The Negroes are enfranchised

     The Civil War prevented the break-up pf the Union, and gave the Negroes the rights of citizens, including the right of voting and holding office. In Iowa the Negroes were given the right to vote in 1868, and the right of election to the General Assembly in....

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....1880. The colored population had increased during the Civil War, but still there were only about 2,000 in 1865.

"Nothing more picturesque, more delightful, more helpful"

     Hard times, except when there were wars in Europe increasing the demand for American goods, followed the Civil War. The vast military expenditures of the Civil War caused continued higher taxes, both to the State and the Union. Furthermore, farmers, who had bought land or made improvements when money was plentiful, found it had to make ends meet when money became scarce. To improve the conditions of the farmers, a few government clerks in Washington, D. C., organized a society called the Grange. The members were called Grangers or Patrons of Husbandry. Both men and women and even children were admitted to membership. The Grange aimed to enriching the life of the farmers throughout the United States by fostering community activities such as debating clubs and literary societies.

Hamlin Garland

Of these, Hamlin Garland, the Iowa author, said that they were to him "a most grateful relief from the sordid loneliness of the farm," and that "nothing more delightful, more helpful has ever arisen out of American rural life.' The Grangers also tried to improve the lot of the farmers by establishing co-operative stores, elevators, and warehouses, and by uniting the farmers for political action so that laws could be passed for their benefit.

    The first local Grange in Iowa was organized at Newton, May 2, 1868. A large number of Granges appeared in the early seventies. Granges were formed in nearly all the states of the Union, as well as in some foreign countries. After 1876 the movement declined. In 1885 there remained only eight Granges in the State.

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Re-making the railroad world

     The Granges in Iowa and surrounding states compelled their legislatures to enact laws forbidding the railroad companies to charge what seemed unfair passenger fares and freight rates. These Granger Laws had much a far-reaching effect that they were said "to have re-made the railroad world" They laid down definitely the principle that the railroads are half public and half private, and therefore should be controlled by the State and railroad companies acting together.

The farmers wanted the Greenbacks

     As has already been stated, the United States had, what seemed then to be, a huge debt at the close of the Civil War amounting to about thee billion dollars. A apart of this money had been borrowed from the people by issuing United States notes (paper money), which were green on one side and therefore called greenbacks. After the war, Congress passed a law for the withdrawal of these notes by offering to pay their face value in coin. But by this withdrawing a part of the money in circulation, money would become scarcer and prices on farm products still lower that they already were. For this reason the framer organized the Greenback Party, which opposed the withdrawal of the Greenbacks, besides favoring other reforms. The Greenbackers succeeded in keeping the Greenback notes in circulation, Soon, however, the part gave way to the Populist Party, to which many Grangers and Greenbackers became adherents.

Would "free silver" mean prosperity

     The Populists in general advocated the same reforms as the Greenbackers -- government ownership of railroads and direct popular election of United States senators. But the most favored reform of the Populists was the demand for "free silver," by which is meant the coinage into dollars of all uncoined silver (bullion) taken to the United States mint. Free silver, it was thought, would produce a plentiful supply of money and thus help pass prosperity around, not the least to owners of silver mines, farmers and laborers. Against this opinion many held that free silver would be detrimental to the business interests of the country. Merchants and bankers generally opposed it.

A friend of man

     Greenbackism and Populism were especially strong in the South and the West. Iowa had many Greenbackers and Populists. One of....

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....the most noted of their leaders was General James Baird Weaver. He was born in Ohio, but came with his parents to Iowa while it was still a Territory. Here he attended school taught in a log cabin. As a young man he carried mail, studied law, and made a trip to California during the gold rush. He assisted in organizing the Republican Party; and when the Civil War broke out, he was chosen first lieutenant of a company of volunteer. At the close of the war, he received the honorary rank of brigadier-general. Having served a term in Congress, he was nominated for president in 1880 by the Greenback Party, and again in 1892 by the Populist Party. Though he received over 1,000,000 votes in 1892, the Democratic candidate, Grover Cleveland, was elected. During the campaigns he made extensive speaking tours through many parts of the country, addressing large audiences of Greenbackers and Populists, and gaining immense popularity with the common people, both North and South.

    In speaking to Southern audiences he would touch on the subject of the Civil War. And this was what he sometimes said: "I don't expect you to express regrets for what you did; but neither must you expect me to express regrets for what I did."

Another Democratic governor

     Though the Greenbackers and Populists had representatives in Congress, and in the General Assembly of Iowa, they were not able to muster strength enough to elect presidents of the United States nor governors of Iowa. The Republicans elected all the presidents of the United States between 1860 and 1900 except Grover Cleveland, and all the governors of Iowa from 1854 and 100 except Horace Boies, who was chosen governor by the united forces of Democrats and Populists in 1889.

    In the political campaigns, the Republicans would also bid for Greenback and Populist votes by letting their candidates for office support the measures of these reform parties. This was particularly true of Governor William Larrabee, who was a strong advocate of government regulation of railroads, and the author of an authoritative work on this subject.

Questions and Exercises: What did Hamlin Garland write about the Grange? What were the Grange Laws? Why did the Greenbacks want the Civil War paper money to continue in circulation? Why did the Populist want "free silver"? What did General Weaver tell Southern audiences? Who was Horace Boies?