Final answer:
The Gold Standard Act of 1900 solidified trust in U.S. currency but limited economic growth and credit access for farmers and Westerners by tying currency solely to gold reserves. It increased the East-West economic divide due to the geographical distribution of gold reserves and bank locations.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Gold Standard Act of 1900 had significant effects on the United States economy and its citizens. Its adoption instilled a strong sense of trust amongst both American and foreign investors in the federal government's printed money by strictly tying the currency's value to the nation's gold reserves.
However, this move upset many in the South and the West where gold was scarce, and who favored silver due to its abundance in the regions and the potential economic benefits it presented, especially for local banks and farmers burdened with debt.
Those opposed to the gold standard, including the Greenbackers and supporters of the "free silver" movement, saw the act as a constraint to economic growth and a contributor to deflation.
It marginalized other forms of wealth, such as the large silver deposits in the West, and made the currency extremely rigid in response to the supply and demand of gold.
Moreover, the act increased the difficulty for Western farmers to obtain credit, as most of the gold-backed currency was located in Eastern banks, thereby requiring them to borrow at higher costs.
The monetary policy following the adoption of the gold standard was highly debated, deepening the political divide between those favoring big business and the banking interests in the East and those advocating for the farming and working-class interests in the West.