As America began to recover from the Civil War, the country was jolted into a second industrial revolution. The Homestead Act encouraged thousands to move to the West and Great Plains and take up farming. Railroads connected the country, making America linked like never before. America was quickly becoming the world’s biggest industrial juggernaut as all corners of the nation became occupied with people looking for their own slice of the American Dream. Most of them however, never saw those dreams come true. As the 1896 election neared, the nation was clearly separated. Frustrated farmers and laborers were tired of toiling long hours only to see very little pay while men like Rockefeller made over a billion dollars. The nation had shifted in the span of 30 years from agrarian
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William Jennings Bryan’s speech was more than just a political stunt used to win him the Democratic nod in the election of 1896 though; it showcased the general political and economic division of Americans in the late 1800’s between the decaying agrarian culture of the Plains and West and the bustling urbanized culture in the North East and Midwest.
The major shift from agriculture to industry was something that was needed to progress the country towards becoming a modern, imperialistic super power. However, the effects of this change were fairly harsh for the average rural person. For almost a hundred years, there was plenty of money to be made off the frontier. Products like timber and fur allowed many to cash in off the pristine woodlands of North America. Rare minerals like gold, copper, and silver drove thousands westward across the country in search of riches. However, the Country was connected by railroads by 1896, and Americans had settled into the territories that would eventually encompass all forty-eight contiguous states. Suddenly there was no new frontier to be explored and exploited. Those left in the small rural
William Jennings Bryan’s speech was more than just a political stunt used to win him the Democratic nod in the election of 1896 though; it showcased the general political and economic division of Americans in the late 1800’s between the decaying agrarian culture of the Plains and West and the bustling urbanized culture in the North East and Midwest.
The major shift from agriculture to industry was something that was needed to progress the country towards becoming a modern, imperialistic super power. However, the effects of this change were fairly harsh for the average rural person. For almost a hundred years, there was plenty of money to be made off the frontier. Products like timber and fur allowed many to cash in off the pristine woodlands of North America. Rare minerals like gold, copper, and silver drove thousands westward across the country in search of riches. However, the Country was connected by railroads by 1896, and Americans had settled into the territories that would eventually encompass all forty-eight contiguous states. Suddenly there was no new frontier to be explored and exploited. Those left in the small rural