In the speech, Bryan, who was from . Elected to the House of Representatives in 1890, when he was just 30 years old, Bryan championed populist causes including the direct election of senators, graduated federal income tax and the free silver movement, which sought to expand the federal money supply by basing U.S. currency on silver as well as gold. "[130], In September, the Gold Democrats met in convention in Indianapolis. If the USA had been on a bimetallic standard between 1875 and 1890, the economy could have expanded far more than it did, restricted as it was in its monetary straight jacket. It was not until 10:45am, three-quarters of an hour late, that Chairman White called the convention to order. "[79] He left the choice of a running mate to the convention; delegates selected Maine shipbuilder Arthur Sewall. 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. A Missourian, Ezra Peters, wrote to Illinois Senator John M. Palmer, "Coins [sic] Financial School is raising h in this neck of the woods. "[19] A Minnesota correspondent wrote in Outlook magazine: "high school boys are about equally divided between silver and baseball, with a decided leaning toward the former". When early-voting Maine and Vermont went strongly Republican in September, this meant that McKinley would most likely win the Northeast. Southern newspapers stayed with Bryan; they were unwilling to endorse McKinley, the choice of most African Americans, though few of them could vote in the South. His speech, set as the only one besides Bryan's in favor of silver, portrayed silver as a sectional issue pitting the poorer folk of the South and West against gold-supporting New York and the rest of the Northeast. John Nimick. It began as a simple courtesy, with a telegram that William Jennings Bryan sent. Speakers for both parties found eager audiences. The Democrats lost control of both houses of Congress in the 1894 midterm elections, with a number of southern states, usually solid for the Democrats, electing Republican or Populist congressmen. However, the President ruled this out; his Cabinet members also refused to run. "[66], As he spoke his final sentence, he brought his hands to his head, fingers extended in imitation of thorns; amid dead silence in the Coliseum, he extended his arms, recalling with words and posture the Crucifixion of Jesus, and held that position for several seconds. [99], Even before their convention in late July, the Populists faced dissent in their ranks. [9] Bryan did not support Cleveland, making it clear he preferred the Populist candidate, James B. Weaver, though he indicated that as a loyal Democrat, he would vote the party ticket. The Coliseum was located in a "dry" district of Chicago but the hotels were not. To that end, it was important that the Populists not nominate a rival silver candidate, and he took pains to cultivate good relations with Populist leaders. Mary Bryan had joined her husband in late September; on The Idler, the Bryans were able to eat and sleep in relative comfort. [38] Illinois Governor Altgeld, a leader of the silver movement, was ineligible because he was not a natural-born U.S. citizen as required for the presidency in the Constitution. In addition to the frontrunners, other silver men were spoken of as candidates. On September 27, The New York Times published a letter by an "eminent alienist" who, based on an analysis of the candidate's speeches, concluded that Bryan was mad. United States presidential election of 1900, American presidential election held on November 6, 1900, in which Republican incumbent Pres. But McKinleys victory was fueled by a massive influx of campaign cash from Wall Street bankers and other wealthy business interests, all determined to crush Bryans radical brand of populism. 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. After the defense called Bryan himself as an expert on the Bible, Darrow subjected him to a brutal examination in the sweltering courtroom, revealing his lack of theological as well as scientific knowledge. The increasing economic struggles of poor farmers during the 1870s and 1880s led to the Populist movement. NAACP what organization used the court system to fight discrimination? The song was "Sift Sand, Sal", the source does not explain the relevance of this to Bryan. When he spoke of himself as the nominee, some reacted as [journalist] Willis J. Abbot did and doubted his mental capacity. By early October, the DNC, at the urging of Populist officials who felt Bryan was being worn out, procured the services of North Carolina journalist Josephus Daniels to make travel arrangements, and also obtained a private railroad car, The Idlera name Bryan thought somewhat inappropriate due to the strenuous nature of the tour. Although Bryan claimed that many employers had intimidated their workers into voting Republican, Williams points out that the Democrats benefited from the disenfranchisement of southern African Americans. Confusion over ballots in Minnesota resulted in 15,000voided votes and may have thrown that state to the Republicans. The coalition of wealthy, middle-class and urban voters that defeated Bryan kept the Republicans in power for most of the time until 1932. William Jennings Bryan, The First Battle: A Story of the Campaign of 1896[78], At the Clifton House, Bryan's rooms were overwhelmed with those wishing to congratulate him, despite the efforts of police to keep the crowds at bay. McKinley and Hanna gently mocked Dawes, telling him that Bland would be the nominee. He was defeated in the general election by the Republican candidate, former Ohio governor William 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. The minority report attracted the opposite reaction.[54]. Although Bryan was successful in winning the non-binding popular vote, Republicans gained a majority in the legislature and elected John Thurston as senator.[11]. Arthur F. Mullen, a resident of O'Neill, Nebraska, described the summer and fall of 1896: O'Neill buzzed with political disputation from dawn till next dawn. [29], Bryan faced a number of disadvantages in seeking the Democratic nomination: he was little-known among Americans who did not follow politics closely, he had no money to pour into his campaign, he lacked public office, and had incurred the enmity of Cleveland and his administration through his stance on silver and other issues. After the fourth ballot, the Illinois delegation caucused and Altgeld was one of only two remaining Bland supporters, thus giving Bryan all of the state's 48 votes and bringing him near the two-thirds mark and the nomination. "[100] Populist Kansas Congressman Jerry Simpson wrote, "I care not for party names. [104] The National Silver Party, mostly former Republicans, met at the same time as the Populists; both conventions were in St. Louis. The 1896 presidential race is generally considered a realigning election, when there is a major shift in voting patterns, upsetting the political balance. Both had openly declared their candidacies, and were the only Democrats to have organizations seeking to obtain pledged delegates. President Cleveland, stunned by the convention's repudiation of him and his policies, decided against open support for a bolt from the party, either by endorsing McKinley or by publicly backing a rival Democratic ticket. 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. Bryan believed he could use the coalition-building techniques he had applied in gaining election to Congress, uniting pro-silver forces behind him to gain the Democratic nomination and the presidency. Stone, chair of the notification committee, essayed a lengthy speech, he was drowned out by the crowd, which wanted to hear "the Boy Orator of the Platte". The main candidates headquartered at the Palmer House, their rooms often crowded as they served free alcoholic drinks. The only areas of the nation where Bryan took a greater percentage of the urban than the rural vote were New England and the Rocky Mountain states; in neither case did this affect the outcome, as Bryan took only 27% of New England's vote overall, while taking 88% of the Rocky Mountain city vote to 81% of the vote there outside the cities. Rumors that Europeans were about to redeem a large sum for gold caused desperate selling on the stock market, the start of the Panic of 1893. A free silver policy would inflate the currency, as the silver in a dollar coin was worth just over half the face value. Bryan signed on as chief prosecutor, facing off against the criminal defense attorney Clarence Darrow. Bryan was well rested. (Credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images). The book, composed of accounts of (fictitious) lectures on the silver issue given by an adolescent named Coin to Chicago audiences, became an immense bestseller. Source (Electoral Vote): "Electoral College Box Scores 17891996". [93] When Bryan was nominated on a silver platform, the Republicans were briefly gratified, believing that Bryan's selection would result in an easy victory for McKinley. Senator Tillman, a fiery speaker who wore a pitchfork on his lapel, began the debate. I was thinking of finding a book for him for Christmas that could help his research. If this robbery is permitted, the farmer will be ruined, and then the cities will suffer. When both Hill and Bryan (who was selected as the other pro-silver speaker) objected to such a long closing address, Tillman settled for 50minutes and for opening the debate rather than closing it; Bryan was given 25minutes to close. On the fifth ballot, other states joined the Bryan bandwagon, making him the Democratic candidate for president.[76][77]. The smell of victory seemed to hang in the air. His program of prosperity through free silver struck an emotional chord with the American people in a way that McKinley's protective tariff did not. New York Senator Hill was next: the leading spokesman for gold, both gold and silver delegates quieted to hear him. However, he was deemed unlikely to succeed, as many Democrats feared that if elected, he might fill some patronage jobs with Republicans. Throughout the nation, voters were intensely interested in the campaign, studying the flood of pamphlets. "Silver Dick" Bland was seen as the elder statesman of the silver movement; he had originated the Bland-Allison Act of 1878, while Boies' victories for governor in a normally Republican state made him attractive as a candidate who might compete with McKinley in the crucial Midwest. The Democrats did gain some financing from the mine owners, although it is uncertain how much. 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. [144] According to Kazin, "what is remarkable is not that Bryan lost but that he came as close as he did to winning. This advocacy brought him contributions from silver mine owners in his successful re-election bid in 1892. 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. Our delegation should not be too prominent in applause. For the last decade of his life, he largely dedicated himself to reforming the nations moral and religious character. [118] Starved of money, the Democrats had fewer speakers and fewer publications to issue. Retrieved May 19, 2012. These results made the Midwest the crucial battlefield that would decide the presidency. Bryan, who was still in Congress, spoke eloquently against the repeal, but Cleveland forced it through. But the emergence of a brash, young politician, William Jennings Bryan, soon turned the. He won election to the House of Representatives in 1890, and was re-elected in 1892, before mounting an unsuccessful US Senate run. In 1896 it was kept as a forum, and by day and night men and womenmet there to talk about the Crime of '73, the fallacies of the gold standard, bimetallism and international consent, the evils of the tariff, the moneybags of Mark Hanna, the front porch campaign of McKinley. While speaking in McKinley's hometown of Canton, Ohio, Bryan yielded to impulse and called upon his rival at his home with Congressman Bland; the Republican candidate and his wife, somewhat startled, received the two men hospitably in a scene Williams calls, "surely bizarre. Senator Jones felt compelled to spend five minutes (granted by the gold side), stating that the silver issue crossed sectional lines. [148], One legacy of the campaign was the career of William Jennings Bryan. [120], On September 11, 1896, Bryan departed on a train trip that continued until November 1, two days before the election. See, In New England, Cleveland had won Connecticut in 1892 while losing the region as a whole by 53,000votes, Bryan won no states and lost New England by over 172,000 votes. The convention, by voice vote, seated the silver Nebraskans, who arrived in the convention hall a few minutes later, accompanied by a band. [117] McKinley's chosen strategy was a front porch campaign; he would remain at home, giving carefully scripted speeches to visiting delegations, much to the gratification of Canton's hot dog vendors and souvenir salesmen, who expanded facilities to meet the demand. Why did William Jennings Bryan lose the 1896 election? The galleries were quickly packed, but the delegates, slowed by fatigue from the first two days and the long journey from the downtown hotels, were slower to arrive. Bryan affirmed that the people could be counted on to prevent the rise of a tyrant, and noted, "What we need is an Andrew Jackson to stand, as Jackson stood, against the encroachments of organized wealth. 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. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. Bryan and many other Democrats believed the economic malaise could be remedied through a return to bimetallism, or free silvera policy they believed would inflate the currency and make it easier for debtors to repay loans. [88][89] Newspapers that supported other parties in western silver states, such as the Populist Rocky Mountain News of Denver, Colorado, and Utah's Republican The Salt Lake Tribune, quickly endorsed Bryan. [30] As state conventions met to nominate delegates to the July national convention, for the most part, they supported silver, and sent silver men to Chicago. Writers such as Edgar Lee Masters, Hamlin Garland and his fellow Nebraskan, Willa Cather, like Bryan came from the prairies; they wrote of their admiration for him and his first battle. The coalition of wealthy, middle-class, and urban voters that defeated Bryan kept the Republicans in power for most of the time until 1932. Bland maintained his lead on the second and third ballots, but on the fourth, with the convention in a huge uproar, Bryan took the lead. McKinley won with 7.1 million votes to Bryan's 6.5 million, 51% to 47%. Bryan". William McKinley defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan, winning 292 electoral votes to Bryan's 155. How could a boy in appearance, one not yet admitted to the convention, without a single state behind him, dare claim the nomination? 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.". [14] After his election to Congress, Bryan studied the currency question carefully, and came to believe in free silver; he also saw its political potential. See. National Archives and Records Administration. [1] As a judge's son, the younger Bryan had ample opportunity to observe the art of speechmaking in courtrooms, political rallies, and at church and revival meetings. In 1890, he agreed to run for Congress against William James Connell, a Republican, who had won the local congressional seat in 1888. The first report from the Credentials Committee, on the afternoon of July 8, recommended the seating of Bryan's delegation. [39] When Senator Teller walked out of the Republican convention in protest over the currency plank, he immediately became another possible candidate for the Democratic nomination for president. The day after his Cross of Gold speech, Bryan won the Democratic presidential nomination; he also won the support of the Populist and National Silver parties. They read Bryan when they couldn't go off to listen to him. [127], Republican newspapers painted Bryan as a tool of Governor Altgeld, who was controversial for having pardoned the surviving men convicted of involvement in the Haymarket bombing. The paper editorialized on the same page that even if the Democratic candidate was not insane, he was at least "of unsound mind". The Cleveland Democrats were temporarily weak, and the Southern-Mountain coalition was ready to hand. [73] As Missouri Senator George Vest nominated Bland, his oratory was drowned out by the gallery, "Bryan, Bryan, W.J. 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: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: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: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: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.
