Unit 8 Lesson 6: The Rise of Populism Flashcards
American farmers faced many challenges during the late 1800s. Elaborate
Rapidly declining farm prices, high tariffs, and foreign competition steadily eroded their standard of living.
What lead to an overproduction of crops
new technologies
What effect did new technolgies have
Overproduction, an unexpected result of new technologies, caused a glut of farm products that drove market prices lower and lower.
Farmers invested in early tractors and other new machines for planting and harvesting crops. What are the causes and efffects of this action
These machines enabled farmers to grow increasingly large crops. However, the value of their crops decreased as the supply of farm goods increased
How did farmers respond to the overporuction of crops
To hard-working farmers, the idea that producing more could cause them to earn less seemed absurd. They increased production even more in hopes of increasing their earnings, which just made matters worse.
How did some farmers fal even more in debt
Farmers who had bought farm machinery and supplies and had to pay railroads to ship their goods to market began to fall deeply into debt.
How did farming affect lakes and rievrs
Changes in farming also had unexpected consequences for the environment. Widespread irrigation endangered water supplies by depleting lakes and rivers.
How did farming spread pollution into rural ares
mechanized farming and ever-growing herds of livestock began the spread of pollution into rural areas.
Clear-cutting
Clear-cutting involves cutting down and removing every tree from an area.
What was the result of clear-cutting
. The practice of clear-cutting trees to create new cropland led to a large decline in forestland.
How did the amount of foerstland in America flunucate
Before the 1800s, the United States had over a million acres of forestland. In 1920, U.S. forestland shrank to its low point of 722,000 acres. Today, U.S. forestland has rebounded to about 766,000 acres.
Did clear-cutting have an impact on topsoik?
Clear-cutting contributed to topsoil erosion, as did the use of machinery to plow large tracts of land.
Why did increased farm production lead to lower prices for farm goods?
It caused the supply of farm goods to exceed the demand for those goods. This oversupply drove down the market value of farm goods.
What were some of the environmental consequences of mechanized farming?
depleted water supplies, pollution, erosion
Why were rising tariffs another serious problem for farmers
Rising tariffs made consumer goods more expensive, but there were no tariffs to boost farm prices as well. Farmers were paying inflated prices, but not earning inflated wages.
What did farmers do to counter rising tariffs
To counter this, farmers supported silver-based currency. They wanted to establish a 16-to-1 ratio of silver dollars to gold dollars. Increasing the money supply at this rate would help them repay debts and make their farms profitable again.
Did the government listen to the farmers propoasl of silverbased curreny?
However, the government supported a gold-based currency that favored business interests. This monetary policy debate would become a major political issue by the 1890s.
How did tariffs affect farmers during the late 1800s?
Tariffs inflated the price of goods farmers needed to buy, but did not inflate farmers’ wages to match.
Why did farmers want to adopt a 16-to-1 ratio of silver dollars to gold dollars?
By increasing the money supply, they hoped to repay their debts more easily.
Why did farmers organize groups
Frustrated farmers soon organized into groups that were similar to early labor unions. Following the labor union model, farmers sought a collective voice to pressure political leaders for change.
Who was Oliver Hudsonand what did he create
One of the first efforts to organize farmers came in 1867 with Oliver Hudson Kelley’s creation of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, more popularly known as the Grange.
What was the grange movement
The Grange movement grew to over 1.5 million members in less than a decade.
How did farmers belive they could best themselves
Kelley believed that farmers could best help themselves by creating farmers’ cooperatives to pool resources.
What is a cooperative
A cooperative, or co-op, is a group of people who pool their money to buy or sell goods wholesale.
What were the hopes of grangers
Together, they could negotiate better shipping rates and lower prices for seeds, fertilizer, and machinery. Grangers hoped to use co-ops to reduce overproduction. They also wanted to bargain for better rates from railroads and other businesses.
What states did the Grange pass laws in
The Grange had some success in passing laws at the state level in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa.
What did the Grange laws do
The Granger Laws laws regulated some railroad rates, as well as the prices charged by grain elevator operators.
What movement did the Grange create
. The movement also created a political party—the Greenback Party
What did the Greenback PArty support
the Greenback Party, which supported print currency (called greenbacks) not based upon a gold standard.
How many Greenback peeps were in congress
. The Greenback Party won 15 seats in Congress, but otherwise had little success.
What led tot he collapse of the Greenback party
In 1886, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Granger Laws setting railroad rates unconstitutional, as states had no authority to control interstate commerce. After this defeat, the Greenback Party soon collapsed.
What is the purpose of cooperatives?
Cooperatives enable people to pool their resources to negotiate for better prices on the goods and services they buy and sell.
What caused the collapse of the Greenback Party?
The Supreme Court ruled against Granger Laws aimed at regulating railroads.
What emergeed in the wake of the Grange movement
The Farmers’ Alliance emerged in the wake of the Grange movement.
Where was the Farmers’ Alliance formed
he Farmers’ Alliance was formed from regional groups who represented farmers’ interests.
Describe all the alliances that made up the Farmers’ Alliance
In 1890, the Southern Alliance, which was based in Texas, had over 100,000 members. It joined with the Northwest Alliance and the Colored Alliance to form a national alliance. The Colored Alliance was the largest African American organization then existing in the United States. It started in Texas but quickly spread throughout the South until it had over 1 million members.
Singinace of the colored allinace
The Colored Alliance was the largest African American organization then existing in the United States. It started in Texas but quickly spread throughout the South until it had over 1 million members.
All together, gow many members did the Farmers’ Alliance
rs. All told, the Farmers’ Alliance brought together over 2.5 million members—1.5 million white and 1 million African American.
