People's Party

People's Party

United States 1892

Synopsis

The People's Party was formed in St. Louis in 1892 to represent working people, particularly farmers, against entrenched financial interests: the two major political parties, bankers and financiers, railroad magnates, corporations, agricultural processors, grain-elevator operators, and anyone allied with such interests. The party ran presidential candidates in 1892 and 1896, but its inability to forge a coalition with eastern industrial workers, coupled with internal divisions and rising farm prices in the late 1890s, undermined the party and led to its collapse. The terms "People's Party" and "Populist Party" are often used interchangeably, although "Populist" tends to refer to the national party, whereas "People's" is the name by which the party was known in some states.

Timeline

• 1872: The Crédit Mobilier affair, in which several officials in the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant are accused of receiving stock in exchange for favors, is the first of many scandals that are to plague Grant's second term.
• 1877: In the face of uncertain results from the popular vote in the presidential election of 1876, the U.S. Electoral Commission awards the presidency to Rutherford B. Hayes despite a slight popular majority for his opponent, Samuel J. Tilden.

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