But the emergence of a brash, young politician, William Jennings Bryan, soon turned the. Active in Democratic Party politics, Sewall was one of the few eastern party leaders to support silver, was wealthy and could help finance the campaign; he also balanced the ticket geographically. He knew personally more delegates than did any other candidate and he was on the ground to supervise his strategy. NAACP what organization used the court system to fight discrimination? [22][23] In the 17months between his departure from Congress and the Democratic National Convention in July 1896, Bryan travelled widely through the South and West, speaking on silver. As the economic downturn continued, free silver advocates blamed its continuation on the repeal of the silver purchase act, and the issue of silver became more prominent. In 2007, Gore won a Nobel read more, Considered the greatest English-speaking writer in history and known as Englands national poet, William Shakespeare (1564-1616) has had more theatrical works performed than any other playwright. Populist leaders correctly believed the Republicans unlikely to nominate a silver man. "[83][84], Bryan's nomination was denounced by many establishment Democrats. [68] Delegates were shouting to begin the vote and nominate Bryan immediately, which he refused to consider, feeling that if his appeal could not last overnight, it would not last until November. [58] He began: I would be presumptuous, indeed, to present myself against the distinguished gentlemen to whom you have listened if this were a mere measuring of abilities; but this is not a contest between persons. Bryan. Many were disappointed; the Democratic candidate read a two-hour speech from a manuscript, wishing to look statesmanlike, and fearing that if he spoke without a script, the press would misrepresent his words. [13] Bryan, who had been elected after the passage of the latter enactment, initially had little to say on the subject. [115], Bryan's plan for victory was to undertake a strenuous train tour, bringing his message to the people. Book Description Mr. Bryan's unfinished memoirs, which close with an account of the Baltimore convention of 1912, make up less than half the . 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. "[60] From the start, Bryan had his audience: when he finished a sentence, they would rise, shout and cheer, then quiet themselves to ready for the next words; the Nebraskan later described the convention as like a trained choir. In 1925, high school biology teacher John Scopes went on trial in Tennessee as a test of the first state law banning the teaching of evolution. The 1896 race is generally seen as a realigning election. Advocates of free silver (or bimetallism) wanted the government to accept all silver bullion presented to it and to return it, struck into coin, at the historic value ratio between gold and silver of 16 to 1. His campaign focused on silver, an issue that failed to appeal to the urban voter, and he was defeated. Morgan noted, "full organization, [Republican] party harmony, a campaign of education with the printed and spoken word would more than counteract" Bryan's speechmaking. Bryan spent most of October there160 of his final 250 train stops were in the Midwest. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. These included Vice President Adlai Stevenson of Illinois, Senator Joseph C. Blackburn of Kentucky, Indiana Governor Claude Matthews, and Bryan. The main candidates headquartered at the Palmer House, their rooms often crowded as they served free alcoholic drinks. Their enthusiasm at the unrehearsed rear platform appearances and in the formal speeches was spontaneous and contagious. William jennings Bryan supported the cause of what in the 1896 presidential election? He spoke some 600 times, to an estimated 5,000,000 listeners. In post-Civil War America, oratory was highly prized, and Bryan showed aptitude for it from a young age, raised in his father's house in Salem. He promised to enforce the laws against the trusts, procure stricter ones from Congress, and if the Supreme Court struck them down, to seek a constitutional amendment. The Gold Democrats received quiet financial support from Hanna and the Republicans. As Bryan had called New York in an ill-considered statement to the press before leaving Lincoln. (W.W. Norton & Company, 2018), William Jennings Bryan, the Great Commoner. Constitutional Rights Foundation, Spring 2010 (Volume 25, No. Secretary of War and Republican Party nominee William Howard Taft defeated three-time Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan.. Popular incumbent President Theodore Roosevelt honored his promise not to seek a third term, and persuaded his close friend, Taft, to . A free silver policy would inflate the currency, as the silver in a dollar coin was worth just over half the face value. William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 - July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. The 1908 United States presidential election was the 31st quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 1908. 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. I will add for the encouragement of those who still believe that money is not necessary to secure a Presidential nomination that my entire expenses while in attendance upon the convention were less than $100. "[131], The South and most of the West were deemed certain to vote for Bryan. 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. In late 1894, pro-silver Democrats began to organize in the hope of taking control of the party from Cleveland and other Gold Democrats and nominating a silver candidate in 1896. His campaign focused on silver, an issue that failed to appeal to the urban voter, and he was defeated in what is generally seen as a realigning election. The presidents of this eraRutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland, and Benjamin Harrisonare often remembered as colorless and ineffective. Ever since the election of 1800, American presidential contests had, on some level, been a referendum on whether the country should be governed by agrarian interests (rural indebted farmers-the countryside-"main street") or industrial interests (business-the city-"wall street"). The left-wing Populist Party (which had hoped to nominate the only silver-supporting candidate) endorsed Bryan for president, but found Sewall unacceptable, substituting Thomas E. Watson of Georgia. "[109], Bryan set the formal acceptance of his nomination for August 12 at New York's Madison Square Garden; he left Lincoln five days earlier by rail, and spoke 38times along the way, sometimes from the trackside in his nightgown. June 1894 marked the publication of William H. Harvey's Coin's Financial School. In 1890, he agreed to run for Congress against William James Connell, a Republican, who had won the local congressional seat in 1888. Bryan sensed the possibility of becoming the nominee long before 1896; his ambition was fully matured several months prior to the convention, and there is evidence that his hopes were becoming tinged with certainty before he left for Chicago. The vice presidential squabble, Williams argues, worried voters who feared that instability would follow a Bryan victory, and drove them towards McKinley. [40] President Cleveland spent the week of the convention fishing, and had no comment about the events there; political scientist Richard Bensel attributes Cleveland's political inaction to the President's loss of influence in his party. Bryan campaigned heavily on a platform of free silver in 1896, and continued that trend into the election of 1900. On the fifth ballot, other states joined the Bryan bandwagon, making him the Democratic candidate for president.[76][77]. [121], During this tour, Bryan spoke almost exclusively on the silver question, and attempted to mold the speeches to reflect local issues and interests. [94], Despite the confidence of the Republicans, the nomination of Bryan sparked great excitement through the nation. "[57] The Nebraska delegation waved red handkerchiefs as Bryan progressed to the podium;[56] he wore an alpaca sack suit more typical of Lincoln and the West than of Chicago. Bryans pacifist stance put him increasingly at odds with the president, however, and he resigned in 1915 in protest after Wilson sent a second note to Germany demanding an end to submarine warfare after the sinking of the Lusitania, an action Bryan felt went too far toward violating American neutrality. Nevertheless, Gold Democrats began plans to hold their own convention, which took place in September. Bryan was strongly affected by the emerging Social Gospel movement that called on Protestant activists to seek to cure social problems such as poverty. 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. Through the almost three decades before his death in 1925, he was ever present on political platform and speaking circuit, fighting first for silver, and then for other causes. He also argued in support of a graduated income tax, antitrust laws and other government regulation of business, womens suffrage and the prohibition of alcohol. On this day in 1896, William Jennings Bryan delivered his rousing speech as a delegate to the Democratic convention declaring that mankind would not be "crucified on a cross of gold.". Why did William Jennings Bryan lose? Retrieved May 19, 2012. [51], Once seated, Bryan went to the Platform Committee meeting at the Palmer House, displacing the Nebraska gold delegate on the committee. [139], In most areas, Bryan did better among rural voters than urban. Ultimately, the incumbent U.S. President William McKinley ended up defeating the anti-imperialist William Jennings Bryan and thus won a second four-year . Much of the blizzard of paper the Republican campaign was able to pay for concentrated on this area/ By September, this had its effect as silver sentiment began to fade. [35] Bryan was deeply moved when, after the adoption of the platform, Colorado Senator Henry M. Teller led a walkout of silver-supporting Republicans. "[142] By the end of 1896, Bryan had published his account of the campaign, The First Battle. The election of 1896 is seen as the beginning of a new era in American politics, or a "realignment" election. Free silver was very popular among Nebraskans, though many powerful Democrats opposed it. Bryan did not; Senator Jones (as the new Democratic National Committee chairman, in charge of the campaign) stated, "Mr. Sewall, will, of course, remain on the ticket, and Mr. Watson can do what he likes. By 1896, populist issues had become so important that the Democratic candidate for president, William Jennings Bryan, pledged to support them and went on to win most of the South and West. Speakers for both parties found eager audiences. [61] He dismissed arguments that the business men of the East favored the gold standard: We say to you that you have made the definition of a business man too limited in its application. "[63] He continued: Upon which side will the Democratic Party fight; upon the side of "the idle holders of idle capital" or upon the side of "the struggling masses"? There is no legal or constitutional requirement that the loser of a U.S. presidential election must concede. His widow accompanied his body in a special train car to Washington, where he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Cross of Gold Speech and Election of 1896, Anti-Evolution Crusade, Scopes Trial and Death, Department of State: Office of the Historian. The Cleveland Democrats were temporarily weak, and the Southern-Mountain coalition was ready to hand. At the outset of the 1890s, with drought destroying the livelihoods of many American farmers, the Peoples Party (also known as the Populist Party) was growing as a force in U.S. politics by appealing to small farmers, shopkeepers and other less wealthy voters. Former Governor William McKinley, the Republican candidate, defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan. The sympathies of the Democratic Party, as shown by the platform, are on the side of the struggling masses, who have ever been the foundation of the Democratic Party. The convention, by voice vote, seated the silver Nebraskans, who arrived in the convention hall a few minutes later, accompanied by a band. William Jennings Bryan (D) Loading. 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. 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