The Agrarian Protest: Causes, Farmers Alliances, Break Up

Introduction

The Agrarian Protest emerged in the early 19th Century and made a distinctive feature in the history of America, the protests were largely brought about by the American farmers against the economic ills at this time. At the heart of these historical protests were the farmers who had made remarkable progress previously after the end of the much touted civil war. However the farmers started experiencing recurring periods of hardships that continued to agitate there already dwindling returns from the farming activities.¹

Causes

Several factors came into play to worsen the farmers’ situation and they included the vagaries of nature, a decline in self sufficiency, and the lack of adequate legislative protection and aid, but the most important factor that led to the farmers distress was the over production that was brought about by the mechanical improvements.²

The mechanical improvements greatly improved the yield per hectare and the amount of land grew rapidly during the second half of that century. The growth in the US was greatly supported by the railroads that ensured the produces reached various markets in a faster way. This coupled with the farm production growth in Canada, Argentina, and Australia meant that the US produce was facing an unprecedented competition in the target markets.

At the same time the farmers were paying high costs for manufactured goods which were brought about by the protective tariffs that congress backed by Eastern industrial interests had long supported. As a result in the long run, the Midwestern and western farmers fell ever more deeply in debt to the banks that held their mortgages. In the south the fall of the confederacy brought major changes in agricultural practices³. The most significant of these was sharecropping where tenant farmers “shared” up to half of their crops with the land owners in exchange for seed and other essential supplies. Approximately 80% of the South’s black farmers and about 40% of the white farmers lived under this debilitating system following the civil war.

Farmer’s Alliances

The first attempt to address the plight of the farmers and general agricultural problems was the Granger movement which was launched in 1867 to try and help the farmers in ensuring that they were getting value for their goods. By 1873 the movement had over 1.5 million members. However the movement started to decline by 1880 and was replaced by the Farmers’ Alliances. By 1890 the Alliance movement had over 1.5 million members from New York to California. On their part the African Americans formed a parallel organization named the Colored Farmers National Alliance with over 1 million members. The main theme of these alliances was to unite all the farmers and protect them from what they termed as “class legislation and the encroachments of concentrated capital.”⁴

Breakeup

During the late 1880s there were a series of droughts which devastated the western Great Plains and in four years Western Kansas lost half of its population. All this were worsened by the McKinley Tariff of 1890 which was one of the highest the country had ever witnessed. By 1890 the Agrarian distress was at an all time high and the Farmer’s Alliances working with some Democrats in the south and some small third parties in the West the Farmers made a push for political power. It was from these elements that the third political party emerged; the Populist Party which was brought into power in the 1890 elections where several Populist senators and representatives made it to Congress. In the 1892 elections the Populists recorded impressive strength where their candidate polled more than a million votes.⁵

However what brought down the many gains that the Populist Party had made was the currency question. The currency question pitted the advocates of silver against those who favored gold. Through various struggles the Democratic Party lost to the Republican’s nominee William McKinley.

Bibliography

Hair, I. William. (1969). Bourbonism and Agrarian Protest. Louisiana Politics, 1877 1900.Loisana State University Press. pp.122-320.

Klepper Robert. (1978). The Economic Bases for Agrarian Protest Movements in the United States: 1870-1900. Arno Press: New York. pp.87-136.

Footnotes

1. Hair, I. William. (1969). Bourbonism and Agrarian Protest. Louisiana Politics, 1877 1900.Loisana State University Press. pp.122-320.
2. Hair, I. William. (1969). Bourbonism and Agrarian Protest. Louisiana Politics, 1877 1900.Loisana State University Press. pp.122-320.
3. Klepper Robert. (1978). The Economic Bases for Agrarian Protest Movements in the United States: 1870-1900. Arno Press: New York. pp.87-136.
4. Klepper Robert. (1978). The Economic Bases for Agrarian Protest Movements in the United States: 1870-1900. Arno Press: New York. pp.87-136.
5. Klepper Robert. (1978). The Economic Bases for Agrarian Protest Movements in the United States: 1870-1900. Arno Press: New York. pp.87-136.