To What Extent Was Populism a Failure?

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The Populist Party was formed in 1889, and was predominantly supported by farmers in the south and west of America. Many argue that following the demise of the party, they left behind a legacy that influenced both the Democrats and Republicans in years to come. Even though the Populist Party lost the 1896, it was a huge success for the party. During the 1892 elections James Weaver secured just over 1,000,000 votes, which are 22 electoral votes. In the 1896 election, the success rate was much higher. William Jennings Bryan managed to secure over 6.5 million votes, which is 176 electoral votes. This compared to the previous election results is an extremely good result. This shows the huge backing the Populists have gained since the 92’ elections. The majority of the voters were from the south and west of the States, which is where much of the rural land was, also, McKinley won the east and north, which is where the big business was, and where the majority of his support was. This links to my next point about the backing that they had. Another reason the populists were successful is due to large support they gained from many unions/associations. The Farmers Alliance was formed in the 1880s, it consisted of farmers in the north-west, mid-west, and southern Alliances, all of which had a majority of 1 million members; this provided the Populist Party with a big number of people supporting their party. From these numbers you can see that the party was one of the favorite in the things they promised to the people. Furthermore, they managed to gain the support of the Greenback Party. They also supported the idea of Silver Coinage. They called for an inflationary economic policy that would, by printing money, you could put more silver in circulation, it would make the dollar cheaper; (16 Silver Coins: 1 Gold Coin), making it easier for farmers to pay off debts and have

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