Question

Why did the Populism movement take hold?

It established a system to regulate the supply of gold.
It grew in popularity after William McKinley's "Cross of Gold" speech.
It promoted reforms to help struggling farmers.

Answer 1

The populism movement took hold because the use of the gold standard was causing many people to lose money - especially farmers. Farmers were having a lot of trouble because there were no regulations put in place to help them not produce too much it too little. Also, the populism movement promoted the regulation of railroad prices. That way, farmers could ship their produce at cheaper price points.

The answer is the third one: it promoted reforms to help struggling farmers