Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state. Red denotes those won by McKinley/Hobart, blue denotes states won by Bryan/Sewall and the Democratic/Populist ticket of Bryan/Watson.
FREE COINAGE OF SILVER DEFINITION FREE
In major elections free silver was consistently defeated, and after 1896 the nation moved to the gold standard.Presidential election results map. The Populists also endorsed Bryan and free silver in 1896, which marked the effective end of their independence. Free silver was the central issue for Democrats in the presidential election of 1896 and that of 1900, under the leadership of William Jennings Bryan. It had little support among farmers in the Northeast and the Corn Belt. Free silver was especially popular among farmers in the wheat belt and the cotton belts, as well as silver miners in the West. The debate pitted the pro-gold financial establishment of the Northeast, along with railroads, factories and businessmen, who were creditors who would benefit from disinflation, against poor farmers who would benefit from higher prices for their crops.
The issue peaked from 1893 to 1896, when the economy was in a severe depression-called the Panic of 1893-characterized by falling prices, high unemployment in industrial areas, and severe distress for farmers. Everyone agreed that free silver would raise prices the question was whether or not this inflationary measure would be beneficial. Because the actual ratio was about 32 to 1 at the time, most economists warned that the cheaper silver would drive the more expensive gold out of circulation.
The Silverites promoted bimetallism, the use of both silver and gold as currency at the ratio of 16 to 1. Its advocates were in favor of an inflationary monetary policy using the "free coinage of silver" as opposed to the less inflationary gold standard its supporters were called "Silverites". President and U.S Department of Treasury to regulate U.S silver, was completely repealed by Public Law 88-36.įreebase Rate this definition: 0.0 / 0 votesįree silver was a central American policy issue in the late 19th century. In major elections, free silver was consistently defeated, and after 1896 the nation moved to the gold standard.The debate over silver lasted from the passage of the Fourth Coinage Act in 1873, which demonetized silver and was called the "Crime of '73" by opponents, until 1963, when the Silver Purchase Act of 1934, which allowed the U.S. It had little support among farmers in the Northeast and the Corn Belt (the eastern Midwest).įree silver was the central issue for Democrats in the presidential elections of 18, under the leadership of William Jennings Bryan, famed for his Cross of Gold speech in favor of free silver. Free silver was especially popular among farmers in the Wheat Belt (the western Midwest) and the Cotton Belt (the Deep South), as well as silver miners in the West. stock market history.The "free silver" debate pitted the pro-gold financial establishment of the Northeast, along with railroads, factories, and businessmen, who were creditors deriving benefit from deflation and repayment of loans with valuable gold dollars, against farmers who would benefit from higher prices for their crops and an easing of credit burdens. It ranks as the 11th largest decline in U.S. The issue peaked from 1893 to 1896, when the economy was suffering from a severe depression characterized by falling prices (deflation), high unemployment in industrial areas, and severe distress for farmers. While all agreed that an expanded money supply would inevitably inflate prices, the issue was whether this inflation would be beneficial or not. Because the actual price ratio of the two metals was substantially higher in favor of gold at the time, most economists warned that the less valuable silver coinage would drive the more valuable gold out of circulation.
Supporters of an important place for silver in a bimetallic money system making use of both silver and gold, called "Silverites", sought coinage of silver dollars at a fixed weight ratio of 16-to-1 against dollar coins made of gold. Free silver became increasingly associated with populism, unions, and the fight of ordinary Americans against the bankers and monopolists, and the robber barons of the Gilded Age capitalism era and was referred to as the "People's Money". Its advocates were in favor of an expansionary monetary policy featuring the unlimited coinage of silver into money on-demand, as opposed to strict adherence to the more carefully fixed money supply implicit in the gold standard. Wikipedia Rate this definition: 0.0 / 0 votesįree silver was a major economic policy issue in the United States in the late 19th-century.
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