5. The “Gilded Age” and Populism

The “Gilded Age” is a term often applied in a negative way to the quarter century after the Civil War, and was taken from a novel by Mark Twain and Charles Warner （1873） that criticised the superficiality of economic growth and materialism. The period is often viewed as being very much in contrast to the 1890s, which saw the beginning of the so-called Progressive movement （when action started to be taken to address some of the problems America faced）. During the 1870s and 1880s despite the romantic symbolism of the western frontier, the dominant themes within the U.S. were urban growth and industrial expansion on a massive scale, both of which were largely fuelled by the millions of immigrants who enteredthe country during that period. The gap between rich and poor widened, social problems multiplied, the pressure on governments to intervene more directly in people’s lives grew to an unprecedented level, and big business came to dominate politics, which was based on patronage rather than principle and was all about power, as well as the economy.

The Northwest Alliance formed the People’s Party （or Populists） in 1892, calling for low interest loans, a graduated progressive income tax, federal ownership of the hated railroads, direct election of senators, the free unlimited coinage of silver （the government kept the amount of money in circulation steady, but with the population growing this caused problems, particularly for those owing money）, a shorter working day, immigration restrictions and the use of more democratic political tools, such as the secret ballot, initiative, referendum, recall and directive. They did well in the middle border and Rocky Mountain states, winning four of them, but only polled 9 per cent of the total vote, not doing particularly well in some of the old Granger states, where farmers had diversified, or in the South, where whites tended to stick with the Democrats.

Populism continued after the Panic of 1893 and subsequent unemployment. President Cleveland was convinced that the Depression had been caused by the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, which had allowed holders of silver certificates to exchange them for gold leading to a drain on Treasury gold reserves. In 1893 he secured its repeal with Republican support but this had little effect and it was a loan from the banks which ended the monetary crisis at the end of 1896. The 1896 election was dominated by the battle of the gold and silver standards. The Republicans, with William McKinley of Ohio, supported the “hard money” gold standard and protective tariff while the Democrats put forward William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska campaigning for free silver. During the campaign he uttered the immortal words: “You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.” Eastern bankers and industrialists funded the Republicans, while Bryan absorbed the Populist votes, but lost despite winning 22 out of 45 states. Urban workers realised inflation would cut their real wages and they would pay more for bread if wheat prices rose. Populism was the first organised political movement to identify and try to deal with some of the problems of industrialisation. In 1900 the country officially adopted the gold standard.