History That Doesn't Suck - 98: Silver & Gold: From Grover Cleveland to William Jennings Bryan & William McKinley

Episode Date: September 27, 2021

“You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.” This is the story of the Gilded Age’s later presidencies. Grover “the Good” Cleveland is known as a man of integrity and honesty. Those characteristics alone are enough to get him to the White House. But as Benjamin Harrison interrupts his terms, the frustration of farmers and factory workers is boiling over into more labor strikes. Soon, working-class Americans are rallying around one issue in particular: the minting of silver. The issue is ripping the Democratic party apart. Should they continue to support the gold standard, as Democratic president Grover Cleveland does? Or should they support the working-class “Silverites,” as a young Congressman from Nebraska named William Jennings Bryan hopes to do? This question will be settled as the Dems pick a nominee to square off against the Republicans’ 1896 presidential candidate: William McKinley. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The French Revolution set Europe ablaze. It was an age of enlightenment and progress, but also of tyranny and oppression. It was an age of glory and an age of tragedy. One man stood above it all. This was the Age of Napoleon. I'm Everett Rummage, host of the Age of Napoleon podcast. Join me as I examine the life and times of one of the most fascinating and enigmatic characters in modern history.

Look for The Age of Napoleon wherever you find your podcasts. What did it take to survive an ancient siege? Why was the cult of Dionysus behind so many slave revolts in ancient Rome? What's the tragic history and mythology behind Japan's most haunted ancient forest? We're Jen and Jenny from Ancient History Fangirl. Join us to explore ancient history and mythology from a fun, sometimes tipsy, perspective. Find us at ancienthistoryfangirl.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to History That Doesn't Suck. I'm your professor, Greg Jackson, and as in the classroom,

my goal here is to make rigorously researched history come to life as your storyteller. Each episode is the result of laborious research with no agenda other than making the past come to life as you learn. If you'd like to help support this work, receive ad-free episodes, bonus content, and other exclusive perks, I invite you to join the HTDS membership program. Sign up for a seven-day free trial today at htdspodcast.com slash membership, or click the link in the episode notes. It's about 8.15 on a cool, moonlit night, May 4th, 1886. We're in Chicago, Illinois, at a large city square between Halstead and Des Plaines streets,

known as the Haymarket. Two to three thousand workers, some with their families, are gathered here. But nothing is going on. They're just standing about, dwarfed by the Haymarket's vastness. This is the scene as August's spies and his brother are walking up. A German immigrant with thick hair, an amazing mustache, and prominent nose, This is the scene as August's spies and his brother are walking up. A German immigrant with thick hair, an amazing mustache, and prominent nose,

August is grievously disappointed. A meeting should have started here at 7.30. Yet, where are the speakers who, as the flyer circulated today promised, would, quote, denounce the latest atrocious acts of the police, close quote. That is, the killing of at least two strikers and wounding of many more yesterday at McCormick's Harvester Works. And where's his dear friend, Albert Parsons? Instead, all August sees is a leaderless group smoking, chatting, and otherwise frittering away the evening. This isn't acceptable. Snapping into action,

August leads the crowd a little ways up to Splane Street. It's a smaller space, and this makes the crowd look bigger. He then climbs up on an empty truck wagon right next to the Crane Brothers metal products factory. That's right. Although August expected to speak later in his native tongue for the benefit of his many fellow German immigrant workers, he'll go ahead and start the meeting in English.

Friends, the speakers of the evening not having arrived, I shall entertain you a few minutes. I am told that a number of patrol wagons carrying policemen were sent to Des Plaines Street Station, and I understand that the militia have been called under arms. There seems to prevail the opinion in certain quarters that this meeting has been called for the purpose of inaugurating a riot. Hence these warlike preparations on the part of the so-called law and order. However, let me tell you at the beginning that this meeting has not been called for any such purpose. The object of this meeting is to explain the general situation of the eight-hour movement and to throw light upon various incidents

in connection with it. Ah, the eight-hour movement. The eight-hour workday has attracted a significant following over the last two decades. Labor organizations of all stripes support it, even the anti-striking, politically moderate Knights of Labor. But if that's the purpose of this meeting,

why the large police presence at the station less than 200 feet away? Well, August and his fellow organizers are no nights of labor. They're radicals, known with little distinction as socialists, communists, or anarchists. And in the wake of the last few days' events, which range from a massive nationwide strike

on May 1st for the eight-hour workday to yesterday's deadly strike, some of their publications have called for taking up arms. The REVENGE CIRCULAR, so-called because it opens with the word REVENGE in all caps, has many on edge. Hence the police. Hence August's earnest endeavors to clarify this is a peaceful meeting. As August counters the pro-capitalist newspapers that blame yesterday's police violence on the anarchists, Chicago Mayor Carter Harrison enjoys a cigar and listens. The 61-year-old, physically imposing, bearded Democrat is here to assess the threat of violence himself.

Not that he's overly worried. A supporter of the eight-hour workday himself, Carter even gave his blessing to this meeting tonight. August finishes speaking. Much to his relief, he sees that Albert Parsons has arrived, and the German immigrant is more than happy to yield to this even more radical, handlebar-mustache-wearing southerner. Albert speaks for an hour.

Among his various topics, the ex-Confederate turned anarchist rails against industrialists, like Tom Scott of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Albert reminds the crowd that, during the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, this now-deceased mentor of Andrew Carnegie said of strikers, quote, give them a rifle diet and see how they like that bread. Close quote. The mere mention of Jay Gould's name excites calls for the industrialists' death. But Albert answers, no. This is about changing the system, not attacking individuals. It's now past 10 p.m.

The crowd's thin to a mere 500. The mayor's not worried. He tells Inspector John Bonfield to send his reinforcements home, then heads home himself, satisfied that all will end peacefully. But just after the respected city executive departs, and a light rain begins, one last speaker takes to the cart. This is the bearded English immigrant and stone hauler, Samuel Fielden.

Speaking under the dim light of a single gas lamp, he declares, The law is only framed for those who are your enslavers. You have nothing more to do with the law, except to lay hands on it and throttle it until it makes its last kick. Kill it, stab it, do everything you can to wound it, to impede its progress. Two detectives mingling in the crowd interpret Samuel's words as a call for violent revolution. Do everything you can to wound it, to impede its progress. Two detectives mingling in the crowd interpret Samuel's words as a call for violent revolution.

They dash down the street to the police station and report it. The inspector responds by immediately leading 180 officers to the scene. They arrive as Samuel's still speaking. The socialists are not going to declare war, but I tell you, war has been declared on us. A column of blue uniforms suddenly spans Des Plaines Street. A police captain exclaims, I command you in the name of the people of the state of Illinois to immediately and peaceably disperse. Shocked, Samuel answers, But we are peaceable.

I command you in the name of the people of the state of Illinois to immediately and peaceably disperse. All right, we will go. A small light flies through the air as Samuel descends from the wagon. Some wonder, has someone thrown a lit cigar at the police? Windows shatter as a bomb blasts numerous policemen off their feet. Some are dead, others are wounded. Utterly unsure of what's going on, officers begin firing indiscriminately at the crowd. Then wagon loads of reinforcements arrive. Countless hundreds of officers club anyone who sticks around. The voices of fleeing and bleeding workers echo through Chicago streets as they beg for help. Oh God, I'm shot. Please take me home. Take me to the hospital.

By the time it's over, the police have clubbed countless men and shot as many as 100, killing an unknown few. Meanwhile, the bomb killed seven policemen and injured scores more. The identity of the bomb thrower will never be known, but eight men are arrested all the same,

charged as accessories for publications and speeches that allegedly incited the assailant. Only three, however, attended the meeting at the Haymarket that night, August Spies, Albert Parsons, and Samuel Fielden. Three of the eight will eventually be pardoned. One commits suicide in jail. The other four go to the gallows on November 11, 1887. Among them is August Spies.

With a hood over his head, the German shouts out his last words. The day will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you are throttling today. Welcome to History That Doesn't Suck. I'm your professor, Greg Jackson, and I'd like to tell you a story. This Chicago meeting with such deadly consequences will be known as the Haymarket Affair, or riot, Or massacre. It all depends on whom you ask. After getting a close look at the rise of some industrialists in the last episode, today, we'll see American workers and farmers push back. Yes, that means more strikes,

but particularly, it means presidential politics and questions over U.S. currency, silver, and the continuation of the gold standard. We'll move through four presidential elections, 1884, 88, 92, and 96. As we do, we'll witness debates over tariffs, enter another recession, and experience yet another significant strike, the Pullman Strike. We'll also observe as the two major political parties go from having few distinctions between them to differing significantly, especially on the question of silver coinage. Is the gold standard protecting the value of the U.S. dollar and therefore helping both industrialists and laborers alike, as Republican William McKinley suggests? Or is it crushing the average American, who would find immense relief if silver were minted at a 16 to 1 ratio with gold, as Democrat William Jennings Bryan and his laborer and farmer supporters argue?

We'll see what Americans in 1896 think of these different views. But we can't do that without building up to it. So let's start by backing up a few years to see whom Americans of 1884 trust more in the White House. Republican James Blaine or Democrat Grover Cleveland? Here we go. Rewind. It's about 7 p.m. Wednesday, October 29th, 1884. 200 businessmen are gathered at Delmonico's in New York City. These are New York's most powerful merchants and political players.

The elite. The wealthy. They've all gathered this rainy evening in the ornate ballroom of Delmonico's, which is the restaurant for New York's upper crust, to hear a speech from a very special guest. And here he comes. From the back of the ballroom enters the former U.S. Senator and Secretary of State turned Republican presidential candidate, James Blaine.

James has had a long day. The 54-year-old, bearded, salt-and-peppered candidate just spent countless hours outside in the pouring rain, shaking hands among some 25,000 businessmen, merchants, and bankers, all of whom support his candidacy. Tonight, though, he'll be able to take a seat and relax. James is escorted up to the front table. He's soon seated between two other prominent figures,

a fellow former Secretary of State, William Everts, and the business magnate who funded the Atlantic telegraph cable, Cyrus Fields. On the table, a vase bearing James' initials, JGB, holding elaborate floral arrangement. From decor to atmosphere, this dinner is perfectly on point for such a high-profile figure. The crowd erupts. Three cheers for Blaine!

After the applause dies down and Reverend Dr. Field offers grace, ex-Secretary William Everts proposes a toast to the guest of the evening, then outlines the platform of the candidate and the Republican Party. In brief, the Republicans are trying to stop waving the bloody shirt, that is, invoking the increasingly distant memory of the Civil War, as well as distance themselves from the spoils system. Now, James Blaine has a career steeped in both, but he too wants the Republicans to evolve, specifically to evolve into the party

of big business with protectionist policy. This becomes more evident when James rises to address this room of enormously wealthy guests. Gentlemen, it is worthwhile to remember that the United States is proceeding today upon a given basis of public policy, a great financial system, a great currency system, and important national credit. Basically, James is arguing a country's success can be defined by the money it makes. He then praises the state of New York's financial success for the past 23 years, which he credits to the fiscal policies of the Republican Party. Finishing with gratitude for those present, James is again cheered three times. The dinner then adjourns, whereupon the guests move into Delmonico's parlors

to enjoy cigars and libations until midnight. Pro-Republican newspapers portray the evening as a great event, the gathering of powerful leaders to discuss how they can help everyone. But that's not what others see. To Democrats, the dinner only proved that the Republican Party and James Blaine are corrupt and in bed with big businesses' money delete. Joseph Pulitzer's newspaper, The New York World, depicts this narrative powerfully with a cartoon entitled

The Royal Feast of Belshazzar Blaine and the Money Kings. In it, James Blaine and the diners gorge themselves on monopoly soup, lobby pudding, and Navy contract as a starving couple with their little child begs for scraps. Ouch. This isn't the sort of press a presidential candidate wants only a week before the general election. It might be just the boost his Democratic opponent, Grover Cleveland, needs.

A stout man with a receding hairline and drooping walrus mustache, Stephen Grover Cleveland, or just Grover as his friends call him, isn't the type you'd traditionally expect to see as a presidential candidate. Grover doesn't win over party bosses. He's got no hero chops. Unlike many other politicians of the era, he didn't serve in the Civil War. When the draft came up, Grover paid $150 to a Polish immigrant to take his place. Absolutely legal, but not heroic. But Grover's making a name for himself in another way. The lawyer-turned-sheriff-turned-mayor-of-Buffalo-turned-governor-of-New York has proven himself hardworking and honest above reproach.

This New York Democrat even dares to defy Tammany Hall. His principle over party ways impresses voters, whom he has no problem meeting in beer halls. Conversely, the Republican Party has passed on nominating the former spoils system beneficiary turned repentant spoils system fighter, incumbent U.S. President Chester Arthur, to go with political baggage-laden, allegedly bribe-accepting James Blaine. Hmm. Perhaps the decades-long Congress and White House dominating Republican Party simply feels untouchable. But given these factors, Grover Cleveland's odds aren't looking bad. But as luck would have it, Republicans have just the ammo needed

to fight this honest square, a sex scandal. Back on July 21st, 1884, the Buffalo Telegraph published a story with the following headline, a terrible tale, a dark chapter in a public man's history. It opens, a child was born out of wedlock. Now 10 years of age, this sturdy lad is named Oscar Folsom Cleveland.

He and his mother have been supported in part by our ex-mayor, who now aspires to the White House. Astute readers may put the facts together and draw their own conclusions. Yikes. The sensational story quickly spread across the nation as Republican-supporting media ate it up. In September, the Judge magazine's cover

was a political cartoon depicting Grover the Good, as the Democrat is known, plugging his ears as a tearful babe in his mother's arms, reaches towards Grover, crying out, I want my pa. Meanwhile, the mother, Maria Halpin, is accusing Grover of rape and abuse. Is this a smear campaign or the truth?

Grover says the truth is all he wants. He wires friends in Buffalo, whatever you do, tell the truth. According to the Democratic candidate, he and Maria had a consensual relationship. And while he's unsure that he's the father, Grover has nonetheless financially supported Maria and the child, just in case.

Though deeply humiliated by it all, Grover's handling of the sex scandal only augments his image as a man of honesty. Meanwhile, James Blaine's recent dinner with the Money Kings at Delmonico deepens his image of corruption. The outcome is that Grover carries the popular and, of actual constitutional importance, electoral vote. In 1884, Grover Cleveland becomes the first Democrat to win a presidential election since the Civil War. Victorious Democrats now mock the sex scandal, cheering,

Hurrah for Maria! Hurrah for the kid! I voted for Cleveland, and damn glad I did. But as the election was a question of each candidate's character, not policy, and as the parties don't really have philosophical differences these days, what will the famously honest Democrat, Grover Cleveland, actually do in office? Right out the gate, Grover the Good proves that he's not a spoilsystem fan. He makes cabinet and other appointments based on merit.

He even appoints talented Republicans. Yet, even Grover can't completely shake the will of his party. As good as he is at bringing merit into the equation, plenty of highly capable Republican bureaucrats are still replaced by Democrats. Grover also continues the work started by his predecessor, Chester Arthur, of modernizing the Navy. This isn't because Grover wants to go on an overseas conquest. He's actually more of an isolationist. But the 22nd president sees wisdom in being prepared to defend America's coasts.

But what is Grover's domestic policy? Well, Grover seems to be a bourbon democrat. Now, sorry bourbon fans, this isn't a nod to the American whiskey. Besides, Grover's way more of a beer guy. Rather, it's a term for Dems who oppose the spoiled system and Gilded Age corruption, but also are fans of the free market. Grover will sign off on the Railroad Regulating Interstate Commerce Act I told you about back in episode 91. He's urging Congress to think through and address the growing divide between labor and capital,

even before that deadly day in the Chicago hay market. But by and large, Grover is laissez-faire. Just ask the good people of Texas. It's now January 1887, and Texas is hot and dry. Okay, I know that sounds like nothing new, but even for the Lone Star State, this last winter has seen exceptionally high temperatures and dangerously little rainfall. Cattle are dying. Crops are failing. Thousands of Texas families are left destitute.

The Fort Worth Gazette tells a grim tale. Strong men who would go away to other localities in search of work dread to leave their wives and babies in their homes without bread. Men grow desperate and consider whether they shall carry their helpless family to the countryside and leave them as paupers while they seek work and money and bread wherever it can be found. Without some recognition of common humanity, there may go out to the world a story of more bitter shame and greater hurt to the state than any which has occurred in the past. Clara Barton and her Red Cross crew are on the scene. But even this heroic woman who saved lives on Civil War battlefields and, as we know from the last episode, will yet save Pennsylvanian lives after the Johnstown flood, can only do so much.

Congress decides to provide relief. It passes the Texas Seed Bill. But despite the situation, Grover Cleveland can't help but see an overstep of congressional power. He vetoes the seed bill, sending it back to Congress with this statement. I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution. I do not believe that the power and duty of the general government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering, which is in no manner properly related to the public service or benefit. A prevalent tendency to disregard the limited mission of this power and duty should, I think, be steadfastly resisted to the end that the lesson should be constantly enforced

that though the people support the government, the government should not support the people. Farmers in Texas and other states who supported Grover Cleveland now feel rejected by him. They turn to Farmers' Alliances to support themselves and their families. And soon enough, those alliances will fight back against Grover the Good and his fellow bourbon Democrats. That's good news for the Republicans who are itching to take back the White House. The Republican Party turns to Indiana's Benjamin Harrison as their presidential candidate for 1888. Though just as bearded and salt-and-peppered as James Blaine, Ben brings far less baggage and has an impressive political resume

that includes being a Civil War vet, lawyer, U.S. senator, and party leader. Nor does it hurt that Ben's pedigree is as American as apple pie. His father was a congressman, his grandfather was the short-lived U.S. President William Henry Harrison, and his great-grandfather was the Declaration of Independence-signing Virginian by the same name, Benjamin Harrison. Thus, the diminutive 5'6 Republican will seek to arrest the office of president from the nearly six foot over 250 pound Democratic incumbent. Now, as I said earlier, the two major parties currently do not differ much in policy. That means political campaigns of the era often come down to ad hominem character assassination, as we saw in 1884 with questions over Grover the Good's sexual past and James Blaine's fancy dining habits. In 1888, the new rumor is that the newlywed president once drunkenly beat his young bride,

Frances. Meanwhile, the Democrats try to make something of Ben Harrison's fondness for wearing a beaver hat. They sing, his grandfather's hat, it's too big for Ben, Republicans reply. The same old hat. It fits Ben just right. But this election will get more into policy than the last. Grover Cleveland has given the Republicans something to distinguish themselves from the Democrats, the question of the tariff. See, Grover's been going on and on about lowering the tariff lately. Last December, he devoted his annual

message, a speech that future generations will call the State of the Union, to the idea of lower tariffs. He said, the plain and simple duty which we owe the people is to reduce taxation to the necessary expenses of an economical operation of the government and to restore to the business of the country the money which we hold in the treasury through the perversion of governmental powers. These things can and should be done with safety to all our industries, without danger to the opportunity for remunerative labor, which our working men need, and with benefit to them and all our people by cheapening their means of subsistence and increasing the measure of their comforts. In brief, Grover sees the government holding too much cash, roughly $140 million,

and thinks it's time to cut Uncle Sam's take and lower the prices on goods by lowering international tariffs. He sees a win for everyone, but Republicans disagree. They depict the Democratic president as a free trade zealot whose policies will hurt American businesses and workers as they compete against Europe's, quote-unquote, pauper labor. And things only get worse for Grover on this front in the final weeks before the election. George Osgoodby, a California Republican,

writes a letter posing as a British man named Charles Murchison to the British ambassador to the United States, Sir Lionel Sackville West. In it, George asks for whom he should vote. The ambassador replies, There is every reason to believe that, while upholding the position he has taken, President Grover Cleveland will manifest a spirit of conciliation in dealing with the tariff. Essentially, if Grover gets elected, the British expect he will push for a lower tariff with them.

Republicans published the letter weeks before the election, claiming that it proves Grover wants free trade with the Brits. Americans don't like that. Even some Democrats, particularly Irish Democrats, abandon Grover at this point. Come November, neither candidate secures the majority of the popular vote. particularly Irish Democrats, abandon Grover at this point. Come November, neither candidate secures the majority of the popular vote. Grover does win the plurality, but of course, that doesn't really matter.

With the aid of New York, Indiana, and perhaps some bought and paid for votes, Ben Harrison wins the Electoral College, and thus the presidency. Grover tells a friend after the loss that, perhaps I made a mistake from the partyctoral College, and thus the presidency. Grover tells a friend after the loss that, perhaps I made a mistake from the party standpoint, but damn it, it was the right thing to do. Ah, that's Grover all right. The man's strength is his weakness. He's still a straight shooter who doesn't change his politics to please the party. President Benjamin Harrison and his back in power Republican colleagues quickly worked to fulfill their promise on the tariff, and further worked to limit the industrialists in some ways. A young representative from Ohio named William McKinley puts forth the Tariff Act

of 1890, which eliminates some tariffs while raising others to almost 50%. They also passed the Sherman Antitrust Act, hoping to use it to break up some of the massive corporations forming in the country, like Standard Oil and Carnegie Steel. But it doesn't take long for average citizens to realize that the tariffs are benefiting big business, while they, the average citizens, are paying more for goods. Nor is the Sherman Antitrust Act being enforced. As a result, the Democrats crushed the Republicans

in the 1890 midterm election. And in 1892, Americans decide to make Grover Cleveland the first and only to date non-consecutive two-term president. It's a great victory for Grover, but as POTUS number 22 returns to the White House as number 24, a major economic disaster drops in his hands, the Panic of 1893. answer, you'll want to share it with everyone you know. Why do rivers curve? Why did the T-Rex have such tiny arms? And why do so many more kids need glasses now than they used to? Spoiler alert, it isn't screen time. Our team of scientists digs into the research and breaks it down into a short,

entertaining explanation, jam-packed with science facts and terrible puns. Subscribe to MinuteEarth wherever you like to listen. credit cards, banking, investing, and more. We answer your real-world money questions and break down the latest personal finance news. The Nerds will give you the clarity you need by cutting through the clutter and misinformation in today's world of personal finance. We don't promote get rich quick schemes or hype unrealistic side hustles. Instead, we offer practical knowledge that you can apply in your everyday life. You'll learn about strategies to help you build your wealth, invest wisely, shop for financial products, and plan for major life events. Thank you. for your life. Listen to NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. It's the morning of July 5th, 1894. Over 2,000 irate people are gathering at the railroad stockyard in Chicago, Illinois. They seem unconcerned about the U.S. infantrymen

here protecting railroad property. A violent clash appears inevitable. Okay, background. Trouble started back in May when Pullman Company employees and members of the newly formed American Railroad Union, or ARU, sent a delegation to talk to their boss, George Pullman, about their financial plight.

George has recently cut wages by 20 to 36 percent. Yet, as their landlord in the company town of Pullman, he hasn't reduced their rent, gas, or other costs despite paying out larger dividends to shareholders. The sleeping car titan refused to negotiate and fired three delegation members. So ARU President Eugene V. Debs responded in late June by organizing a 125,000 participant nationwide railroad crippling strike. But after that, US Attorney General Richard Olney stepped in with a Supreme Court-backed injunction,

making it legal for US troops to quell the strike. President Grover Cleveland sent troops to Chicago yesterday, the 4th of July, and that's how today, only a stone's throw from the town of Pullman, we have this showdown in the Windy City's stockyard. Ignoring the troops, the crowd knocks down a railroad official, overturns freight cars, derails passenger trains on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago railroads and sets fire to railroad switches. Over the next few days, a mob largely unattached to the ARU or Pullman employees take on the troops. By July 9th, 30 are dead, scores more are wounded, and Chicago is occupied by a force of 14,000 men. This nationwide strike, called the Pullman Strike, will be crushed before the month

is out, and the American Railway Union's leaders, including ARU President Eugene V. Debs, will be sent to prison. Just as the Panic of 1873 helped pave the way for the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, so another panic, the Panic of 1893, contributed to the Railroad Strike of 1877. So another panic, the Panic of 1893, contributed to the Pullman Strike of 1894. I've mentioned this panic a few times in our Gilded Age episodes, but let me be clear, it's a heavy blow. Like its predecessor of 20 years prior,

the Panic of 1893 starts with the railroads and dominoes from there. Hundreds of banks and railroads, along with several thousand businesses, go under as stocks tumble. As many as 4 million people, that is roughly 20% of the American workforce, are out of work. These are the conditions that George Pullman points to as he cuts workers' wages amid increased dividend payments. This is also the economy that Grover Cleveland encounters right as he returns to the White House. The second-time new president is sure he knows what the cause of

this recession is, though. He lays the blame for the panic squarely on the shoulders of the 1890 Harrison administration law that increased the amount of silver the U.S. government buys each year and permits paper money to be backed by that same precious metal. This is the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. Okay, this takes us into the question of the gold standard, which is a huge to-do in the Gilded Age United States. Without going too far into the weeds, let me remind you that, during the Civil War, the U.S. started issuing treasury notes called greenbacks. They became a form of currency right alongside minted gold and silver coins. But after the war, the U.S. government reduced the number of greenbacks in circulation.

This deflationary move hit Southerners and Westerners hardest, as did Congress's 1873 decision to end silver coinage as mining out West rocked the nation's gold-to-silver ratio. Understandably then, Gilded Age American laborers and farmers want to see these policies reversed. Thus, the Greenback Party was born in the 1870s. It hasn't succeeded, though, so now silver advocates are taking up the inflation mantle. Silverites, as these silver fans are known, want U.S. currency to include both gold and silver. Since American silver is so plentiful, they argue that coining metal in this quote-unquote bimetal system at a silver-to-gold ratio of 16 to 1 will inflate the dollar's value

and thereby help poor farmers and laborers pay the mortgage or rent. But Grover Cleveland, his bourbon Democrats, and most Republicans disagree. They believe that bimetallism will only put the dollar on shaky ground and lead to gold hoarding. I really can't overstate how significant this fight is. Curiously, on July 1st, 1893, it led to Grover having a cancerous tumor removed from his mouth and a secret surgical procedure out at sea on a yacht. How does that track? This is because his vice president, Adlai Stevenson, is a Silverite, and Grover doesn't want gold standard-supporting investors tanking the economy over fears a Silverite might soon ascend to the presidency. And it all turns out well for the gold interests.

Post-surgery, Grover orchestrates the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, putting the U.S. back on the gold standard. He also asks his friend, the influential banker tycoon, or robber baron, J. Pierpont Morgan, to bail out the U.S. Treasury by purchasing $60 million worth of bonds with gold. Average workers and farmers are livid. As they see it, not only is the economy in the dumps, but it seems everyone, the president, Congress, the courts, and both major parties are all in cahoots with big money interests. So what can they do?

They organize. Remember the Farmers' Alliance I mentioned when we were in Texas, where farm workers hurting in the new industrial economy joined to fight big business? Well, in 1891, those alliances formed the People's Party, otherwise called the Populist Party. By the mid-1890s, this small third party opposing any legislation in favor of big business swells to 25 to 45 percent of the electorate in some 20 states. But it still isn't enough to compete in the big leagues. To the populists' disappointment, their 1892 presidential candidate, James Weaver,

only carries four states. Urban workers are organizing as well in these years, but of course, you already know that. We witnessed that firsthand as the American Railway Union pushed back on George Pullman. Grover Cleveland tried to alleviate the situation by offering the Pullman Company's employees nominal support. He promoted Congress's recognition of Labor Day as a federal holiday two days after the strike began. But it was to no avail. Damages

nationwide amounted to $80 million as workers across the country struck back against the quote-unquote money interests. Newspapers reported fallout from Los Angeles to St. Louis as the strike prevented freights, passengers, and mail from reaching most of the West. Still, George Pullman refused to meet with his employees, saying, quote, now as to the statement that the question would be left to arbitration, speaking for the Pullman company, I can say most positively that that cannot be done. There's nothing to arbitration. Speaking for the Pullman Company, I can say most positively that that cannot be done. There's nothing to arbitrate. In short, President Grover Cleveland and his bourbon Democrats took George Pullman's side. Citing constitutional powers over mail delivery

and interstate commerce, they ordered the federal troops to Chicago, whom we met earlier. ARU President Eugene Debs encouraged his men to strike peacefully, but by this point he saw this going south fast. On the 4th of July, the same day the troops arrived, he direly predicted, the first shot fired by the regular soldiers at the mob here will be the signal for a civil war. Bloodshed will follow, and 90% of the people of the United States will be arrayed against the other 10%. It is unfortunate that the conditions have become such as to force the laboring people into active resistance to the encroachments upon their personal rights. But it is corporation greed and avarice alone that has brought us to the verge of the revolution. Civil war? Revolution? Good God.

But as we know, neither of those follow. Instead, the strike dies while Eugene and other ARU leaders are sent to jail. But while Eugene Debs is stepping out of the limelight temporarily, the working man, farmer, and unions aren't going to just fold to capital. Far from it. In two years' time, they'll find a new hero at the Democratic National Convention. It's a cool, clear day, July 9th, 1896,

and the word at the Democratic National Convention and the Chicago Coliseum is disappointment. The Dems need a real rock star if they're going to compete with the Republican Party's nominee, a former congressman and Ohio governor, William McKinley. Yet, two days in, all they've managed to do is rip each other apart. The Silverites know they don't have a shot in the upcoming election unless they appeal to the populist ideas of free silver and income taxes. On the other hand, bourbon Democrats want to hold the line on President Grover Cleveland's gold standard. It's nothing short of a madhouse as they fight over the platform

and the nomination. The frontrunner is free silver advocate, Congressman Richard Bland, but his name fits him a bit too well. One associate described him as, quote, artless as a child, close quote. Yeah, that's not what you want if you need to overcome the baggage of an economic panic and the Pullman strike. But as the Democrats languish over which way the party should go on the debate over gold and silver, another figure makes his way to the star-spangled podium. Dressed in a long black coat and bow tie, this is the dark-haired, strong-jawed 36-year-old

former congressman from Nebraska, William Jennings Bryan. The audience quiets as William begins. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the convention, I would be presumptuous indeed to present myself against the distinguished gentlemen to whom you have listened cause is stronger than all the hosts of error. I come to speak to you in defense of a cause as holy as the cause of liberty, the cause of humanity.

Never before in the history of this country has there been witnessed such a contest as that through which we have just passed. Never before in the history of American politics has a great issue been brought out as this issue has been by the voters of a great party. Wow. A bold claim to make only three decades out from the Civil War. The contest to which Will is referring is the quote-unquote money question over free silver. As he continues,

Will directly challenges big business and its supporters. When you, turning to the gold delegates, come before us and tell us that we're about to disturb your business interests, we reply that you have disturbed our business interests by your course. We say to you that you have made the definition of a businessman too limited in its application. The man who is employed for wages is as much a businessman as his employer. The attorney in a country town is as much a businessman as the corporation council in a great metropolis. The merchant at the crossroads store is as much a businessman as the corporation council in the great metropolis the merchant at the crossroads store is as much a businessman as the merchant of new york

the farmer who goes forth in the morning and toils all day who begins in the spring and toils all summer and who by the application of brain and muscles and the natural resources of the country creates wealth, is as much a businessman as the man who goes upon the board of trade and bets upon the price of grain. The miner who goes down a thousand feet into the earth, or climbs two thousand feet upon the cliff, and brings forth there from their hiding places the precious metals to be poured into channels of trade are as much businessmen as the few financial magnates who in a back room corner the money of the world. So, to say Will Bryan isn't happy with the industrialists is an understatement. He then expresses support for other ideas that, frankly, are right in line with the populists.

Despite the recent opinion of the Supreme Court, he asserts that an income tax would be constitutional. He also denounces the banking system's vice grip on the economy and advocates for term limits in Washington. But shortly, Will returns to his main thesis, the money question. He sees nothing as being more important and claims nothing else can be addressed until it is. William continues, boldly asserting that the Democratic Party must pick a side, and that side, he contends, should be with the masses, the factory workers and country farmers.

That this was a struggle between the idle holders of idle capital and the struggling masses who produce the wealth and pay the taxes of the country. They tell us that the great cities are in favor of the gold standard. We reply that the great cities rest upon our broad and fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic. But destroy our farms, and the grass will grow in the streets of every city of the country.

If they dare to come out in the open field and defend the gold standards, the good things, we will fight them to the uttermost. Now, Will comes to his dramatic end. The deeply religious politician steps back and stretches out his arms. Holding this crucifix-like pose, he bellows out against the industrialists

and supporters of the gold standard. Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests, and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them, You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.

For a moment, the convention is silent. And then, it explodes. Delegates cheer wildly as they rush the Nebraska delegation and the stage. They hoist Will Bryan on their shoulders as men throw their hats and wave party banners.

The Democrats have found their hero to take on Republican presidential candidate William McKinley, the barely constitutionally old enough to run the Braskin, Mr. William Jennings Bryan. Indeed, the battle of the Williams for the White House is about to unfold. And for the first time in years, the parties will have significant differences in policy. It's just before noon, August 22nd, 1896. Rain drizzles as 6,000 people gather around the front porch of William McKinley's white, two-story home in Canton, Ohio. But no one seems to be bothered by the foul weather. Bands play and cannon fires as excited spectators chat.

Then suddenly, he emerges. It's the Union War veteran, former governor and congressman turned Republican presidential candidate, William McKinley. The crowd cheers madly as the 53-year-old with sharp blue eyes, dressed in a white shirt and black coat, ascends the box serving as a makeshift podium. The audience then quiets down. Will McKinley addresses the crowd. The earnest thought of the people this year is directed to the present condition of the country and how best to improve it. Nobody is satisfied with our unfortunate business condition and the great body of the people want and mean to have a change. What shall the change be? Shall it be the continuance of the present Democratic Party under another leadership? The audience cries with one voice.

The Ohioan continues. A leadership advocating all the policies of the Democratic Party, which have been injurious to the American people and patriotism? Again, the crowd boos at such thoughts. Will McKinley then goes on the attack against the Silverite Democrats. This swing of the Democratic Party believes not only in free trade, but it believes in free silver at a ratio of 16 to 1. Having diminished our business, they now seek to diminish the value of our money. What we want now is business activity and confidence. Without confidence, money will be hoarded and the wheels of industry stopped. Then the farmer, the merchant, the manufacturer, the laborer, and those of other useful occupations alike will suffer. Gentlemen,

confidence lies at the foundations of active and successful business organizations? The people want neither free trade nor free silver? These are questions which every voter must answer in his conscience and by his vote next November. Gentlemen, what shall the answer be? The audience bursts into cheers and answers. We elect Henry! We elect Henry! The former governor then descends from the platform to shake hands with the mighty multitude. So goes a typical day in William McKinley's front porch campaign.

Rather than storm across the country to rally up the voters, the Republican candidate is letting voters come to him. And they definitely come. Over the course of the campaign, roughly 750,000 Americans from across the nation make the trek to the McKinley home in Canton, Ohio, to hear him speak against his Free Silver Democratic opponent, William Jennings Bryan. The Republican will continues to assail the Democratic will over the Free Silver issue. Will McKinley loathes what he sees as Will Bryan stirring up divisions

and making class warfare. To quote the Ohio Republican on another Front Porch occasion, my countrymen, the most un-American of all appeals observable in this campaign is the one which seeks to array labor against capital,

employer against employee. Basically, William M. doesn't want this to turn into a campaign of Main Street versus Wall Street, but that dynamic is definitely taking shape, with particular thanks to his own campaign manager and Republican National Committee president, Mark Hanna. Working out of New York, Mark leans into the class division rhetoric as he courts donations from industrial titans. This produces serious results. The tycoons or robber barons, whom we've come to know quite well, pony up. John Rockefeller's Standard Oil donates $250,000. John himself throws in another

$2,500. The baron of banking, J. Pierpont Morgan, donates another $250,000 to the Republican cause, and though still reeling from the panic of 1893 and the Pullman strike, various railroads managed to muster another $174,000. All in all, with donations from business tycoons pouring in daily, the Republican campaign spends about $3.5 million. By comparison, the Democrats raise a measly $300,000. To put that another way, John Rockefeller and his company alone gave Will McKinley the rough equivalent of 80% of Will Bryan's total campaign budget. And that will go a long way toward shoring up the Republican candidate not leaving his front porch. Look, Will McKinley isn't stupid. Will Bryan is a brilliant speaker. I mean, striking a crucifix pose while making a

tasteful Jesus reference? That's skill. And that's why, along with considerations for his wife Ida's health, Will McKinley isn't about to go toe-to-toe traveling the country. He bluntly tells his campaign manager, Mark Hanna, I cannot take the stump against that man. It's a smart play, but also one that Will McKinley can make in part with his massive war chest. With that capital, the Republican hires 1,400 speakers to go across the country, stoking fear that a Bryan administration will mean the destruction of American business. Industrial leaders threaten to close down

if the great commoner, as Will Bryan is called, gets elected, which scares some workers into thinking twice about voting for the Democrat. The Republicans also publish 120 million pieces of campaign literature, as well as newspaper articles attacking Will Bryan. The McKinley campaign even suggests that the young Nebraskan isn't just for free silver, but a true radical, an anarchist, just like the protesters at the Haymarket a decade back.

Oof, sounds stacked, but it's not like William Jennings Bryan doesn't have his supporters. Grover Cleveland-style bourbon Democrats, now called gold Democrats, are peeling off. But Will Bryan is seeing real success rallying Democrats all over the South and West. And while some industrial workers fear Bryan's policies will lead to their place of employment getting shut down, the unions counter that with support. In fact, at an October meeting with workers in New York's Union Square, some even call him, quote, the new messiah, the light of the world, the fearless tribune of the people, William Jennings Bryan, close quote. Moreover, the populist party joins the Democrats in nominating Will Bryan. He gets support from the significantly more radical Eugene Debs, too.

Eugene writes to the Democratic candidate, quote, you are at this hour the hope of the republic, close quote. And so the very different candidates campaign in their very different ways. Will McKinley gives front porch speeches and relies on mailers and hired speakers.

Will, the free silver messiah, Brian, leans on his rhetorical skills. The young Nebraskan travels over 18,000 miles on four nonstop railroad trips, giving 570 speeches between August and November. He averages 80,000 words a day, drawing thousands of listeners and up to 23 speeches a day.

Which is more effective? We'll find out shortly, but one thing is certain regardless of who wins. Between big business financing and a cross-country speaking tour, a new era has begun in American presidential elections. It's 6 p.m. on Monday, November 2nd, 1896, an exhausted William Jennings Bryan stands on the balcony of the Lincoln Hotel in Lincoln, Nebraska. He's given 500 speeches over the past 90 days. Today alone, he's been up since 6 a.m.,

giving 18 speeches all over Nebraska for the past 12 hours. But he can't give up just yet. He's going to give 10 more speeches between now and 11 o'clock tonight. Tomorrow is election day after all, and he's going to give it all he has until the very end. Below the balcony, a crowd of 20,000 people are waiting to hear from the great commoner. A hush falls over the crowd as will begins. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the last opportunity that I shall have to address the people of Lincoln before they sit in judgment upon the issues present in this campaign. Tomorrow, we'll decide the financial policy of this nation for the next four years at least.

For three months, I have done what I could to present this question to the American people and traveled from Nebraska to the Atlantic. And everywhere, I have preached the same doctrine and traveled from Nebraska to the Atlantic, and everywhere I have preached the same doctrine and advocated the same principles. They called it a sectional question when we began, but they have found out that it is not a sectional question. It is a great controversy between the money power and the common people of all this country. I want you to understand the campaign which we have had to fight. They have told us that the great interests of society were against us. Yes, certain great interests have been. The trusts have been against us,

but the trusts are no more against me than I am against the trusts. The syndicates, which have been selling bonds for the government, are against me. But, my friends, they have reason to be, because if I am elected, they will no longer bleed the American people. They say that the corporations are against us. Yes, many of them are, and they have reason to be,

because we believe that the corporation is a creature of law, and that the government which created it is still greater than the corporation and should compel it to obey the law. We have felt the influence of some of these corporations. We know what it is to have them say to men who are with us that if they vote our ticket, they must be discharged and lose their bread and butter. But, my friends, while we have against us many of these influences,

which are considered great and potent, we have on our side those who believe in the old-fashioned idea of government, that it should guard equal rights to all and special privileges to no one. My friends, tomorrow is the day upon which you register your will. Tomorrow is the day when, by your ballot, you describe the government under which you desire to live. If you desire a government of syndicates, by syndicates, and for syndicates, you have a right to it, and you can cast your influence with those who are against us.

If you still believe in the government that Lincoln desired, the government of the people, by the people and for the people, you must join with those who believe in a government by the people. The work that lies before a president who goes into the office with a desire to reform the financial policy and to drive the trusts and syndicates from this land will be hard enough if he is supported by the people. His work would be impossible if he were not supported by them.

Will wraps up his speech. The crowd explodes into applause and cries of, We will. We will. The next day, millions of voters turn out to vote for one of the two Williams, the Civil War vet and former governor of Ohio, Republican candidate William McKinley, or the great commoner and former U.S. congressman from Nebraska, Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan. Perhaps urban workers feel the need to support the business for which they work. Perhaps Will Bryan's consistent appeals to farmers and populists alienated the

city folk. Regardless, the results are soon clear. Will McKinley takes the densely populated northeast, the northern Midwest out to North Dakota, and part of the West Coast. William Jennings Bryan's takes the rest, but it's not enough. The outcome is a slight popular and electoral college victory for Will McKinley. The next day, Thursday, November 5th, 1896, both men demonstrate statesmanship. The free silver Democrat sends a telegraph to Canton, Ohio. Honorable William McKinley, Senator Jones informs me that the returns indicate your election, and I hasten to extend my congratulations. We have submitted the issue to the American people, and their will is law. W.J. Bryan The President-elect wires back.

Honorable W.J. Bryan, I acknowledge the receipt of your courteous message of congratulations with thanks, and beg you will receive my best wishes for your health and happiness. Tycoons breathe a collective sigh of relief. Fears of the gold standard's death and a potential destabilization of the U.S. dollar are gone. They'll carry on with their business, with some, like Andrew Carnegie, embracing social gospel thinking and taking their philanthropy to a heightened level. At the same time, the economy is about to boom, though crediting William McKinley for that might be a bit of a stretch.

As you likely remember from episode 88, the Yukon Gold Rush is about to begin. That's going to shift the nation's gold to silver ratio, and as that happens, the silver issue is going to kind of fizzle out. But the battle isn't over. William Jennings Bryan immediately publishes the story of his campaign as a book entitled The First Battle. Sounds like he's not leaving the political arena anytime soon. Nor have we heard the last of the American Railway Union president who turned socialist while in prison after the Pullman strike, Eugene Debs. Indeed, the gridlock politics of the Gilded Age are fading fast before the social issues and overseas expansion to come in the rapidly approaching Progressive Era.

But those are stories for yet another day. We've got one or two special episodes coming, and then one last Gilded Age tale that needs to be told. That of an industrializing New South and a Supreme Court ruling destined to cast a long shadow over the nation. That's right. It's about time for the story of Plessy v. Ferguson and the rise of Jim Crow. to you kind souls providing additional funding to help us keep going. And a special thanks to our members whose monthly gift puts them at producer status. Andy Thompson, Anthony Pizzulo, Art Lane, Beth Chris Jansen, Bob Drazovich, Brian Goodson, Bronwyn Cohen, Carrie Beggle,

Charles and Shirley Clendenin, Charlie Magis, Chloe Tripp, Christopher Merchant, Christopher Pullman, David DeFazio, David Rifkin, Denki, Durante Spencer, Donald Moore, Donna Marie Jeffcoat, Ellen Stewart, Bernie Lowe, George Sherwood, Gurwith Griffin, Henry Brunges, Thank you.