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Determined to curtail the growing number of corporate monopolies that threatened their livelihood, discontented agrarians joined together to propel the Populist Party to national prominence. Members of the Farmers’ Alliance, the Grange, and the Greenback Party elected their own Populist representatives to cut through the political rhetoric and remedy farmers’ problems. On July 4, 1892, Populists gathered in Omaha, Nebraska, to nominate former Greenbacker James B. Weaver for president.
The group also established a party platform, called the Omaha Platform, to “end the injustice, oppression, and poverty” that members believed were perpetuated by the policies of the old political parties. The platform formally outlined Populist plans for government ownership of the railroads and the telephone and telegraph systems, the subtreasury system, free silver coinage, a graduated income tax, and a national currency backed by the government rather than private banks. The Omaha Platform also called for reforms in the election process, such as the use of secret ballots, to make elections more democratic and fair.
In the presidential election on 1892, Populist candidate Weaver collected more than one million votes. Although most party members felt satisfied with the respectable showing, others were disappointed with the results. Many Populists accused Republican and Democrats, primarily in southern states, of using violence to intimidate voters. It is more likely, however, that Weaver’s loss to Democrat Grover Cleveland in the south was due to the lack of support for a Populist biracial reform position among white Southern Democrats. Also, many unfamiliar with the ideals of the Alliance and the Populist platform, remained loyal to their traditional political parties. Undaunted by the loss, Populist Party leaders worked to expand their support throughout the growing nation.
The anger toward big business and tyrannical owners spread beyond the farmer, the core group of the Populist Party, to workers in every industry. Work strikes became popular responses to combat labor disputes. In the summer of 1892, a lockout of unionists at Andrew Carnegie’s Homestead steel plant turned violent when plant manager Henry Clay Frick hired 300 Pinkerton detectives to protect nonunion replacement workers and guard the plant. The Pinkertons’ reputation as strike-busters added tension to the volatile situation. The clash between the striking employees and guards left ten people dead and more than 60 wounded. The governor of Pennsylvania eventually called on the state militia to keep the plant open and protect nonunion workers. The violent incident ended the strike and also broke the union.
Two years after the Homestead strike, workers staged another prominent uprising when they challenged wage cuts at George Pullman’s Palace Sleeping Car Company. Pullman enacted a payroll reduction but refused to lower rent in the company-owned town of Pullman, where most company employees lived. The workers, with support from American Railway Union leader Eugene V. Debs, ordered a boycott of any train with Pullman cars. The strike forced trains to sit idle and backed up miles of track both in and out of Chicago. Using the excuse that the mail cars were unable to move, railroad owners sought help from President Cleveland, who dispatched federal troops to the area. When Debs refused to honor a court injunction against the strike, authorities arrested him and broke the strike.
During the early 1890s, poor market conditions for farmers and ongoing labor unrest plunged the nation into severe depression. Railroad overexpansion, an inadequate banking system, limited credit, and reduced American exports to Europe fed the Panic of 1893. By the end of the year hundreds of banks closed, thousands of businesses declared bankruptcy, and more than 20 percent of the workforce became jobless. With no government programs to assist the unemployed, many families lost their homes, and men, women, and children scavenged for food.
In 1894, businessman Jacob Coxey organized a march on Washington to persuade the federal government to provide jobs to the jobless. The Populist from Ohio proposed using paper money to finance a public works program to improve the nation’s infrastructure. Coxey claimed the plan would put men back to work, enhance the nation’s roadways, and stimulate the economy. President Cleveland, however, did not believe the government should protect the weak or unfortunate. The functions of the government, he said, do not include the support of the people.
The press dubbed the marchers Coxey’s Army and followed the group’s journey to the steps of the Capitol. Government leaders, though, had no intention of letting Coxey plead his case. Police arrested him for trespassing and refused to let him present his plan to Congress. The coldhearted treatment of Coxey and his cause proved to Americans that the Cleveland administration had little sympathy for unfortunate citizens.
Copyright 2006 The Regents of the University of California and Monterey Institute for Technology and Education