Palmer proved an able campaigner who visited most major cities in the East, and in the final week of his campaign, told listeners, "I will not count it any great fault if next Tuesday you decide to cast your ballots for William McKinley. [35] Bryan was deeply moved when, after the adoption of the platform, Colorado Senator Henry M. Teller led a walkout of silver-supporting Republicans. 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. Site created in November 2000. He was utterly confident that he would succeed, believing "the logic of the situation," as he later put it, dictated his selection. Bryan's sterling record on the issue left the Populists with a stark choice: They could endorse Bryan, and risk losing their separate identity as a party, or nominate another candidate, thus dividing the pro-silver vote to McKinley's benefit. [103] Populist leader Henry Demarest Lloyd described silver as the "cow-bird" of the Populist Party, which had pushed aside all other issues. He knew that hard work could turn the discontent of the people into a revolt against the gold wing of the party, and no group of individuals ever labored more diligently to gain their political ends than did the silver men in the [Democratic Party] between 1893 and 1896. With little money, poor organization, and a hostile press, Bryan was his campaign's most important asset, and he wanted to reach the voters by traveling to them. [49] Bryan had been widely supported as a candidate for permanent chairman by the silver men, but some western delegates on the Committee on Permanent Organization objected, stating that they wanted the chance to support Bryan for the nomination (the permanent chairman was customarily ruled out as a candidate). In anticipation of a presidential campaign, he spent much of 1895 and early 1896 making speeches across the United States; his compelling oratory increased his popularity in his party. Bryan left the convention, returning to his hotel to await the outcome. The MAIN ISSUES were the coinage of silver and protective tariffs. Treat all candidates fairly. Speech by William Jennings Bryan. Having cornered the gold market, the British wanted Americas large Civil War debt to by paid in gold. An avowed pacifist, Bryan finally resigned over Wilsons second note to Germany (June 8, 1915) protesting the sinking of the Lusitania. Governor Altgeld had held Illinois, which was subject to the "unit rule" whereby the entirety of a state's vote was cast as a majority of that state's delegation directed. Additionally, the platform expressed sympathy for Armenians suffering under Turkish repression, and for Cuban freedom fighters struggling against the Spanish. . >> we do not come as aggressors. A streak of the moralist preacher raised his political chances among a people attuned to the biblical phrase and Shakespearan [sic] stance. It allowed farmers to secure low-interest government loans. He would subsequently win the Democratic nomination for president in 1900 and again . Constitutional Rights Foundation 11 William Jennings Bryan, . According to historian Stanley Jones in his account of the 1896 election, "it seemed in retrospect a curious logic that gave a capitalist from Maine a leading role in a campaign intended to have a strong appeal to the masses of the South and West". [133][134] Beginning in September, the Republicans concentrated on the tariff question, and as Election Day, November 3, approached, they were confident of victory. The 1896 campaign, which took place during an economic depression known as the Panic of 1893, was a political realignment that ended the old Third Party System and began the Fourth Party System. Among the foremost supporters of Bryan was publisher William Randolph Hearst who both contributed to Bryan's campaign and slanted his newspapers' coverage in his favor. "[72] Bryan had made no arrangements for formal nominating speeches given the short timeframe, and was surprised when word was brought to him at the Clifton House that he had been nominated by Henry Lewis of Georgia: the candidate had expected the Kansas delegation to name him. Like the elections of 1800, 1860 and 1932, the presidential election of 1896 marked a fundamental shift in American politics, and the emergence of a new political reality to reflect the nations changed circumstances. They read Bryan when they couldn't go off to listen to him. This was not the case: the mining industry was seeing poor times, and had little money to donate to Bryan. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. And there were international implications. Abandoned by many gold-supporting party leaders and newspapers after the Chicago convention, Bryan undertook an extensive tour by rail to bring his campaign to the people. Bryan served as Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson from 1913 to 1915, resigning as Wilson moved the nation closer to intervention in World War I. They argued that inflation caused by free coinage of silver would create a 53-cent dollar that would rob the workingman of his buyingpower. Bryan traveled to twenty-seven states, but focused largely on the midwest, where he believed the deciding battleground to be. Many of the elements of the speech had appeared in prior Bryan addresses. William McKinley was the overwhelming favorite,anotherin a series of Republican candidates who came from Ohio, reflecting the growing political clout of the American Midwest. With former President Benjamin Harrison and Ohio Senator John Sherman declining to run, the main candidates seeking the nomination were Speaker of the House Thomas B. Reed of Maine, Senator William Allison of Iowa, and Governor William McKinley of Ohio. At the Democratic convention in Chicago, his famous Cross of Gold speech (July 8) won him the nomination at the age of 36. After a candidate backed by the nascent Populists withdrew, Bryan defeated Connell for the seat by 6,700 votes (nearly doubling Connell's 1888 margin), receiving support from the Populists and Prohibitionists. The United States presidential election of November 3, 1896, saw Republican William McKinley defeat Democrat William Jennings Bryan in a campaign considered by historians to be one of the most dramatic and complex in American history. The President's uncompromising stand for gold alienated many in his own party (most southern and western Democrats were pro-silver). "Equal rights to all, special privileges to none" was the slogan of the: argued in his book Folkways that it was a mistake for the government to interfere with established customs, cooperation, not competition, would best promote progress. According to Stanley Jones, "the only conclusion to be reached was that the Bryan campaign, with its emphasis on the free coinage of silver at 16 to 1, had not appealed to the urban working classes. T he Nebraskan William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925) was unique in his views and would represent what should be an important American political view to this day. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Others dubbed Bryan a "Popocrat". Although defeated in the election, Bryan's campaign made him a national figure, which he remained until his death in 1925. But in an unexpected turn of events, the young Democratic Nebraska lawyer and former congressman Bryan challenged McKinley in 1896. READ MORE: How the Gold Standard Contributed to the Great Depression. [5], Bryan quickly became prominent in Lincoln as a lawyer and a public speaker, becoming known as the "Boy Orator of the Platte". Bryan convinced 31 nations to agree in principle to his proposal of new treaties that would provide a cooling-off period of one year during which a question in dispute could be studied by an international commission. How was he able to win the presidency? For weeks, editorial cartoons savaged Hanna as a bloated plutocrat who had McKinley completely under his thumb. [13] Bryan, who had been elected after the passage of the latter enactment, initially had little to say on the subject. This was a matter of intense interest for the silver delegates: Bryan had written to large numbers of delegates urging them to support his men over their gold rivals; once in Chicago, he and his fellow Nebraskans had spoken with many others about the dispute. Bryan, who was still in Congress, spoke eloquently against the repeal, but Cleveland forced it through. William Jennings Bryan was born in Marion County, Illinois, in 1860, on the eve of the American Civil War. Speech by William Jennings Bryan. together at home playing games or reading books. South Carolina Senator Benjamin Tillman, a silver supporter, wanted an hour to address the convention, and to close the debate. Source (Popular Vote): .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#3a3;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}Leip, David. He traveled, by his own account, 17,909 miles and made nearly 600 speeches. William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 - July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. The smell of victory seemed to hang in the air. They hoped the Democrats either would not endorse silver in their platform or if they did, that the Democratic candidate would be someone who could be painted as weak on silver. 2022 A&E Television Networks, LLC. The economy failed to improve, and when the President in 1894 sent federal troops to Illinois to break up the Pullman Strike, he outraged even more Democrats. Although this was called bimetallism, it was actually a silver standard. THANKS! He was influential in the adoption of such reforms as the popular election of senators,income tax, the creation of theDepartment of Labor,Prohibition, andwomens suffrage. He called for reform of the monetary system, an end to the gold standard, and promised government relief efforts for farmers and others hurt by the economic depression. The 1896 presidential race is generally considered a realigning election, when there is a major shift in voting patterns, upsetting the political balance. Former Populist governor of Colorado Davis H. Waite wrote to former congressman Ignatius Donnelly that the Democrats had returned to their roots and "nominated a good & true man on the platform. October 29, 1896 | Speech. And all of this, according to Professor Coin, had been arranged by London. William Jennings Bryan was a prominent figure in U.S. politics during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and is perhaps best known for his role as assistant to the prosecution in the famous scopes monkey trial of 1925. 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