Social and Labor Unrest in the 1890s

As the economy worsened, more Americans suffered; as the federal government continued to offer few solutions, the Populist movement began to grow. Populist groups approached the 1896 election anticipating that the mass of struggling Americans would support their movement for change. When Democrats chose William Jennings Bryan for their candidate, however, they chose a politician who largely fit the mold of the Populist platform—from his birthplace of Nebraska to his advocacy of the silver standard that most farmers desired. Throwing their support behind Bryan as well, Populists hoped to see a candidate in the White House who would embody the Populist goals, if not the party name. When Bryan lost to Republican William McKinley, the Populist Party lost much of its momentum. As the country climbed out of the depression, the interest in a third party faded away, although the reformist movement remained intact.            All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/us-history/pages/20-4-social-and-labor-unrest-in-the-1890s            Welcome to A Journey into Human History.    This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story.       The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.     Access for free at https://openstax.org/details/books/us-history           Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.       No part of this podcast is made with generative AI         Voice narration provided by computerized text-to-speech through voicemaker.in       For those who prefer ad free listening other options of support are available.          https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/a-journey-into-human-history--5860966/support