American Populism

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but it also helps us to understand the reasons that political movements in general rise and fall.
McMath is interested in examining what is now called the Progressive Era, which is generally considered to have reached its height in the 1920s but has deep roots, having begun in the 1870s with the Granger Movement. The grange movement fed into other social and political movements that were united by their goal of improving life for the average worker in the ever-increasing number of American factories.
The Progressive Movement aimed to break the power of the large corporations (often monopolies or at least near-monopolies) that were being formed at the time, for Progressive leaders understood that common workers had little chance against such economically and politically powerful companies.
Although it might be hard for any observer of contemporary American politics to believe it, in fact there were supporters of Progressive ideals in the Republican as well as the Democratic ...

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most important principle of populist political movements. The effective and long-lived of these political organizations developed by farmers was the Granger Movement.
The Granger Movement, born just after the Civil War, had broad goals, seeking to improve not only the economic conditions of farmers but their social status and political power as well. It began with a general sense of discontent amongst farmers who found that no amount of hard work could produce enough wealth to feed themselves - even as they were feeding the nation.
Continuous decreases in the price of farm goods (both crops and butcher products) produced a dramatic rise in the level of indebtedness of the farmers, ...

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