Populist movement, Clanton's book is the crowning achievement of a career of research and shows how these forgotten radicals fit into the sweeping panorama of American politics.

Omaha Platform of 1892
In 1890, farmers elected 5 United States senators, 6 governors, and 46 congressmen. Encouraged by this electoral success, farmers again set their sights on a national coalition. The three major farmers' organizations held a convention in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1892. Six principal demands emerged from this meeting:

1. A permanent union of all working classes
2. Wealth for the workers
3. Government ownership of railroads
4. Government ownership of all communications systems
5. More flexible and fair distribution of the national currency
6. No more ownership of land by those who do not actually use it

As it turned out, the Populists' less radical demands, such as their call for a secret ballot, a graduated income tax, and the direct election of Senators, became law within twenty years.
Main critiques made by Populists:

• The American legal system placed too much emphasis on property rights
• Monopolies were an economic and social evil
• Social Darwinism & laissez-faire were bankrupt ideologies
• Industrial society had turned individuals into economic commodities
• Wealth was unevenly distributed

Populism and Presidential Elections
William Jennings Bryan was nominated for president by both the Democrats and the Populists in 1896. At the 1896 Democratic national convention, Bryan delivered the "Cross of Gold" speech, which called for unlimited coinage of silver. He held that government should protect individuals and the democratic process against the growing power of monopolies. Bryan lost to the Republican candidate, William McKinley, who ran on a platform of "prosperity for all." In 1900, Bryan ran again for president and hoped to make the election a referendum on American imperialism, but lost to McKinley a second time. His final campaign for president was in 1908, when he lost to William Howard Taft.

Tom Watson was the Populist candidate for president in 1904 and 1908. Watson was vehemently anti-Semitic, anti-Black, and anti-immigrant, and his failed campaign demonstrated the collapse of Populism as a national political movement.
Rural America underwent massive transformations in the late-nineteenth century. In response, farmers began a nationwide movement demanding a new kind of politics. More and more people began to view the federal government as a possible source of protection against the ravages of industrial society. Farmers, however, were not the only Americans who championed government power as a means to assuage the problems that they perceived in society. As conditions in cities worsened in the late-nineteenth century, more and more city dwellers began to make similar calls for government action.

Answer 2

It depends on your situation as to whether you were an aristocrat or a member of the working class. In general * living standards were much less than today; * people didn't have access to the same levels of goods and services including basic things like shampoo and toothpaste; * medicine was not nearly as advanced as today which meant that life expectancy was approximately 50 in the US as opposed to 80 today; * people started work on average at an earlier age and finished school earlier - normally , only people from the upper and upper-middle class went to college; * people were married earlier with women often marrying by the end of the teens; * families were larger with 5 or 6 kids not all of whom necessarily survived. Generally, living standards and life expectancy was much greater at the beginning of the nineteenth century than at the end. In 1800, people could expect to live on average until just after 30 while by 1900 it had risen to 50. Public health reforms were one of the factors that gradually led to improved life expectancy.