HIST 2020 1st Edition Lecture 8 Outline of Last Lecture D ContinuedIII. The Turmoil of Urban Lifea. Overcrowded citiesb. Lawlessness; crime, thefc. White, Native-born, Middle-class Protestants concernedEarly Reform EffortsOutline of Current Lecture I. Major Domestic Issues Between 1877 and 1990a. Plight of the American Farmerb. The Economyc. Racial DiscriminationCurrent LectureI. Major Domestic Issues Between 1877 and 1990: More people lived in ruralareas so the government really helped the farmers. By 1910, more than half of the people lived in urban areas.A. Plight of the American Farmer: Farmers see that they are losing power.1. Loss of political power: Politicians seem to be representing large businesses rather than the farmers.2. Economic Difficulties-Prices are dropping-Costs are high that are set by railroad companies to transport their cropsto markets. Middle men also take money. Farmers have mortgages. 3. Farmers demand inflation: They want to rectify this problem byThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.demanding inflation. The farmers recognize that money is becoming less valuable. Inflation helps those in debt. The money they pay back that they owe will be less valuable than what they are using it to buy now.Ex. Farmer has $5000 mortgage and wheat sells for $1, he needs to sell 5000 bushels. If he inflates to $2,he will only need to sell 2500.4. Farmers attempt to organize: The farmers were very spread out and wanted to organize to improve the situation. They formed granges, which are social clubs, to socialize since they live so far out and don'tget much socialization time. The farmers at granges started talking about politics and business. By mistake granges became political meetings. The states began to pass granger laws that targeted the railroad companies trying to make prices lower. This did not work because a state cannot control interstate problems.-Greenback Movement (1880s): Greenback is just another name for money. The farmers are calling national leaders to print money. Printing more money will cause inflation. This movement really grows. By 1880, about 1 million greenbackers. They did not have a lot of success, but we see farmers taking matters into their hands and create a movement.-Alliance or Populist Movement (1880s-1890s): This was the most successful movement. They are still trying to go against big businesses. The government is not listening to the people, only busniesses. Farmers who used to be the big man see this as a huge problem. By 1899, there were about 3 million members. They have some success. In 1892, they formed a national political party called the populist party and run a candidate for president. They are trying to reach out to workers and anyone who feels hurt by businesses and think the government is not answering to the people.They meet in Omaha, Nebraska and form a platform (what the party standsfor). The Omaha Platform- they wanted to return government into the hands of the plain people and coin silver (more abundant than gold- introduce inflation). They call for US government to take over the railroads, telephone, telegraph companies, etc. This is a lot different because right now the government has nothing to do with businesses. They also want an income tax, direct election of US senators (during this time they are chosen by state legislatures, not the people). Companies are seeing just how much power they are losing.B. The Economy: tariff is adding protection to American businesses by taxing foreign goods coming into the country.1. McKinley Tariff (1890): In 1890, we have a new high tariff put in place, but it hurts the consumers. Thisconfirms political power being lost by the South and West farmers and little guys.2. 1893 Depression: The belief at this time from the government was that ifthe country was in an economic depression, it would just work itself out. In this, there was no hope for the people who were unemployed or even farmers and businesses.3. Gold vs. Silver- The Election of 1896: This becomes the biggest issue in the election.-William Jen. Bryan (D) vs. William McKinley (R)McKinley believed in big businesses and the gold standard of money. McKinley wins the election. This is not good for the little guy but good for big businesses.C. Racial Discrimination in South: There is now an increase of racial discrimination.1. Rise of Jim Crow Laws--Why? These laws "kept the black man in his place." These were now increasingbecause of many reasons. African Americans were becoming more political. This alarmed a lot of whites, they wanted to make sure blacks couldn't vote.2. Lynching: A mob takes someone who has committed a crime and takes matters into their own hands mostly by hangings. Blacks are being hung.3. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) & "Separate but Equal": Louisiana law wanted to separate RR cars for blacks which is not legal because the 14th amendment guarantees equal protection. The Supreme Court rules that this does not violate the 14th amendment. The US government is condoning racial discrimination and the South sees this as a great outlet to rule out blacks from voting and other things.4. Booker T. Washington vs W.E.B. Du Bois-Booker was a former slave and worked his way up to be a teacher. He made great improvement in his life. He encouraged African Americans to be patient.-W.E.B. said forget about being patient, we need to act on this discrimination.Niagara Movement (NAACP) (1909) created based on W.E.B.'s