The Populist Movement: Southern And Northwestern Alliances

The origin of the populist movement came from the Southern and Northwestern Alliances. The Alliance leaders of the two alliances discussed plans for a third party, which would be called the “Populism” movement. The new organization’s official name was the People’s Party. The election of 1892 revealed the potential power of the new Populism movement. James B. Weaver -the Populist presidential candidate- polled more than 1 million votes. The Populist Party elected three governors, five senators, and ten congressmen. Populism appealed to small farmers with little long-range economic security. However, populism never attracted significant labor support, this is because the interests of farmers and the economic interests of labor were at odds. Southern white populists struggled to accept African Americans. There was a network of “colored alliances”, whose population was over 1.25 million members. Southern conservatives began to attack the Populists for undermining white supremacy. The Populists proposed a system of …show more content…
The Populists ultimately represented the common people. The financial panic weakened the government’s money system. President Cleveland thought that the instability of the currency was the primary cause of the depression. In 1896, the Republicans were confident of success. The Democratic Convention of 1896 was unusually uproarious. This was one of the causes of the downfall of the Populists. The campaign of 1896 caused panic among conservatives. On election day, McKinley polled 271 electoral votes and Bryan pulled 176. For the Populists, the elections were disastrous. Within months of the elections, the Populist party began to dissolve. In conclusion, the election of 1896 resulted in the downfall of the