Question

Describe the economic forces that drove farmers into debt, and describe how the Populist Party organized to protest their oppression, attempted to forge an alliance with urban workers, and vigorously attacked the two major parties after the onset of the depression of the 1890s.

Answer 1

They had to purchase expensive equipment to tend to their crops. That meant they could grow more crop in less time with all the machinery. More crops meant that it wasn't worth as much and the economy was in a downturn, so it's no longer worth as much and the farmers couldn't pay back loans as easily.

In order to get their voice heard, the Populist Party wanted to free silver and threatened Wall Street. The most dramatic of these was the 1894 Pullman Strike. The American Railway Union toppled cars from Pullman and blocked Chicago rail traffic. Richard Olney told Cleveland that the Pullman Strike made bringing mail into Chicago difficult. Debs was put in jail.