"We demand the abolition of national banks. We demand that the government shall establish sub-treasuries or depositories in the several States in which the funds of the government shall be deposited, and that the people may receive money on their produce... We demand that the amount of the circulating medium be speedily increased to not less than $50 per capita. We demand that Congress shall pass a law prohibiting the alien ownership of land."
— Ocala Demands of the National Farmers’ Alliance and Industrial Union, 1890
Which of the following late-nineteenth-century developments was the most direct cause of the advocacy expressed in the excerpt?
- AThe complete withdrawal of federal involvement in the national economy in favor of strict laissez-faire policies.
- BThe passage of legislation intended to safeguard communal Native American land holdings from settlement.
- The decline in agricultural commodity prices and the rising debt of rural cultivators.Cevap
- DThe advocacy of urban middle-class reformers targeting corrupt municipal governments.
Cevap
The decline in agricultural commodity prices and the rising debt of rural cultivators.
The correct answer describes how the commercialization of agriculture, combined with global competition and domestic monetary policies, led to falling crop prices and mounting debt for American farmers. To protect themselves, farmers organized cooperatives and political alliances, culminating in demands for financial reforms such as the sub-treasury plan and currency expansion.
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Anahtar Kavram
The economic challenges faced by late-nineteenth-century farmers and the rise of the Populist movement.