Individual Assignment 1
20th Century American History – 2
Professor David Goldberg
April 20, 2013
Why is the election of 1896 considered a watershed in American politics?
The election of 1896 is considered to be one of the most prestigious elections of all time. Even in politics today I have not witnessed a race like this one over one hundred years ago, this presidential race was one, to behold it was the republicans against the democrats. The race was between William McKinley for the republicans and William Jennings Bryan for the Democrats, and the issues at hand included the currency question. It would be this race that would establish the Republican Party as the dominant and leading force.
For years, the two key political parties remained almost equal when it came to political strength in the county. Once the Democratic Party rejected the issues concerning the currency issue that the democrats fell to a low status. The issue at hand with the currency was centered around using silver and gold in order to expand the amount of money that would be in circulation. Farmers, on the other hand, became more interested in bimetallism hoping that it would assist in the rising of both prices and wages. Also, during this time the industrial community opposed the usage of silver because they saw it as a waste of time and often thought that it would be inflationary. On the other hand, they voted more for the usage of gold because they thought that would be the only way to become stable and maintain a good flow of currency.
By this time in the summer of 1896, it was time for both political parties to hold their national conventions. So the republicans favored William McKinley who was in favor of the usage of gold and the democrats would nominate William Jennings Bryan who favored silver. Throughout the 19th century, the only way to get up to date information on such a race would be through the newspaper, throughout the electoral race...