Nebraskaland

36 Nebraskaland • August-September 2020 his metal campaign pin from the Nebraska History Museum requires some explaining today, but its meaning was clear to 1896 voters. Pictured at left is 36-year-old William Jennings Bryan of Lincoln, the Democratic nominee for president. The numbers at right, 16/1, represent the ratio of silver to gold coinage desired by Bryan's supporters. What a boring issue, right? No wonder Bryan lost! But would you believe that the campaign of 1896 was one of the most impassioned in U.S. history? Bryan was both revered as a godly hero and denounced as a dangerous radical. The country was still reeling from a severe economic depression, and many farmers felt that banking interests had rigged the economy against them. Opponents accused Bryan of being practically a socialist and warned that he would wreck the economy instead of saving it. At the center of the fi ght was the gold standard. There was no federal reserve banking system; the nation's supply of money was tied to the supply of gold. When the economy grew faster than the gold supply, dollars became scarcer and gained more buying power. That was good if you had money or if people owed you money, but bad if you were in debt — as most farmers were. "You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold!" Bryan roared in his most famous speech. Bryan and his followers wanted the government to mint more silver coins to expand the money supply. They wanted to create enough infl ation to ease debts and make credit easier to obtain. Republican nominee William McKinley argued that gold made for a stable currency, which was good for business, and thus good for urban wage workers. The issue was argued in numerous books, pamphlets, speeches and fi stfi ghts. The 1890s saw major droughts, economic depression, massive unemployment, violent labor strikes, lynchings and widespread unrest. In such bitter times, the silver-versus-gold issue became a focal point for people's hopes and fears. That's the reason for all the gold-and-silver symbolism in 1896 campaign memorabilia. McKinley supporters often wore yellow neckties or "gold bug" pins shaped like this one. (A savvy manufacturer apparently sold them to both parties.) The stinger, only barely visible here, was a lever that moved the wings. McKinley won the election and kept the nation on the gold standard. Why did he win? Opinions vary, but historians often emphasize two things. One is that McKinley raked in huge donations from corporations and wealthy individuals, allowing his campaign to massively outspend Bryan. The other is that Bryan and the free silver platform appealed mainly to rural Americans and not so much to urban workers. The silver platform was dead, but Bryan himself was nominated by the Democratic Party twice more, losing to McKinley again in 1900 and to William Howard Taft in 1908. However, Bryan remained a powerful fi gure among Democrats for years, and he served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson. N Visit History Nebraska's website at history.nebraska.gov. T The Silver Bug of 1896 rt w Mc o ? a n h e nd y ur T B f Se oo nd f g k e t b b th nd f gold king tied ew ts blican both par here, M nati win? emph raked in and wealth to massive Bryan an mainly to u B S Wo Visit a stable currency, which was By David L. Bristow, History Nebraska

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