Chapter 5 Flashcards
What happened to farmers?
They were trapped in a vicious economic cycle
What was happeneing to the prices of the crops
They kepts rfalling
What were railroads doing?
Taking advantage of farmers
What were the paperbacks?
They were paper money that could not be exchanged for gold or silver. It was worth less then hard money
What happened to the greenbacks
they were taken out of circulation
What did retiring the greenbacks mean to farmers/
That they had to pay back more then the loans that they took out, even though they were being payed less
What did farmers pay outragesly for?
Transportation of grain. The Lack of competition among the rails meant that the prices would vary
How were farmers able to pay for all of this?
They mortgaged their farms to buy seed and supplies. Soon, they caught in a cycle of credit which meant more debt
IN 1867 Oliver Hudson Kelley started the
Patrons of Husbandry
What did this organization become popularly known as?
Grange
What was the orginial purpose of the grance?
To provide a social outlet and an educational forum for isolated farm families
By the 1870s, what were members of the Grange doing?
Fighting the rialroads, setting up farmers coops, and sponnsoring state legislation
What was another group that came. What did it do?
Farmers Alliances. It included many others who sympathized with farmers. They educated people about important topics. ad tried to control banks and railroads
How much did membershiip grow tO
4 million
What was populism?
The movement of the pople. Or the peoples party
