The Populist Party

The rise and fall of the Populist party all started when farmers from all over the nation gathered together and addressed some common problems that they were facing. Farmers were stuck in a bad economic cycle. Prices for their crops were falling, and unfortunately farmers often had to mortgage their farms so that they could buy more land and produce more crops in order to “flourish”. There was very little suitable land to farm and cultivate and banks were foreclosing on the mortgages of farmers who could not make the payments on their loans. Moreover, the railroads were being taken advantage of farmers by charging excessive prices for shipping and storage. Farmers paid outrageously high prices to transport any produce or grain. There was a

The populists created an economic reforms included an increase in money supply which caused a rise in prices on received goods and services; a graduated income tax; and a federal loan program. The Populists eventually lost attention when many in the South and Midwest switched parties during the elections. The people living in the South and Midwest were pushing for a democratic representative to get their goals to follow through. The economic crisis dominated in 1890’s which responded with strong forces on industrialization, the economy had grown too quickly. There were overbuilt railroads and companies had outgrown their markets, farms and businesses borrowed heavily for the expansion (P. 467). The panic also spread to Wall Street, where the prices of stocks fell rapidly. Investments were declined, and all consumer purchases, wages, and prices fell. The Panic of 1893 deepened into depression (P. 468). The depression led people to reconsider the roles of the government, the economy, and as well with society. People were thinking that the reason why they lost their job was because of their own failings but eventually understood that the crash was from the economic forces, the fault was