Deck 26: Rumbles of Discontent

Question 1

Identify and state the historical significance of Oliver H. Kelley.

Answer 1

Minnesota farmer and leader of the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry.

Question 2

Identify and state the historical significance of Mary Elizabeth Lease.

Answer 2

Known as the Kansas Pythoness, she argued Kansas should raise more hell and less corn.

Question 3

Identify and state the historical significance of Eugene V. Debs.

Answer 3

Charismatic labor union leader who organized the American Railway Union.

Question 4

Identify and state the historical significance of Coxey's Army.

Question 5

Identify and state the historical significance of the Populist (People's) Party.

Question 6

Identify and state the historical significance of Jacob S. Coxey.

Question 7

Identify and state the historical significance of Ignatius Donnelley.

Question 8

Identify and state the historical significance of the Colored Farmers National Alliance.

Question 9

Identify and state the historical significance of William McKinley.

Question 10

Identify and state the historical significance of the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry.

Question 11

Identify and state the historical significance of James B. Weaver.

Question 12

Identify and state the historical significance of William Jennings Bryan.

Question 13

Identify and state the historical significance of Coin's Financial School.

Question 14

Identify and state the historical significance of Bonanza farms.

Question 15

Identify and state the historical significance of William Hope Harvey.

Question 16

Identify and state the historical significance of the mechanization of agriculture.

Question 17

Identify and state the historical significance of John Peter Altgeld.

Question 18

Farmers' Alliance

Question 19

Identify and state the historical significance of the Granger Laws.

Question 20

Identify and state the historical significance of Marcus Alonzo Hanna.

Question 21

In several states, farmers helped to pass the Granger Laws, which were designed to

A) provide state subsidies for farm exports.
B) lower farm mortgage interest rates.
C) allow the formation of producer and consumer cooperatives.
D) prohibit bankruptcy auctions.
E) regulate railroad rates and grain storage fees.

Question 22

Identify and state the historical significance of "16 to 1".

Question 23

Identify and state the historical significance of the Gold Standard Act.

Question 24

For farm men and women, Grangers were a godsend because

A) they required members to pitch in and help each other during harvest season.
B) the picnics, concerts and lectures they offered helped ease their isolation.
C) their secret rituals kept out people they didn't like.
D) they sold farming supplies at a deep discount.
E) they formed their own banks and credit unions that farmers could utilize to finance their operations.

Question 25

With agricultural production rising dramatically in the post-Civil War years

A) more farmers could purchase land.
B) tenant farming spread rapidly throughout the Midwest and South.
C) bankruptcies declined.
D) Western farmers prospered, while Southern farmers had grave troubles selling their cotton.
E) the government began buying surplus cash crops in order to sustain farmers' economic welfare.

Question 26

In the last decades of the 19^th century, the volume of agricultural goods ____, and the price received for these goods ____.

A) increased; decreased
B) decreased; increased
C) increased; also increased
D) decreased; also decreased
E) increased; stayed the same.

Question 27

Late 19^th-century farmers believed that their difficulties stemmed primarily from

A) low tariff rates.
B) overproduction.
C) a deflated currency and low prices for their agricultural goods.
D) immigration laws.
E) insufficient agricultural exports.

Question 28

Identify and state the historical significance of the Haymarket Square anarchists.

Question 29

Identify and state the historical significance of the "Gold Bugs".

Question 30

The root cause of the American farmers' problems after 1880 was

A) underproduction of agricultural foodstuffs.
B) foreign competition.
C) the declining number of farms and farmers.
D) the shortage of farm machinery.
E) low prices and a deflated currency.

Question 31

Identify and state the historical significance of the Pullman Strike.

Question 32

Identify and state the historical significance of the Dingley Tariff bill.

Question 33

The original purpose of the Grange was to

A) get involved in politics.
B) support an inflationary monetary policy.
C) stimulate self-improvement through educational and social activities.
D) improve the farmers' collective plight.
E) support the Homestead law.

Question 34

In the decades after the Civil War, most American farmers

A) bartered to obtain many of their necessities.
B) diversified their crops.
C) became increasingly self-sufficient.
D) saw their numbers grow as more people moved west.
E) grew a single cash crop such as wheat or corn.

Question 35

Farmers were slow to organize and promote their interest because they

A) were divided between small, self-sufficient family farmers and large cash crop farmers with onerous mortgages.
B) did not possess the money necessary to establish a national political movement.
C) did not believe they could compete politically with wealthier, more powerful manufacturers and railroad barons.
D) were too busy trying to eke out a living.
E) were, by nature, highly independent and individualistic.

Question 36

The first major farmers' organization was the

A) National Grange.
B) Populists.
C) Greenback Labor party.
D) Farmers' Alliance.
E) American Farm Bureau.

Question 37

Identify and state the historical significance of the "fourth party system".

Question 38

Identify and state the historical significance of the Cross of Gold speech.

Question 39

Identify and state the historical significance of the Depression of 1893.

Question 40

The Farmers' Alliance was originally formed to

A) drive up farm prices by reducing crop production.
B) advance agriculturally useful education in state land-grant colleges.
C) join poor black and white farmers in a political alliance to advance their similar economic interests.
D) undermine eastern bankers by providing low-cost loans to farmers.
E) break the economic grip of the railroads through farmers' cooperatives.

Question 41

The Democratic party nominee for President in 1896 was ____; the Republicans nominated ____; and the Populists endorsed ____.

A) William McKinley; Mark Hanna; William Jennings Bryan
B) William Jennings Bryan; William McKinley; James B. Weaver
C) William Jennings Bryan; William McKinley; William Jennings Bryan
D) Mark Hanna; William Jennings Bryan; William Jennings Bryan
E) William Jennings Bryan; Theodore Roosevelt; William Jennings Bryan

Question 42

Jacob Coxey and his army marched on Washington, D.C., to

A) demand a larger military budget.
B) protest the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act.
C) demand that the government relieve unemployment with a public works program.
D) try to promote a general strike of all workers.
E) None of these choices are correct.

Question 43

Which one of the following was least sympathetic to workers and farmers hard-pressed by the Depression of 1893?

A) John P. Altgeld
B) Richard Olney
C) Eugene V. Debs
D) Jacob Coxey
E) William Jennings Bryan

Question 44

The Populist party's presidential candidate in 1892 was

A) James B. Weaver.
B) William Jennings Bryan.
C) Mary Elizabeth Lease.
D) Adlai Stevenson.
E) William "Coin" Harvey.

Question 45

Which one of the following was NOT among influential Populist leaders?

A) William "Coin" Harvey
B) Ignatius Donnelley
C) Mary Elizabeth Lease
D) James B. Weaver
E) Eugene V. Debs

Question 46

During the 1892 presidential election, large numbers of Southern white farmers refused to desert the Democratic Party and support the Populist Party because

A) they did not think the Populists represented their political interests.
B) they were not experiencing the same hard times as Midwestern farmers.
C) the history of racial division in the region made it hard to cooperate with blacks.
D) they believed that too many Populists were former Republicans.
E) they could not accept the Populists' call for government ownership of the railroads, telegraph, and telephones.

Question 47

Which of the following was NOT among the qualifications that helped William McKinley earn the Republican presidential nomination in 1896?

A) He came from the key electoral swing state of Ohio.
B) He had acquired many years of honorable service in Congress.
C) He was a likable and esteemed Civil War veteran.
D) He was backed by the skilled political manager and fund raiser Mark Hanna.
E) He was an energetic and charismatic campaigner.

Question 48

William Jennings Bryan gained the presidential nomination of the Democratic party primarily because he

A) had already gained the nomination of the Populist party.
B) had the support of urban workers.
C) possessed a brilliant political mind.
D) eloquently supported the farmers' demand for the unlimited coinage of silver.
E) ran an insurgent political campaign that unified a divided Democratic party.

Question 49

One key to the Republican victory in the 1896 presidential election was

A) McKinley's ability to create divisions between western and southern farmers.
B) the huge financial and propaganda effort of Mark Hanna and the Republicans.
C) McKinley's ability to make the tariff issue more important than free silver.
D) the wide travel and numerous speeches made by William McKinley.
E) the ability of Republicans to win the support of debtor farmers.

Question 50

Labor unions, Populists, and debtors saw in the brutal Pullman episode

A) proof of an alliance between big business, the federal government, and the courts against working people.
B) a strategy by which united working-class action could succeed.
C) the need for a socialist party in the United States.
D) the potential of the federal government as a counterweight to big business.
E) the fallacy of using labor for organizing strikes to achieve economic gains for working-class citizens.

Question 51

In a bid to win labor's support, the Populist party

A) supported restrictions on immigration.
B) supported the Haymarket anarchists.
C) opposed judicial injunctions against labor strikes.
D) endorsed workmen's compensation laws.
E) proposed a law guaranteeing the right to organize and strike.

Question 52

In the election of 1896, the major issue became

A) restoration of protective tariffs.
B) enactment of an income tax.
C) government programs for those unemployed as a result of the depression.
D) guaranteeing unions the right to organize and collectively bargain.
E) free and unlimited coinage of silver.

Question 53

U.S. Attorney General Richard Olney and President Grover Cleveland justified federal intervention in the Pullman strike of 1894 on the grounds that

A) the union's leader, Eugene V. Debs, was a socialist.
B) the strike against the railroads was crippling all parts of the American economy.
C) the strikers were engaging in violent attacks on railroad property.
D) shutting down the railroads threatened American national security.
E) the strike was preventing the transit of U.S. mail.

Question 54

The 1896 presidential election marked the last time that

A) rural America would defeat urban America.
B) the South remained solid for the Democratic party.
C) a third-party candidate had a serious chance at the White House.
D) factory workers would favor inflation.
E) a serious effort to win the White House would be made with mostly agrarian votes.

Question 55

The depression of the 1890s and episodes like the Pullman Strike made the election of 1896 shape up as a

A) battle between down-and-out workers and farmers and establishment conservatives.
B) conflict between the insurgent Populists and the two established political parties.
C) sectional conflict with the West aligned against the Northeast and South.
D) contest over the power of the federal government to manage a modern industrial economy like the United States.
E) clash of cultures between ordinary middle-class Americans and European-oriented radicals and reformers.

Question 56

Mark Hanna, the Ohio Republican president-maker, believed that the prime function of the federal government was to

A) defend against foreign enemies.
B) maintain a laissez-faire policy.
C) ensure peace in labor relations between business and labor.
D) overturn the trickle-down theory of economics.
E) provide aid to big business.

Question 57

All of the following characteristics describe William Jennings Bryan in 1896 EXCEPT he

A) disliked the concept of class conflict.
B) was very youthful.
C) was an energetic and charismatic campaigner.
D) was an excellent orator.
E) radiated honesty and sincerity.

Question 58

The Pullman strike created the first instance of

A) management recognition of the right of workers to organize and strike.
B) government use of federal troops to break a labor strike.
C) violence during a labor strike.
D) a united front between urban workers and agrarian Populists.
E) government use of a federal court injunction to break a strike.

Question 59

The severe economic depression of the 1890s strengthened the Populists' argument that

A) the abolition of all metallic money in favor of paper was essential.
B) white and black farmers had common economic interests
C) government should not own the railroads, telephone, and telegraph companies.
D) farmers had nothing in common with the residents of industrial cities.
E) wage earners and farmers alike were victims of an oppressive economic and political system.

Question 60

The Populist party arose as the direct successor to the

A) Greenback Labor party.
B) Farmers' Alliance.
C) Silver Miners' Coalition.
D) Liberal Republican party.
E) Grange.

Question 61

The 1896 victory of William McKinley ushered in a long period of Republican dominance that was accompanied by

A) diminishing voter participation in elections.
B) strengthening of party organizations.
C) increasing voter participation in elections.
D) less concern for industrial regulation.
E) sharpened conflict between business and labor.

Question 62

Political historians often argue that the election of 1896 was a watershed election that marked the beginning of the fourth party system. Explain why this is so, and how American politics from 1865 to 1896 differed from the political situation that developed after the election of 1896.

Question 63

Write your definition of radical. Then use this definition to argue that the farmers' response to their problems in the 1880s and 1890s was or was not radical.

Question 64

Why did free silver become the key issue of the farmers' revolt? What other issues were important to them? Explain why Populism came down to a single-issue movement by 1896 and how this fixation may have harmed their cause.

Question 65

The consolidation of Republican power and eclipse of the Populists after the 1896 elections can be attributed to

A) eastern labor's opposition to free silver.
B) the return of general economic prosperity.
C) the decline of middle-class values.
D) the relative decline of rural America in relation to the cities.
E) increasing levels of voter participation in national elections.

Question 66

Populists often charged that there was conspiracy between government and big business aimed at holding down farmers and workers, and the federal courts were only the tools of banks and big business. What evidence did they cite for this charge? Does their argument convince you? Why or why not?

Question 67

Late 19^th-century Populist farmers held grievances against

A) railroads.
B) state governments.
C) corporations and processors who provided products and services for farmers.
D) the two major political parties.
E) banks.

Question 68

Explain the relative decline in the importance of agriculture in the American economy in the late 19^th century. In what ways was the farmers' protest based primarily on their economic woes, and to what extent was it a protest against the loss of an older American way of life based on agriculture and small towns?

Question 69

What was the impact of flourishing agriculture in Russia and Argentina?

A) American sodbusters faced ruin
B) new markets opened for America in South America
C) the federal government protected American agriculture with new tariffs
D) American farm equipment sales increased dramatically
E) a global depression was sparked

Question 70

The Populists' political program called for

A) a graduated income tax.
B) government ownership of the railroads, telephones, and telegraphs.
C) protective tariffs.
D) free and unlimited coinage of silver in the ratio of 16 to 1.
E) loans to farmers based on crops stored in government warehouses.

Question 71

The strongest ally of Mark Hanna and the Republicans in the 1896 presidential election was

A) a strong economy that raised wheat and other commodity prices.
B) McKinley's vigorous campaigning.
C) fear of the alleged radicalism of William Jennings Bryan and his free silver cause.
D) the nearly unanimous support of the nation's trained economists.
E) the divisions in the Democratic Party.

Question 72

In the presidential election of 1896, McKinley carried

A) the upper Mississippi Valley.
B) most urban workers.
C) the South.
D) the West.
E) New England.

Question 73

For many years, historians interpreted the 1896 election as the challenge of the people against the candidate of big business and the status quo. Explain why this view has largely fallen into disfavor, and why more of the people voted for McKinley. Are there any elements in the traditional view worth retaining?

Question 74

Had you lived during this period, which political party-Democratic, Republican, or Populist-would have attracted your allegiance?

Question 75

As president, William McKinley can best be described as

A) cautious and conservative.
B) a man of little ability.
C) an active reformer.
D) a person willing to go against the opinion of the majority.
E) a skillful negotiator.

Question 76

What do you think was the major technological innovation that influenced life on the Great Plains frontier? Why?

Question 77

If you were a farmer in western Kansas in 1887, what would be three or four of your major problems? How would you try to solve them? Would you be likely to seek help? Where? Why? What measures would you adopt to solve these identified problems? Where would you turn to help solve these identified problems? Which political and professional organizations might you turn to help solve these problems?

Question 78

Trace the history of the currency question in American politics from the aftermath of the Civil War to the passage of the Gold Standard Act.

Question 79

The monetary inflation needed to relieve the social and economic hardships of the late 19^th century eventually came as a result of

A) the repeal of the Gold Standard Act.
B) McKinley's adoption of the bimetallic standard.
C) an increase in the international gold supply.
D) the United States going off the gold standard.
E) the creation of the Federal Reserve System.

Question 80

Explain why the Populist party became the most successful third party in American history up to that time. Explain why it failed to survive the decade of the 1890s.