The man who is employed for wages is as much a business man as his employer; the attorney in a country town is as much a business man as the corporation counsel in a great metropolis; the merchant at the cross-roads store is as much a business man as the merchant of New York; the farmer who goes forth in the morning and toils all day, who begins in spring and toils all summer, and who by the application of brain and muscle to the natural resources of the country creates wealth, is as much a business man as the man who goes upon the Board of Trade and bets upon the price of grain; the miners who go down a thousand feet into the earth, or climb two thousand feet upon the cliffs, and bring forth from their hiding places the precious metals to be poured into the channels of trade are as much business men as the few financial magnates who, in a back room, corner the money of the world. The audio portion is an excerpt. William Jennings Bryan (nicknamed the "Boy Orator of the Platte" and "The Great Commoner") was a Nebraska politician and orator who rose to fame in 1896 when he secured the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. But note the change. [90], The Pullman Company offered Bryan a private car for his trip home; he declined, not wishing to accept corporate favors. [102] Bryan's emphasis on agrarian issues, both in his speech and in his candidacy, may have helped cement voting patterns which kept the Democrats largely out of power until the 1930s. He then lowered them, descended from the podium, and began to head back to his seat as the stillness held. No, my friends, it will never be the judgment of this people. My friends, we have made no criticism. I tell you that the great cities rest upon these broad and fertile prairies. Never before in the history of American politics has a great issue been fought out as this issue has been by the voters themselves. This exhibit features cartoons from Jay N. "Ding" Darling, Homer C . One Indiana voter wrote, "God has sent you amongst our people to save the poor from starvation, and we no [sic] you will save us. He stood second out of fourteen candidates in the first ballot, behind Bland. Bryan traveled 18,000 miles by train to give over 600 speeches (36 in one day) to about five million people. After speeches on the subject by several U.S. Albert Shaw, editor of The Review of Reviews, stated that after Bryan's nomination, many easterners professed not to have heard of him but: "If, indeed, they had not heard of Mr. Bryan before, they had failed to follow closely the course of American politics in the past eight years. The Cross of Gold speech was delivered by William Jennings Bryan, a former United States Representative from Nebraska, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on July 9, 1896. The cartoon depicts two contradictory sides of Carnegie: the business titan and the philanthropist. At Bryan's words, he threw his hat into the air, slapped the empty seat in front of him with his coat, and shouted, "My God! We have entreated, and our entreaties have been disregarded. There is more reason for him to do that than for us to expect to fail to maintain the parity. According to Barnes: The people of the South and the West had for years been convinced of the enormity of the "crime of 1873", and they had long since come to regard silver as the sword that would cut the Gordian knot of privilege. The silver campaign of 1896 was a big controversy among the people. In the late 1800's a populist movement was happening and people were starting to take notice. If the gold standard is a good thing, why try to get rid of it? For twenty years, Americans had been bitterly divided over the nation's monetary standard. Bryan had a distinguished and active political career, supporting workers' rights and women's suffrage while opposing monopolies and teaching evolution in schools. American cartoon by Grant Hamilton, 1896, on William Jennings Bryan's 'Cross of Gold' speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which won Bryan the presidential nomination. He was known for his deeply held religious beliefs and his popular touch, which earned him the moniker "the Great Commoner." Bryan later wrote, "This was another unexpected bit of good fortune. Silver producers complained, and many Americans came to believe that only through bimetallism could the nation achieve and maintain prosperity. W.J. That was Cicero, who destroyed the conspiracies of Cataline and saved Rome. Both of these movements helped to create the People's Party, or the Populist Party, which officially established its party platform in Omaha, Nebraska, on July 4, 1892. [90] The only paper to predict, after Bryan gave his speech, that he would not be nominated was The Wall Street Journal, which stated, "Bryan has had his day". The gentleman from New York says that he will propose an amendment providing that this change in our law shall not affect contracts which, according to the present laws, are made payable in gold. The Washington Post newspaper recorded, "bedlam broke loose, delirium reigned supreme. His speeches impressed many; even some of his opponents later conceded that Bryan was the most compelling speaker they had ever heard. This takeover was considered far more important than was the choice of presidential candidate, and the committee decided to take no position on who should win the race for the nomination, reasoning that the victor, no matter who he was, would be a silver man. [45] The DNC's action could be reversed, but not until the convention's credentials committee reported. Standing upon this victory-crowned summit, will it turn its face to the rising or the setting sun? Cleveland friend and former Postmaster General Donald M. Dickinson wrote to the President in June 1896 hoping that the delegates would recognize "common sense" and be frightened at the thought of nominating a radical. In a speech called "Cross of Gold," it is difficult to ignore the religious imagery that Bryan employs. [96] Bryan spoke on silver throughout the campaign; he rarely addressed other issues. This legislation defined a unit of value for the new nation, to be known as a dollar. Source 1 Political Cartoon "Swallowed" from Puck Magazine Source 2 Cross of Gold Political Cartoon Source 3 Photograph of a sod house Source 4 Political Cartoon, "The Grange . President Cleveland sent federal troops to Illinois to end the Pullman strikeworkers at the Pullman Palace Car Company, which made railroad cars, had struck after wages were cut. Behind the scenes and the irony: -fueling of the trucks uncaring of the president iv. [103][104], Writer Edgar Lee Masters called the speech, "the beginning of a changed America. In passing the Coinage Act, Congress eliminated bimetallism. [98] The Democratic candidate failed to gain a majority of the labor vote; McKinley won in working-class areas as well as wealthy precincts. The gentleman who just preceded me [Governor Russell] spoke of the old state of Massachusetts. We do not come as aggressors. The next day the convention nominated Bryan for President on the fifth ballot. They called for the return to pre-1873 laws, which would require the Mint to take all the silver offered it and return it, struck into silver dollars. The Akron Journal and Republican, no friend to Bryan, opined that "never probably has a national convention been swayed or influenced by a single speech as was the national Democratic convention". Mr. McKinley was the most popular man among the Republicans ; and everybody three months ago in the Republican Party prophesied his election. Circulars were being distributed in Illinois, and admirers in Nebraska, North Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and other states were urging his selection among their friends. Much activity took place in advance of the formal opening as the silver and (vastly outnumbered) gold forces prepared their strategies. [75] The lengthy passage as he discussed the platform and the Republicans helped calm the audience, ensuring he would be heard as he reached his peroration. That is the question which the party must answer first, and then it must be answered by each individual hereafter. [1] Bryan's address helped catapult him to the Democratic Party's presidential nomination and is considered one of the greatest political speeches in American history. Why? Jones deemed the Democrats likely to nominate a candidate who would appeal to the Populist Party, and Bryan had been elected to Congress with Populist support. The Populists would reach the high water mark of their political power in 1896, when the Democratic Party nominated William Jennings Bryan as its candidate for President of . Unfortunately, no recordings exist of his original speech. However, as late as June, the gold forces, which still controlled the Democratic National Committee (DNC), continued to believe that the nominee could be pro-gold. It demonstrated the need for better communications in wartime. [64] According to Bensel, the self-deprecation helped disarm the delegates. According to William Jennings Byran:. The merchant at the crossroads store is as much a businessman as the merchant of New York. The Nebraskan later described the audience as like a trained choir. The 1880s saw a steep decline in the prices of grain and other agricultural commodities. Although Bryan had decided on a strategy to gain the nominationto give a speech which would make him the logical candidate in the eyes of delegateshe faced obstacles along the way. Out of all of the prominent business figures that arose during the Gilded Age, Andrew Carnegie is perhaps viewed in the most positive light. He does use the word gold in a religious allusion, but it's given quite a different meaning. [83], The balloting began the following morning, July 10, with a two-thirds vote necessary to nominate. Political cartoons historically and currently play a significant role in public discourse about serious and important issues. I come to speak to you in defense of a cause as holy as the cause of libertythe cause of humanity. But in the early 20th century, the fame of Bryans Cross of Gold speech led him to repeat it numerous times on the Chautauqua lecture circuit where he was an enormously popular speaker. [6] Silver was now undervalued at the Mint; accordingly little was presented for striking into money. [21] He traveled widely, speaking to audiences across the nation. An 1896 cartoon of William Jennings Bryan supporting "Free Silver." What exactly did he mean that money did not need to be "backed" by gold? Mark Zuckerberg - Zuckerberg in April 2019. He decried the gold standard, concluding the speech, "you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold". See Also:"I Am a Democrat and not a Revolutionist": Senator David Bennett Hill Defends the Gold Standard"Pitchfork Ben" Tillman Addresses the 1896 Democratic Convention, "I Am a Democrat and not a Revolutionist": Senator David Bennett Hill Defends the Gold Standard, "Pitchfork Ben" Tillman Addresses the 1896 Democratic Convention. [25] Bryan biographer Paulo E. Coletta wrote, "during this year [July 1894 June 1895] of calamities, disintegration and revolution, each crisis aided Bryan because it caused division within his party and permitted him to contest for its mastery as it slipped from Cleveland's fingers. On the 4th of March, 1895, a few Democrats, most of them members of Congress, issued an address to the Democrats of the nation asserting that the money question was the paramount issue of the hour; asserting also the right of a majority of the Democratic Party to control the position of the party on this paramount issue; concluding with the request that all believers in free coinage of silver in the Democratic Party should organize and take charge of and control the policy of the Democratic Party. He was nominated two more times as the Democratic presidential nominee, but he lost again to McKinley in 1900 and to Republican candidate William H. Taft (1857-1930) in 1908. The government pledged to stand behind the silver dollars and treasury notes issued under the act by redeeming them in gold. My friend, in this land of the free you need fear no tyrant who will spring up from among the people. It marked the first american victory over a European power. Why this change? There are those who believe that, if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below. "[56], Vilas quickly lost his audience, which did not want to hear Cleveland defended. "[22][23], A myth has arisen that Bryan was an unknown prior to 1896. Updates? Critics contended that the inflation which would follow the introduction of such a policy would harm workers, whose wages would not rise as fast as prices would, and the operation of Gresham's law would drive gold from circulation, effectively placing the United States on a silver standard. Bryan, a former Democratic congressman from Nebraska, gained his party's presidential nomination in July of that year after electrifying the Democratic National Convention with his Cross of Gold speech. "[92], When McKinley heard that Bryan was likely to be the nominee, he called the report "rot" and hung up the phone. On the night of July 8, William Jennings Bryan revealed himself as the candidate the silverites were looking for by delivering one of the most famous speeches in American history. He says that mankind won't be crucified on a cross of gold. Pro-silver forces, with congressional leaders such as Missouri Representative Richard P. Bland, sought the passage of bills to allow depositors of silver bullion to receive it back in the form of coin. But we stand here representing people who are the equals before the law of the largest cities in the state of Massachusetts. The President's move was opposed by the Democratic Governor of Illinois, John Altgeld. It showed American support for european economic interests in East Africa. We care not upon which issue they force the fight. Mr. Both men spoke to hundreds of thousands of people from their chosen venues. The "Cross Of Gold" speech was a speech by William which helped propel the convention to nominate him as a Democratic presidential candidate. He faced in the direction of the gold-dominated state delegations: There are two ideas of government. Source: Official Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention Held in Chicago, Illinois, July 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, 1896, (Logansport, Indiana, 1896), 226234. ; D. The Democratic Party understood the economy from the point of view of workers and farmers. The bankers did not want loans repaid in an inflated currencythe gold standard was deflationary, and as creditors, they preferred to be paid in such a currency, whereas debtors preferred to repay in inflated currency. His sympathetic comparison contrasted the hardworking farmer with the city businessman, whom Bryan cast as a gambler. i. We defy them! It is because no private character, however pure, no personal popularity, however great, can protect from the avenging wrath of an indignant people the man who will either declare that he is in favor of fastening the gold standard upon this people, or who is willing to surrender the right of self-government and place legislative control in the hands of foreign potentates and powers. It offers discussion questions, classroom activities, and primary source analysis tools. . The Democratic idea has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous their prosperity will find its way up and through every class that rests upon it. As he traveled by rail to Lincoln, he saw farmers and others standing by the tracks, hoping for a glimpse of the new Democratic nominee. 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