The Populism of William Jennings Bryan
Dec 19, 2010 Michael Streich
William Jennings Bryan’s populism was frequently viewed as a step toward socialism. During the House debate on the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, Bryan’s characterization of corporations as, “imperious, arrogant, [and] compassionless” resulted in one observer labeling Bryan as the “advance guard” of a French Revolution. But Bryan was no Marat. Bryan’s populism always upheld the welfare of everyday Americans and toward that end he championed political and social reform.
Bryan’s Opposition to Imperialism after the Spanish American War
In matters of aggression, Bryan was a pacifist, although he requested a colonelcy at the start of the Spanish American War. Once the war ended, Bryan saw clearly the motives for imperialism. The United States was producing more than it could use internally and needed expanded foreign markets.
Bryan, however, argued for increasing the purchasing power of working Americans. He also saw that colonial possessions would hurt unskilled American workers whose jobs could be moved overseas where wages were even lower than in the many factory towns in industrialized America. Imperialism could promote unemployment at home.
Imperialism also contradicted the principles of American democracy. Like the Anti-Imperialist League, Bryan deplored the reinterpretation of the “City on a Hill” vision that was to be tarnished through William McKinley’s pacification program in the Philippines.
Electoral Reform and Increased Political Participation in America
Four of Bryan’s issues would result in changes to the Constitution, although not directly due to his efforts. The Sixteenth Amendment (1913) allowed Congress to collect taxes on incomes. Direct election of U.S. Senators became law in 1913 with the Seventeenth Amendment. The Eighteenth Amendment legalized Prohibition while the Nineteenth gave women the right to vote.
Bryan also fought for direct primaries, the recall, the initiative, and the referendum, causes championed by early 20th Century Progressives like Wisconsin’s Bob La Follette. According to Bryan, “Never be afraid to stand with the minority when the minority is right, for the minority which is right will one day be the majority.” Bryan’s principles were influenced by the rural, pastoral perceptions observers often contrasted with urban life. This was the old Jeffersonian vision and, at least in the election of 1896, Bryan received strong voter support from rural Americas. This was the republic of the people and not the money interests Bryan addressed in his Cross of Gold speech.
Misunderstood Conservatism of William Jennings Bryan
Although Bryan came out in 1906 for government ownership of American railroads, he was no radical. Bryan was a product of American Protestantism and an evangelical until his death, using his last energies to speak out against evolution during the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” trial. As Woodrow Wilson’s first Secretary of State, he called for a moratorium after the June 1914 assassination of Francis Ferdinand in Bosnia to avert what all observers felt would be a general European war.
Bryan’s conservatism was rooted in his populism. All Americans were entitled to economic prosperity and a nation of full employment. Many years later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke of the “forgotten man.” For Bryan, the toiling industrial workers and the depressed farmers were the forgotten men and women of the Gilded Age.
The charge of socialism and revolution has often been aimed at reformers whose goals are to improve the lives of disenfranchised and impoverished citizens. Bryan was only one among many in American history to suffer from such accusations. In the 21st Century, Bryan would fit well with both the socially conservative Tea Party as well as progressives that champion universal health care. The essence of Bryan’s populism was and still remains with the American people.
Sources:
- Robert W. Cherny, A Righteous Cause: The Life of William Jennings Bryan (University of Oklahoma Press, 1994)
- Paul W. Glad, McKinley, Bryan, and the People (J.B. Lippincott, 1964)
- Michael Kazin, A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan (Anchor, 2007)
- Page Smith, The Rise of Industrial America: A People’s History of the Post-Reconstruction Era (Penguin, 1990)
- Speeches of William Jennings Bryan, Volume 1 & 2 (Nabu Press, 2010)
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