The+Campaign+of+1896


 * The Campaign of 1896 **

The campaign of 1896 was considered a turning point in American politics. This campaign featured democratic populist William Jennings Bryan, republican William McKinley while also marking the end of the Gilded Age.



William Jennings Bryan ** - Bryan became the Democratic nominee in practically the blink of an eye at the young age of thirty-six after his "Cross of Gold" speech in response to a demand for a gold standard which he did not support. In his speech he defended farmers and factory workers who were effected greatly by the economic depression caused by the Panic of 1893 while talking down big business owners and their monopolies and trusts. He proposed an end to the gold standard to help with the economic issue and government relief efforts for those effected by it. He gave this speech at the Democratic national convention in Chicago which was dominated mostly by prosilver Democrats, thus he won their appeal. The democrats, along with the populists, favored the unlimited coinage of silver at the ratio of sixteen ounces of silver to one ounce of gold. Because the populist shared in this preference they also nominated Bryan as their presidential candidate at the Populist convention that same year. However, the split between "gold" democrats and "silver" democrats proved to be problematic for the Democratic party in the 1896 election. Because gold Democrats were unahppy with Bryan's nomination, they selected their own nominee, John M. Palmer after several others, such as Cleveland, declined. This split the Democratic vote, while the Republicans only had one nominee, McKinley. Bryan reacted to the increase of competition by covering over 18,000 miles in his campaign and giving more than 600 speeches. His attitude and personality, which was upbeat and likeable, helped him gain a number of farmers and debtors as followers. In the end, Bryan was greeted by another two disadvantages. The first being the rise of wheat prices which made the silver coinage issue less of a priority for farmers. Secondly, employers threatened their employees with the idea shutting down their businesses if Bryan were elected.

**William McKinley **  - The republicans ultimately blamed the Democrats for the the Panic of 1893 and the finicial crisis that occured as a result of it. Their solution was a high tariff that would protect industry and obviously promoted the gold standard over the unlimited silver coinage. William McKinley was the Republican chosen as the presidential nominee and also the last Civil War veteran to be elected president. McKinley was lucky in that he was backed by a finicial power, Marcus Hanna, a wealthy business man from Ohio, who helped McKinley win his nomination and the presidency. Hanna raised 3.5 million dollars (approximately 3 billion dollars today) for McKinley from business leaders which he used to advertise the republican candidate via the mass media. Their campaign featured new advertising styles that changed the ways of campaigning, which helped in the eventual defeat of Bryan. William McKinley was inaugurated into office on March 4, 1897. As president, McKinely was again lucky in the fact that once he took office the economy began making a come back due to gold discoveries in Alaska. McKinely was also responcible for launching the Spanish-American War and annexed the Philippines, Puerto-Rico, and Guam while setting up a protectorate over Cuba. McKinely was reelected in the 1900 election with Theodore Roosevelt as his Vice President. Unfortunately, McKinely was assassinated in 1901 by an anarchist, a person who doesn't believe in organized government. Roosevelt then took McKinely's place as president and led the way to the Progressive Era.
 * Significance of the 1896 Election -**

The election marked the end of the Gilded Age of politics which was characterized by politicans who neglected to address major issues and close-called elections. McKinely's defeat over Bryan also signaled the beginning of Republican dominance in the white house and Congress. The Republican party had transformed into a group that was revolved around "business, industry and strong national government" which led the way to urban dominance.


 * Populist Demise** - The populists, whom aimed to unite poor black and white farmers against the other political parties, gave up on its hopes of becoming and remaining a major influence in politics. The white farmers desire for economic change was not significant enough for them to join foces with the African Americans due to heavy prejudices of the time. The election and the defeat of Bryan signaled to the populist that they had reached the end of the road for their short-lived party.


 * Urban Dominance** - The Republican defeat over the Democrats also signaled the end of rural dominance and the shift to the dependence on industry and urban culture.


 * Beginning of modern politics** - With the help of Mark Hanna and the 3 million dollars raised on behalf of McKinely, the Republican capaign was able to focus more on successful advertisements with the use of mass media which would catch the attention of a targetted audience.

United States History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination by John J Newman and John M Schmalbach [|Modern-US-History.suite101.com] [|HistoryMatters.gmu.edu] [|USHistory.org] [|Wikipedia]
 * Sources:**