Characteristics of the Republican, Democratic, and Populist Parties in the Gilded Age

The division of the American nation at the end of the 19th century was significant in several ways. First, the destruction of the last greatest rural political effort by the Populists signaled the end of the farmer-politician in America. The next great progressive movement, that of Robert LaFollette and Teddy Roosevelt, was one of the urban middle class and the educated. As well, the rise of modern fundraising, modern electioneering, and the involvement of business leaders in controlling political campaigns began during the Gilded Age. The three political parties of the time, the Republican, Democratic, and People’s Party, were different ideologically and demographically to the point that there were three true alternatives on the ballot during the 1890s.

The Republican Party was an increasingly urban, Protestant party that included among its ranks a great number of African Americans (many still remembering how Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves). With a great urban base, the arguments over rural problems naturally left many Republicans out of the populist loop, considering that many in the party were involved in land speculation and home ownership in Eastern cities. The Democratic Party was divided into “railroad” Democrats and other Democrats, mostly on the idea of African American involvement. Railroad Democrats wanted a top down arrangement, including African Americans in party politics but having them dictated by white leaders (still a fairly progressive idea at the end of the 19th century).

Other Democrats, however, continued their exclusion of African Americans by bribery, violence, poll taxes, and intimidation. The general Democratic demography was also increasingly urban (though in the South remained largely rural), added a number of party members involved in manufacturing, and counted amongst its most devoted followers Catholics and immigrants. The Populists, however, were a purely rural movement and established a black Farmer’s Alliance in order to keep African Americans involved. The driving factor was the outrageously high mortgages and low land values that many western and southern farmers had to contend with. While the Populists attempted to gain the support of labor unions and other urban groups, they were not able to bridge the gap with the city and were left in the dark politically in the most populated areas of the United States.

The existence of the Populists in the 1890s was a result of several decades of rural frustration. However, frustration and grassroots organization were not enough to defeat the dominant two party system in American politics. The Populists were too quick to jump ship by fusing with the Democratic Party for legitimacy and they ended up selling themselves down the river for a chance at being part of a national administration that never came to be. William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic-Populist fusion candidate for three elections, best represented the fire in the farmlands of Kansas and Texas and was destroyed in all of the presidential elections in which he was nominated. The lesson is not that the tools the Populists used are ineffective, it is that their commitment to the cause was too fleeting to create real change.