LAD #20, Populist Party Platform, 1892

The populists began as a result of the famers alliance in the 1870's, it was a political party that was independent of the Democrats and Republicans. The political party of the Populists resented "concentrated capital." The populist party believes that the nation is demoralized and that public opinion is "silenced." They don't like silver is not as accepted as it used to be because gold has now replaced it. There main goal is to restore power into the hands of "plain people." In there platform they state that we need labor unions, they demand a sound currency. They think that an unsound currency is americas main problem, they want the silver to gold ratio to be 16 to 1, they want a graduated income tax. The populist party also believes that governments should own the railroads not private owners. They also want a fair ballot and a fair count in the elections.