After the Civil War, the United States’ economy was in shambles, the Republican vision shifted its priority from Reconstruction to economic resolution. In order to stimulate the economy, the government emphasized capitalism through industrialization. As industrialization expanded, the illusion of a prolific economy surfaced. However, although the national economy gleamed at a glance, poverty was prevalent amongst the working class. This divided the nation into two separate factions: producers who were against capitalism, and big capitalists who evidently supported capitalism. The concerns which they conversely disagreed on were: high tariffs on imported goods and government’s regulation of big business. Producers argued against high tariffs,
…show more content…
Their discontent with both current political parties is expressed in their preamble when they say “We charge that the controlling influences dominating both these parties have permitted the existing dreadful conditions to develop without serious effort to prevent or restrain them. Neither do they now promise us any substantial reform.” In the “People’s (Populist) Party National Platform in 1892” agrarians and other protestors joined in retaliation against government corruption and hoped to close the ever widening gap between rich and poor. The Populist party was made up of two uncommon allies: farmers and industrial workers, which had one common enemy: monopolies. The farmers’ side was composed of Southern sharecroppers, small farmers and Western homesteaders. The industrial workers were made up of immigrant factory workers in the North cities. Although the People’s party eventually faltered due to Farmers who voted on behalf of their race and not their class, it’s ideas were good enough to be later brought up by the Progressive movement. Later, the Progressive era adopted the principles proposed by the Populist party. In 1905 the Western Federation of Labors collaborated with other radical groups to form the Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies) to use their vast numbers …show more content…
companies rise to monopolistic power. This was due to citizens’ abstention from purchasing cheaper imported goods, because of the high tariffs. Capitalist Republicans argued that the high tariffs would benefit the economy by putting out foreign competitors and creating jobs. They said that “tariffs benefitted ordinary workers because they created jobs, blocked low-wage foreign competition, and safeguarded America from the kind of industrial poverty that had arisen in Europe.” Although tariffs did help the economy, they also further contributed to the accumulation of wealth of companies to get even richer and frustrated the working class people because they were being forced to buy more expensive
Their discontent with both current political parties is expressed in their preamble when they say “We charge that the controlling influences dominating both these parties have permitted the existing dreadful conditions to develop without serious effort to prevent or restrain them. Neither do they now promise us any substantial reform.” In the “People’s (Populist) Party National Platform in 1892” agrarians and other protestors joined in retaliation against government corruption and hoped to close the ever widening gap between rich and poor. The Populist party was made up of two uncommon allies: farmers and industrial workers, which had one common enemy: monopolies. The farmers’ side was composed of Southern sharecroppers, small farmers and Western homesteaders. The industrial workers were made up of immigrant factory workers in the North cities. Although the People’s party eventually faltered due to Farmers who voted on behalf of their race and not their class, it’s ideas were good enough to be later brought up by the Progressive movement. Later, the Progressive era adopted the principles proposed by the Populist party. In 1905 the Western Federation of Labors collaborated with other radical groups to form the Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies) to use their vast numbers …show more content…
companies rise to monopolistic power. This was due to citizens’ abstention from purchasing cheaper imported goods, because of the high tariffs. Capitalist Republicans argued that the high tariffs would benefit the economy by putting out foreign competitors and creating jobs. They said that “tariffs benefitted ordinary workers because they created jobs, blocked low-wage foreign competition, and safeguarded America from the kind of industrial poverty that had arisen in Europe.” Although tariffs did help the economy, they also further contributed to the accumulation of wealth of companies to get even richer and frustrated the working class people because they were being forced to buy more expensive