The Populists created the party as a necessary reaction to the sameness in the political situation in the 1880s. It was apparent that the country was in need of drastic changes. However, the actions of Democratic and the Republican parties were unpromising for ordinary citizens. For these reasons, the Populists advocated the equality of people’s economic status and fought against corrupt groups and corporations.
The Populists used legal methods and law to achieve their goals. They started the Great Boodle Trial, and the first big step was to bring suit against the county board, which was under the control of the dishonest commissioners. After that, they collected evidence of corruption and used it to terminate the fraudulent selection of grand juries. Moreover, The Union League Club and the Citizens’ Association formed an alliance that provided significant resources for prosecutions against corruption. Thus, the Populists acted step by step by using legal power and rationally planning each action.
However, the reformers also used controversial methods to achieve their goals. They had to find evidence in the system where everything was smartly secured. As a consequence, their detectives had to violate the law. There was no essential difference between their methods and ones performed by the activity of the Cook County Commissioners. Therefore, the reformers exhibited the same behavior as their rivals did.
To conclude, the Populists aimed to restore political justice and establish the sound administrative system. In Chicago, they prosecuted the Cook County Commissioners and fought against corruption and graft. Their main operations included the emancipation of the judicial system from corrupt jurists by obtaining evidence of brides and informing the citizens about the frauds. Nevertheless, the reformers could not help using unlawful methods to achieve their objectives. Thus, the Populists party took numerous actions against the corrupted Chicago administration.
Bibliography
Corbett, Scott, Volker Janssen, John Lund, Todd Pfannestiel, Paul Vickery. “The Growing Pains of Urbanization, 1870–1900”, in US History. Houston, Texas: OpenStax, 2014, Web.
Haugh, Todd. “Chicago’s ‘Great Boodle Trial’”, in Then & Now: Stories of Law and Progress. Edited by Andrews Lori, and Sarah Harding, 4-13. Chicago: Kent College of Law, 2013.
Waskiewicz, Sylvie, Paul Vickery. “Politics in the Gilded Age, 1870–1900”, in US History. Houston, Texas: OpenStax, 2014, Web.