The Populist Party was a major third party during the Gilded Age. The Populist Party had emerged from the Farmer's Alliance (Foster, "Gilded Age Politics"), therefore much of their platform was agrarian based. The two strongest issues on their platform were the nationalization of the railroad and a strong currency that could be regulated by the government (The Omaha Platform). Monopolies ran the railroads and monopolies define their prices. The Populist Party outraged by monopoly control began to call for government intervention in big business, especially the railroads. The farmers believed that the country was run by Wall Street, so farmers wanted the government to regulate the big businesses. (In Defense of Home and Hearth). Big business
