The populist party was an important third party in the u.s. because it

James Weaver

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The Omaha Platform
Populist Difficulties
Panic of 1893

The farmers and the silver producers also wanted Free Silver could not get satisfaction from either the Democratic or Republican Parties. In the early 1890s they moved into politics as a third party: the Populist or People’s Party. The Populist Party entered candidates James Weaver, a former Union officer, and James Field, a former Confederate officer, into the presidential election in 1892 but did not win.

The Omaha Platform

Meeting in convention in 1892, the Populists created a party platform, known as the Omaha Platform, which was revolutionary for its day, rejecting the laissez faire philosophy of government and embracing ideas some considered radical. The Omaha Platform called for:

The free and unlimited coinage of silver
A Subtreasury system

National government storage systems around the country where farmers could bring their nonperishable crops for storage. While the crops were stored, they could get a loan of legal tender paper money for the value of the crops. When farmers repaid the loans, they would get their money back. This would put more money in the economy and keep crops out of the market, which would help overproduction problems.

A progressive income tax

There was no income tax at this time. The government received its money from tariffs and the sale of public lands.

The government ownership of transportation and communication

This was a radical, socialistic idea. Populists asserted that the railroad, telephone and telegraph systems were so important that they should be owned by the people. This was seen by some as a threat to private enterprise and capitalism.

The direct election of United States Senators

At this time, state legislators chose senators. State legislators were susceptible to special interests. Populists asserted that allowing the people to directly vote for senators would create a government that was more responsive to the people.

Secret ballot
Initiative

The imitative would give voters the right to propose legislation.

Referendum

The referendum would give voters the power to approve or reject a piece of legislation.

The Populist Party not only had a partly radical platform but also acted boldly in its rhetoric and actions, which included having women address the public at rallies. Mary Lease, who was one of the female Populist speakers, said the government was practically owned by Wall Street and that farmers should “raise less corn and more hell.”

With the threat of the “crazy” Populists looming, the two major parties ran a relatively polite campaign in 1892. The Republicans nominated incumbent Benjamin Harrison while the Democrats nominated New Yorker Grover Cleveland for a second, nonconsecutive term. Cleveland won the election, but the Populists garnered over one million votes. They carried four Midwestern states and earned twenty-two electoral votes.

Populist Difficulties

After their respectable showing in the 1892 election, the Populists believed they were on the political rise, despite the party having serious problems. In particular, the Populists struggled with the fact that their support was highly regional, coming almost entirely from the agrarian South and West. They had no support in the Northeast, where most voters and most electoral votes were located. In the South, Populists split white voters because they tried to appeal to Blacks, angering southern conservative Democrats. The Populist Party also tried to appeal to industrial workers, but unions would not align themselves with the party because of the Populists stand on free silver. Workers did not want the inflation and high prices that the unlimited coinage of silver might bring.

Panic of 1893

Coxey’s Army

Cleveland took office for the second time in 1893. Within a few months, the economy collapsed and the Panic of 1893 ensued. The worst depression in United States history to that point followed, lasting four years, bankrupting thousands of businesses, and causing millions of people to lose their jobs. Although the depression was caused by multiple factors, President Cleveland blamed it on the Sherman Silver Purchase Act and the protective tariff.

Cleveland encouraged Congress to repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act and introduce a new tariff. These moves angered the Populists and many members of Cleveland’s own Democratic party. Neither measure helped nor did the depression end. The public blamed Cleveland, and in 1894 an Ohio quarry owner named Jacob Coxey led a march of unemployed men on Washington, D.C. The “army” protested the government’s refusal to help people during the depression. Coxey wanted the government to give people jobs doing public works. When they reached Capitol Hill, Coxey and his men were arrested for such crimes as trampling the grass.

Cleveland struggled through the rest of his second term, simply trying to keep law and order in the nation. He refused to take any steps to help people who were suffering. As the election of 1896 approached, farmers were furious, the nation remained in depression, and Cleveland and the Democrats were blamed. Democrats were divided and it appeared that they had little hope of winning the election.

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The People's Party, also known as the Populist Party, was an important political party in the United States of America during the late nineteenth century.

The People's Party originated in the early 1890s. It was organized in Kansas, but the party quickly spread across the United States. It drew its members from Farmers' Alliances, the Grange, and the Knights of Labor. Originally, the Populists did not form a national organization, preferring to gain political influence within individual states.

The Populist Party consisted primarily of farmers unhappy with the Democratic and Republican Parties. The Populists believed that the federal government needed to play a more active role in the American economy by regulating various businesses, especially the railroads. In particular, the Populists supported women's suffrage the direct election of United States Senators. They hoped that the enactment women's suffrage and the direct election of senators would enable them to elect some of their members to political office. Populists also supported a graduated income tax, government ownership of the railroads, improved working conditions in factories, immigration restrictions, an eight-hour workday, the recognition of unions, and easier access to credit.

During the early 1890s, the Populist Party garnered numerous victories. The party won governors' seats in Colorado, Washington, North Carolina, Montana, and several additional states. The Populists gained control of state legislatures in Kansas, Nebraska, and North Carolina, and they succeeded in electing members to the United States House of Representatives in Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, and California.

In 1892, the People's Party formed a national organization. The party selected James Weaver as its candidate for the presidency of the United States. The Populist platform called for government ownership of the railroads and the telephone and telegraph networks. It also demanded the free coinage of silver, an end to private script, a graduated income tax, direct election of senators, additional government and railroad-owned land being made available to homesteaders, and the implementation of secret ballots. The Populists won numerous political offices at the state and local levels, but Weaver finished a distant third to Grover Cleveland in the presidential election. By the election of 1896, the Democratic Party had absorbed many of the Populist ideals, causing the People's Party to cease to exist as a national organization.

In Ohio, the Populist Party remained a relatively insignificant force in politics. Thousands of Ohioans, especially farmers and industrial workers, agreed with the Populists platform, but they made up a minority of the states populace. John J. Seitz, a Populist, ran for Ohio's gubernatorial seat, but he received less than three-tenths of one percent of the votes cast in the election. The party performed significantly better in the gubernatorial race of 1895. Jacob S. Coxey ran as the Populist candidate and received fifty-two thousand votes. It was a respectable showing, but Coxey still lost the election. He ran again in 1897. This time he received just over six thousand votes, illustrating the declining popularity of the Populist Party.

The People's Party in Ohio helped Republicans tremendously, because the Populists tended to draw their supporters from the Democratic Party. To win back their former members, the Democrats in Ohio, as the party did nationally, quickly adopted many of the Populists ideals.