[74], The balloting for the presidential nomination was held on July 10, the day after the speech; a two-thirds majority was needed to nominate. The economy failed to improve, and when the President in 1894 sent federal troops to Illinois to break up the Pullman Strike, he outraged even more Democrats. Although they nominated Bryan for president, they chose Georgia's Thomas E. Watson as vice-presidential candidate; some hoped Bryan would dump Sewall from his ticket. [38] Illinois Governor Altgeld, a leader of the silver movement, was ineligible because he was not a natural-born U.S. citizen as required for the presidency in the Constitution. Bryan believed he could use the coalition-building techniques he had applied in gaining election to Congress, uniting pro-silver forces behind him to gain the Democratic nomination and the presidency. overcoming discrimination to become a self made millionaire why is madame CJ walker remembered? The humblest citizen in all the land, when clad in the armor of a righteous cause, is stronger than all the hosts of error. Senator Tillman, a fiery speaker who wore a pitchfork on his lapel, began the debate. [122] He did not campaign on Sundays, but on most other days spoke between 20 and 30 times. After running unsuccessfully for the Senate in 1894, Bryan returned to Nebraska and became editor of the Omaha World-Herald. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. Why did the populist party support william jennings Bryan for president in the presidential election of 1896? The nominations The presidential campaign of 1896 was one of the most exciting in American history. The shortness of the speech did not dismay the crowds, who knew his arguments well: they were there to see and hear William Jennings Bryanone listener told him that he had read every one of his speeches, and had ridden 50 miles (80km) to hear him, "And, by gum, if I wasn't a Republican, I'd vote for you. Bryan was well rested. Members of the Committee on Resolutions (also called the Platform Committee) intended to elect California Senator Stephen M. White as chairman; they found that he had already been co-opted as permanent chairman of the convention. Bryan did not; Senator Jones (as the new Democratic National Committee chairman, in charge of the campaign) stated, "Mr. Sewall, will, of course, remain on the ticket, and Mr. Watson can do what he likes. On July 26, 1925, five days after the verdict was issued, Bryan died in his sleep after suffering a stroke. Active in Democratic Party politics, Sewall was one of the few eastern party leaders to support silver, was wealthy and could help finance the campaign; he also balanced the ticket geographically. He made 27speeches, including seven in Omaha, the last concluding a few minutes before midnight. "[101] Many Populists saw the election of Bryan, whose positions on many issues were not far from theirs, as the quickest path to the reforms they sought; a majority of delegates to the convention in St. Louis favored him. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! The Populists proposed both greater government control over the economy (with some calling for government ownership of railroads) and giving the people power over government through the secret ballot, direct election of United States Senators (who were, until 1913, elected by state legislatures), and replacement of the Electoral College with direct election of the president and vice president by popular vote. The minority had indicated its position. The election of 1896 was just as much a partisan battle over the future of American economic policy as the 2012 election. In 2007, Gore won a Nobel read more, Considered the greatest English-speaking writer in history and known as Englands national poet, William Shakespeare (1564-1616) has had more theatrical works performed than any other playwright. Nevertheless, Gold Democrats began plans to hold their own convention, which took place in September. President Cleveland, stunned by the convention's repudiation of him and his policies, decided against open support for a bolt from the party, either by endorsing McKinley or by publicly backing a rival Democratic ticket. NAACP what organization used the court system to fight discrimination? In 1925, high school biology teacher John Scopes went on trial in Tennessee as a test of the first state law banning the teaching of evolution. That evening, Bryan dined with his wife and with friends. I was thinking of finding a book for him for Christmas that could help his research. [129] Republican newspapers and spokesmen claimed that Bryan's campaign was expensively financed by the silver interests. Poor Grover Cleveland a hard-money, laissez-faire Democrat was blamed for the panic of 1893, and many leading Cleveland Democrats lost their gubernatorial and senatorial posts in the 1894 elections. William jennings Bryan supported the cause of what in the 1896 presidential election? "[70], When order was restored after Bryan's speech, the convention passed the platform, voting down the minority report and a resolution in support of the Cleveland administration; it then recessed for a few hours until 8:00pm, when nominating speeches were to be made. "[19] A Minnesota correspondent wrote in Outlook magazine: "high school boys are about equally divided between silver and baseball, with a decided leaning toward the former". The majority felt exposed, crestfallen, and humiliated.[56]. Morgan noted, "full organization, [Republican] party harmony, a campaign of education with the printed and spoken word would more than counteract" Bryan's speechmaking. At the outset of the 1890s, with drought destroying the livelihoods of many American farmers, the Peoples Party (also known as the Populist Party) was growing as a force in U.S. politics by appealing to small farmers, shopkeepers and other less wealthy voters. Soon afterwards, the delegates, bored, shouted for a speech from Bryan, but he was not to be found. William Jennings Bryan. There is no legal or constitutional requirement that the loser of a U.S. presidential election must concede. After a candidate backed by the nascent Populists withdrew, Bryan defeated Connell for the seat by 6,700 votes (nearly doubling Connell's 1888 margin), receiving support from the Populists and Prohibitionists. Bryan's sterling record on the issue left the Populists with a stark choice: They could endorse Bryan, and risk losing their separate identity as a party, or nominate another candidate, thus dividing the pro-silver vote to McKinley's benefit. Bryan and many other Democrats believed the economic malaise could be remedied through a return to bimetallism, or free silvera policy they believed would inflate the currency and make it easier for debtors to repay loans. He was not yet done with campaigning, however; on November 2, he undertook a train journey across Nebraska in support of Democratic congressional candidates. Neither candidate had much money to spend on his campaign. Confusion over ballots in Minnesota resulted in 15,000voided votes and may have thrown that state to the Republicans. "[144] Williams believes that Bryan did better than any other Democrat would have, and comments, "The nominee of a divided and discredited party, he had come remarkably close to winning. I will add for the encouragement of those who still believe that money is not necessary to secure a Presidential nomination that my entire expenses while in attendance upon the convention were less than $100. How could a boy in appearance, one not yet admitted to the convention, without a single state behind him, dare claim the nomination? Jill Lepore. Even in the South, Bryan attracted 59% of the rural vote, but only 44% of the urban vote, taking 57% of the southern vote overall. Set off by the collapse of the powerful Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, the Panic of 1893 plunged the nation into a deep economic depression. [46], Just before the convention, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) made initial determinations of which delegations were to be seatedonce convened, delegates would make the final determination after the convention's Credentials Committee reported. Thanks in advance if you have any recommendations! This was not the case: the mining industry was seeing poor times, and had little money to donate to Bryan. Bryan was born on March 19, 1860 in the small town of Salem, Illinois. He supported many Populist policies. [2][3], While attending law school from 1881 to 1883, Bryan was a clerk to former Illinois senator Lyman Trumbull, who influenced him in a dislike for wealth and business monopolies. "[72] Bryan had made no arrangements for formal nominating speeches given the short timeframe, and was surprised when word was brought to him at the Clifton House that he had been nominated by Henry Lewis of Georgia: the candidate had expected the Kansas delegation to name him. In the book, Bryan made it clear that the first battle would not be the last, "If we are right, we shall yet triumph. Free silver especially resonated among farmers in the South and West, as well as miners. Bryan spent most of October there160 of his final 250 train stops were in the Midwest. Bryan, a former Democratic congressman from Nebraska, gained his party's presidential nomination in July of that year after electrifying the Democratic National Convention with his Cross of Gold speech. "[57] The Nebraska delegation waved red handkerchiefs as Bryan progressed to the podium;[56] he wore an alpaca sack suit more typical of Lincoln and the West than of Chicago. All Rights Reserved. [81][82] Amid talk that the Gold Democrats would form their own party, Senator Hill was asked if he remained a Democrat. "[66], As he spoke his final sentence, he brought his hands to his head, fingers extended in imitation of thorns; amid dead silence in the Coliseum, he extended his arms, recalling with words and posture the Crucifixion of Jesus, and held that position for several seconds. The presidential election in 1896, a contest between the Republican candidate, William McKinley (1843-1901), and the Democrat candidate, William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925), was contested over McKinley's pledge to maintain the gold standard for the nation's currency, in contrast to Bryan's promise to increase the supply of money by expanding the . Hayes and Harrison both won in the electoral college but lost the popular vote, for example. Bryan affirmed that the people could be counted on to prevent the rise of a tyrant, and noted, "What we need is an Andrew Jackson to stand, as Jackson stood, against the encroachments of organized wealth. [73] As Missouri Senator George Vest nominated Bland, his oratory was drowned out by the gallery, "Bryan, Bryan, W.J. Rather than continue the free silver battle, he dedicated himself to opposing American imperialism, which he saw as immoral and undemocratic. If this robbery is permitted, the farmer will be ruined, and then the cities will suffer. Abandoned by many gold-supporting party leaders and newspapers after the Chicago convention, Bryan undertook an extensive tour by rail to bring his campaign to the people. [85][86] Some of the Democratic political machines, such as New York's Tammany Hall, decided to ignore the national ticket and concentrate on electing local and congressional candidates. Populists claim to speak for ordinary people, taking an "us versus them" stance. He was slim, tall, pale, raven-haired, beaked of nose. William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925), the U.S. congressman from Nebraska, three-time presidential nominee and secretary of state, emerged near the end of the 19th century as a leading voice in the. A Missourian, Ezra Peters, wrote to Illinois Senator John M. Palmer, "Coins [sic] Financial School is raising h in this neck of the woods. The electoral vote was not as close: 271 for McKinley to 176 for Bryan. At every stop, he made contacts that he later cultivated. The first report from the Credentials Committee, on the afternoon of July 8, recommended the seating of Bryan's delegation. The President's uncompromising stand for gold alienated many in his own party (most southern and western Democrats were pro-silver). [24][25] Several times, in his addresses, Bryan repeated variations on lines he had spoken in Congress in December 1894, decrying the gold standard, "I will not help to crucify mankind upon a cross of gold. William Jennings Bryan was born in rural Salem, Illinois, in 1860. When both Hill and Bryan (who was selected as the other pro-silver speaker) objected to such a long closing address, Tillman settled for 50minutes and for opening the debate rather than closing it; Bryan was given 25minutes to close. Bryans inability to differentiate between social Darwinism and the scientific theory of evolution galvanized his more fundamentalist, religious supporters but earned him the disdain of many others who shared his progressive politics. Illinois Senator John M. Palmer was eager to be the presidential candidate, and the convention nominated him with Kentucky's Simon Bolivar Buckner as his running mate. By 1896, populist issues had become so important that the Democratic candidate for president, William Jennings Bryan, pledged to support them and went on to win most of the South and West. Lose identity, simplify their cause to one policy (free coinage of silver), sacrifice rest of platform Why did Populists endorse Bryan? She became his wife, and was his principal assistant throughout his career. The 1896 race is generally seen as a realigning election. [118] Starved of money, the Democrats had fewer speakers and fewer publications to issue. However, the economy was booming under the leadership of McKinley. According to Stanley Jones, The period of this tour, in the return from New York to Lincoln, was the high point of the Bryan campaign. Bryan served as Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson from 1913 to 1915, resigning as Wilson moved the nation closer to intervention in World War I. "[123] After a brief interval for handshakes, the train would pull out again, to another town down the track.[123]. Bryan, with this declaration, set the theme of his argument, and as it would prove, his campaign: that the welfare of humanity was at stake with the silver issue. The man who is employed for wages is as much a business man as his employer; the attorney in a country town is as much a business man as the corporation counsel in a great metropolis; the merchant at the cross-roads store is as much a business man as the merchant of New York; the farmer who goes forth in the morning and toils all day, who begins in spring and toils all summer, and who by the application of brain and muscle to the natural resources of the country creates wealth, is as much a business man as the man who goes upon the Board of Trade and bets upon the price of grain; the miners who go down a thousand feet into the earth, or climb two thousand feet upon the cliffs, and bring forth from their hiding places the precious metals to be poured into the channels of trade are as much business men as the few financial magnates who, in a back room, corner the money of the world. The paper editorialized on the same page that even if the Democratic candidate was not insane, he was at least "of unsound mind". The coalition of wealthy, middle-class and urban voters that defeated Bryan kept the Republicans in power for most of the time until 1932. "[63] He continued: Upon which side will the Democratic Party fight; upon the side of "the idle holders of idle capital" or upon the side of "the struggling masses"? As Hill was determined to take the platform fight to the full convention, the committee discussed who should speak in the debate, and allocated 75minutes to each side. Why did William Jennings Bryan lose? Source (Electoral Vote): "Electoral College Box Scores 17891996". "[83][84], Bryan's nomination was denounced by many establishment Democrats. In 1890, he agreed to run for Congress against William James Connell, a Republican, who had won the local congressional seat in 1888. William Jennings Bryan, (born March 19, 1860, Salem, Illinois, U.S.died July 26, 1925, Dayton, Tennessee), Democratic and Populist leader and a magnetic orator who ran unsuccessfully three times for the U.S. presidency (1896, 1900, and 1908). Book Description Mr. Bryan's unfinished memoirs, which close with an account of the Baltimore convention of 1912, make up less than half the . He campaigned relentlessly, traveling around the country and giving hundreds of speeches to millions of people, while his Republican opponent, Ohio Governor William McKinley, stayed home and gave speeches from his porch. voting restrictions what political restrictions did southern states place on african americans? Ever since the election of 1800, American presidential contests had, on some level, been a referendum on whether the country should be governed by agrarian interests (rural indebted farmers-the countryside-"main street") or industrial interests (business-the city-"wall street"). His campaign focused on silver, an issue that failed to appeal to the urban voter, and he was defeated. Roosevelt was extremely popular as president, and many thought he might reconsider and run as 1908 neared. Attending Illinois College beginning in 1877, Bryan devoted himself to winning the school prize for speaking. On September 27, The New York Times published a letter by an "eminent alienist" who, based on an analysis of the candidate's speeches, concluded that Bryan was mad. McKinley did well in the border states of Maryland, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Free silver was very popular among Nebraskans, though many powerful Democrats opposed it. There was loud cheering as Bryan stood at the lectern; it took him a full minute to gain silence. [140] The Democratic Party preserved control in the eastern cities through machine politics and the continued loyalty of the Irish-American voter; Bryan's loss over the silver issue of many German-American voters, previously solidly Democratic, helped ensure his defeat in the Midwest. [127], Republican newspapers painted Bryan as a tool of Governor Altgeld, who was controversial for having pardoned the surviving men convicted of involvement in the Haymarket bombing. (Credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images). But the emergence of a brash, young politician, William Jennings Bryan, soon turned the. why did william jennings bryan lose the election of 1896? Many seats were vacant before he concluded.[113][114]. The Scopes monkey trial in Dayton, Tennessee, played out under the national spotlight, with journalists, religious leaders and onlookers crowding the courtroom. Throughout the nation, voters were intensely interested in the campaign, studying the flood of pamphlets. On the fifth ballot, other states joined the Bryan bandwagon, making him the Democratic candidate for president.[76][77]. [37], In the run up to the Democratic National Convention, set to begin at the Chicago Coliseum on July 7, 1896, no candidate was seen as an overwhelming favorite for the presidential nomination. This advocacy brought him contributions from silver mine owners in his successful re-election bid in 1892. While speaking in McKinley's hometown of Canton, Ohio, Bryan yielded to impulse and called upon his rival at his home with Congressman Bland; the Republican candidate and his wife, somewhat startled, received the two men hospitably in a scene Williams calls, "surely bizarre. As an evangelical Christian and a believer in the literal interpretation of the Bible, Bryan also saw a grave threat in the application of Charles Darwins theory to human society. He was utterly confident that he would succeed, believing "the logic of the situation," as he later put it, dictated his selection. [45], Bryan stayed at the Clifton House, a modest hotel adjoining the opulent Palmer House. He was followed by Senator William Vilas of Wisconsin and former Massachusetts Governor William D. Russell. As a result, disillusioned farmers and others formed a new far-left party, which came to be known as the Populist Party. Most cities that were financial or manufacturing centers voted for McKinley. The minority report attracted the opposite reaction.[54]. He set his sights on higher office, believing he could be elected president in 1896 even though he remained a relatively minor figure in the Democratic Party. The Republicans, at the request of their nominee for president, former Ohio governor William McKinley, included a plank in their party platform supporting the gold standard. [33] Bryan spoke at her funeral, quoting lines from Second Timothy: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. His enemies regarded him as an ambitious demagogue, but his supporters viewed him as a champion of liberal causes. To this day, countless theater festivals around the world honor his work, students read more. Carrying some 200 people, the train bore signs on each of its five cars, such as "The W.J. The Coliseum was located in a "dry" district of Chicago but the hotels were not. [121], During this tour, Bryan spoke almost exclusively on the silver question, and attempted to mold the speeches to reflect local issues and interests. Many of the elements of the speech had appeared in prior Bryan addresses. While the farmers of the south and west continued to support Bryan's proposed economic policies, many found McKinley's to be effective enough. The train bearing The Idler pulled in after a short journey from the last stop, and after he was greeted by local dignitaries, Bryan would give a brief speech addressing silver and the need for the people to retake the government. Bryan campaigned heavily on a platform of free silver in 1896, and continued that trend into the election of 1900. Each made their cases for gold, and likely changed few votes. [30] As state conventions met to nominate delegates to the July national convention, for the most part, they supported silver, and sent silver men to Chicago. [4] Looking for a growing city in which his practice could thrive, he moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1887. The leading candidates were former Missouri congressman Richard P. Bland and former Iowa governor Horace Boies. I will not aid them to press down upon the bleeding brow of labor this crown of thorns."[26]. Ordinarily, it was torn down after that event. [138] Palmer received less than 1% of the vote, but his vote total in Kentucky was greater than McKinley's margin of victory there. Palmer proved an able campaigner who visited most major cities in the East, and in the final week of his campaign, told listeners, "I will not count it any great fault if next Tuesday you decide to cast your ballots for William McKinley. Department of State: Office of the Historian. In 1896 it was kept as a forum, and by day and night men and womenmet there to talk about the Crime of '73, the fallacies of the gold standard, bimetallism and international consent, the evils of the tariff, the moneybags of Mark Hanna, the front porch campaign of McKinley. The coalition of wealthy, middle-class, and urban voters that defeated Bryan kept the Republicans in power for most of the time until 1932. Our delegation should not be too prominent in applause. Bimtallism. His father, Silas Bryan, was a Jacksonian Democrat, judge, lawyer, and local party activist. The central issue was the country's money supply. [18], In 1893, bimetallism had been just one of many proposals by Populists and others. [117] McKinley's chosen strategy was a front porch campaign; he would remain at home, giving carefully scripted speeches to visiting delegations, much to the gratification of Canton's hot dog vendors and souvenir salesmen, who expanded facilities to meet the demand. [14] After his election to Congress, Bryan studied the currency question carefully, and came to believe in free silver; he also saw its political potential. [12] Advocates believed these proposals would lead to prosperity, while opponents warned that varying from the gold standard (which the United States had, effectively, used since 1873) would cause problems in international trade. The Republican William Howard Taft worked as a judge in Ohio Superior Court and in the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals before accepting a post as the first civilian governor of the Philippines in 1900. The jury predictably found Scopes guilty, but Bryans performance in the trial, and his thrashing in the national press, marked a less than stellar end to his long career as a public figure. Elected to the House of Representatives in 1890, when he was just 30 years old, Bryan championed populist causes including the direct election of senators, graduated federal income tax and the free silver movement, which sought to expand the federal money supply by basing U.S. currency on silver as well as gold. He slept much of the evening of election day, to be wakened by his wife with telegrams showing the election was most likely lost. Not even supporters thought the Gold Democrats would win; the purpose was to have a candidate who would speak for the gold element in the party, and who would divide the vote and defeat Bryan. In March 1898, two years into William McKinley's first term as president, he gave Spainwhich was in the midst of a brutal campaign of repression in . Though men thought otherwise at the time, neither fate nor accident created his position in the party.
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