Key Figures and Legislation in 1890s Populist and Progressive Movements

Farmers' Alliances

Regional farmer organizations in the late 1800s that promoted cooperation, shared resources, and political action against railroads, banks, and high interest rates.

Free Silver

A movement advocating unlimited coinage of silver to increase the money supply, cause inflation, and help debt-burdened farmers.

Half-Breeds

A faction of reform-minded Republicans during the Gilded Age who supported civil service reform and opposed political corruption.

Interstate Commerce Act

The first federal law regulating railroads; it required fair rates and banned discrimination, though it was weakly enforced at first.

Jacob Coxey

A Populist leader who organized a 1894 march on Washington demanding government public-works jobs for the unemployed.

Mary E. Lease

A fiery Populist speaker who urged farmers to fight economic injustice and famously encouraged them to 'raise less corn and more hell.'

Munn v. Illinois

A Supreme Court case that ruled states could regulate private industries affecting the public interest, supporting Granger laws.

Panic of 1893

A severe economic depression marked by bank failures, high unemployment, and business collapses, fueling labor unrest and Populism.

Pendleton Act

A civil service reform law that required government jobs to be awarded based on merit through exams, reducing the spoils system.

Populism

A political movement representing farmers and workers that demanded economic reforms like free silver, regulation of railroads, and direct democracy.

Populist Party (People's Party)

A third party formed in the 1890s that pushed for agrarian reforms, free silver, and greater political power for ordinary citizens.

Sherman Antitrust Act

The first federal law aimed at breaking up monopolies and trusts that restrained trade, though initially enforced weakly.

The Grange

A farmers' organization that worked to improve rural life and supported state regulation of railroad rates.

William Jennings Bryan

A Democratic and Populist leader who supported free silver and delivered the famous 'Cross of Gold' speech.

William McKinley

A pro-business Republican president who supported the gold standard and defeated Bryan in the election of 1896.