Short and Long Term Influence of the Populist Party on American Politics

The rapid growth of American cities in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s created huge problems for the government that ran the cities as in most cases in was very poorly structured and could not really give the people what they needed. It is because of the inability of city government to provide these things to the people that there was a rise in political machines. These political machines gained support from the population by providing houses for people who needed them and by also offering people jobs that they desperately needed. This gave the political machines a lot of power and support from there loyal followers.

The time period from 1865 to 1900 covered a large portion of American history, it covers all of the Gilded Age and portions of the Civil War and Progressive Era. A lot has changed in the United States from the mid-Civil War era to the early Progressives. Government began intervening in economics and the principles of a Laissez-Faire economy became more regulated as the federal government began helping out the lower class and helping them survive as well as attempting to destroy monopolization. The national government had always been passive in the face of a Laissez-Faire government but they slowly became less of a spectator and more of a peacemaker that attempted to even out the competition. Government began to exert a very minimal and regulatory

After the civil war, especially during the late 1800s, the US industrial economy has been thriving and booming which reflected on the numerous improvements that occurred in transportation through new railroad, in new markets for new invented goods and in the increased farm yield. However, most of this wealth has been captured by the capitalists, they looked down on the working poor class and expected them to submit to them. Also, they had control over the government seeking to maintain a system of monopoly to allow them to grow richer from others. Thus, they were controlling both political and economic conditions of the country.

After reading The Populist Explosion by John Judis, I was left with more questions about populism than I had before opening the book. The very beginning of the book, Judis said that populism “assumes a basic antagonism between the people and the elite at the heart of politics.” Many pundits, and Judis himself, consider Donald Trump to be a populist. In my opinion, Trump is more of an authoritarian conservative in a populist’s clothes. He ran on a platform of being for the working class, blue collar citizen.

Populism, or the People’s Party, was formed for many economic reasons. Most of the agrarian society felt as if they were not equal to bigger industries (Brinkley 449-451). Railroad services charged small farmers more for shipping rates and bigger industries less. The farmers claimed that railroad services fixed their rates because they would cut deals with the bigger businesses. Populists also wanted a reform of currency (455). They wanted to do so in a way that would raise crops and farm products, so they could get more money and would be able to alleviate their debt.

Your thesis and supporting arguments allow the reader to understand the importance of establishing a country that allows a betterment for all individuals. The movements of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s were trying in their own ways to lookout for all Americans, not just the wealthy and privileged. As industrialization was taking over the county, there was a divide happening between the social classes. Your post clearly explains how the Populist, the Labor, and the Progressive movements each believed that their way was the best to help the “common folk”. The Populist Party understood the importance that the country was on the cusp of heading in a new direction by proclaiming “Our country finds itself confronted by conditions for which

At the end of the 19th century the United States were in a time called “The Gilded Age”, coined by Mark Twain; a time of mass immigration, Western settlement, and industrialization. Out of these times emerged a political party named the Populist party, later changed to the People’s party. This party stood for the working man, like farmers and factory laborers. Though this party meant well, it did not last long. Surviving until 1896, the Populist party eventually merged with the Democratic party. With this being said, the Populist party was a short lived dream and failure.

The decades after the Civil War rapidly changed the face of the United States. The rapid industrialization of the nation changed us from generally agrarian to the top industrial power in the world. Business tycoons thrived during this time, forging great business empires with the use of trusts and pools. Farmers moved to the cities and into the factories, living off wages and changing the face of the workforce. This rapid industrialization created wide gaps in society, and the government, which had originally taken a hands off approach to business, was forced to step in.

Title: An Opportune Trump Card: Playing Populism throughout United States Political History. A Comparative Study of the United States’ Populist Epochs. Research Question: What does populism mean? Has populism always embodied the same form in American political history?

After the Civil War, the United States went through a period of rapid industrialization which affected the nation dramatically. Industrial growth, the spread of railroads, the rise of big businesses, and the appearance of labor unions during these decades created a modern industrial economy, and American workers and farmers faced new challenges in adapting to these changes.

Congress passed a law to stop silver, silver were becoming too expensive, gold is the standard to determine currency. Money supply shrink and money were less valuable. Even harder for American farmer to pay back debt. Farmer began to becomes more connection (nation movement), merged with each other; start to become more political. Encourage member to vote for candidate who show their interests. Farmer alliance becomes the people party in 1892. (Populist Party) Demand they made includes:

Throughout the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century, the United States saw a huge growth both socially and economically. The Gilded Age and the Progressive Era was a time when we saw great industrialization as well the construction of new railroads across the country. However, during the years of 1870-1900, known as the Gilded Era, this period was seen as a time filled with great corruption and uncontrolled politics and capitalism. Well-known author Mark Twain referred to these years of as the “Gilded Age” to reference how on the surface everything looked as though it was perfect or glittering, however beneath it all was corruption. (Mintz, S) Even though this era was known to have a great deal of corruption and scandals, it can also be seen that it was a time for development. A lot was changing and people were transforming from small town producers to urbanized workers. It is also to be considered as a time of economic and political reform. The last few decades of the 19th century will prove to be rough and challenging as people struggle to adapt to the new changes. As the turn of the century came, America entered into a new time known as the Progressive Era. During the early years of the 20th century Americans began to see political, social and economic reforms. There would be stricter laws on child labor, factory regulations were being improved, schools and playgrounds were being built and the corrupted politics were being replaced with more efficient

Polarization, populism, and erosion of democracy are all occurring. It Is important then to look at the relationship between these three things, and their potential to cause further issues. As I hope I made clear in my discussion of polarization there is a real threat to democracy that exists when people are not able to be held accountable. Polarization on its own caused the issues of gerrymandering and voter id laws that were discussed above, but more important than that is the relationship between polarization within government and populism. According to Liebermann “hyperpolarization magnifies tendencies for the partisan capture of institutions that are supposed to exercise checks and balances, but may instead be translated into unaccountable

Although the party began as a group of upset farmers, soon after the movement to create this party had begun, it caught the attention of others. Some industrial workers, and a few stray others shared similar views as these southern and western farmers, and decided that they would join the party, in hopes of also gaining authority, and had hope to attempt to stop the declining economic condition. Although at first, other political parties saw the populists as humorous, the party began to grow, causing more and more people to be forced to recognize that the populists were gaining power, and should be taken seriously (Edwards).

After the Great Depression and World War II, the United States and other countries around the world were struggling due to the apparent economic impact that persisted. The United States started the modern era with a boom and growth was noted both in the overall population and economy. With this success, the number of consumers and their spending behaviors improved significantly, resulting in an increase of the American middle-class social status. As years progressed, there was an expansion of labor policies and labor unions were established, which led to larger employment in various