Outside the mining states of the West, the Republican Party steadfastly opposed free silver, arguing that the best road to national prosperity was “sound money”, or gold, which was central to international trade.
Why was the free silver movement opposed?
Farmers in the South and West condemned this action, blamed the greed of eastern bankers for the depressed state of the economy, and resumed their demand for the unlimited coinage of silver.
What was the silver question in the 1890s and why was it such a prominent issue?
The silver question was what would form the basis of the dollar. By cutting off the coinage of silver, Congress had eliminated one method to expand the money supply. Expanding the money supply would raise prices by weakening the dollar. Some Americans considered it a conspiracy of bankers.
Who supported the free silver campaign?
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? Bryan did not think it was necessary for the United States to hold in reserve an amount of gold equal in value to all the paper money in circulation.
What did the free silver people want?
The Free Silver Movement was a political movement that proposed returning to “bimetallism”: Those in the movement wanted money backed by silver to be added to the money supply, which was backed by gold. Adding to the money supply would have ended the deflation and created the possibility of inflation.
What was meant by the term free silver in the 1890’s?
FREE SILVER, the unlimited coinage of silver by the U.S. government for anyone bringing the metal into the U.S. Mint, functioned as an important political slogan in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
What was the silver question in 1890?
Abstract. In the 1890s, questions about whether to base the American currency upon gold or silver dominated public discourse and eventually forced a realignment of the political parties.
Was free silver a good idea?
Free silver at “16 to 1” would have expanded the money supply, but as a lone measure it would hardly have solved the nation’s economic woes, and it would have (as Republicans argued) substantially raised the value of silver in relation to gold.
Why did the U.S. stop using silver?
Under President Johnson, the 1965 Coinage Act was passed that eliminated silver from certain coins due to a silver and coin shortage.
Was free silver a good idea?
Free silver at “16 to 1” would have expanded the money supply, but as a lone measure it would hardly have solved the nation’s economic woes, and it would have (as Republicans argued) substantially raised the value of silver in relation to gold.
Why did the silver standard fail?
Because of the huge debt taken on by the US federal government to finance the Revolutionary War, silver coins struck by the government left circulation, and in 1806 President Jefferson suspended the minting of silver coins.
Why were Populists opposed to the gold standard?
Scholars have typically argued that the mostly agrarian populists opposed gold because of the heavy burden of farm debt. In this view, the populists wanted to take the country off gold to allow across-the-board inflation that would lighten the burden of nominally denominated debt.
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