President Cleveland’s second term began with an economic depression. Jacob Coxey of Massillon OH led a group of unemployed people to DC and called for federal money to be allocated for road construction to bring jobs to the unemployed. There were riots in the cities in 1894; Cleveland sent federal troops to quell a riot in Chicago in order to protect the passage of the U.S. Mail. In addition to urban troubles, the continuing depressed state of the agriculture industry fed the growing unrest led by the Populist Party. The Populists were offended when Cleveland worked with the Republicans to repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in order to stop the depletion of the gold supply. The Democratic Congress lowered the 1890 tariff but not as much as Cleveland would have liked. In the midterm elections of 1894, the Republicans gained control of Congress, doubling their representation in the House from the 1892 election.

The Republicans looked forward to winning the Presidential election of 1896. They held their convention early and nominated former Gov. William McKinley Jr. of Canton OH. While serving as governor, McKinley was about to file for bankruptcy after loaning a friend a considerable amount of money. When McKinley’s political friends began to raise money to help him out, the public responded favorably and sent in the amount of money to cover the debt. McKinley’s political strategist Mark Hanna of Cleveland OH masterfully arranged for pre-convention appearances acro

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President Cleveland’s second term began with an economic depression. Jacob Coxey of Massillon OH led a group of unemployed people to DC and called for federal money to be allocated for road construction to bring jobs to the unemployed. There were riots in the cities in 1894; Cleveland sent federal troops to quell a riot in Chicago in order to protect the passage of the U.S. Mail. In addition to urban troubles, the continuing depressed state of the agriculture industry fed the growing unrest led by the Populist Party. The Populists were offended when Cleveland worked with the Republicans to repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in order to stop the depletion of the gold supply. The Democratic Congress lowered the 1890 tariff but not as much as Cleveland would have liked. In the midterm elections of 1894, the Republicans gained control of Congress, doubling their representation in the House from the 1892 election.

The Republicans looked forward to winning the Presidential election of 1896. They held their convention early and nominated former Gov. William McKinley Jr. of Canton OH. While serving as governor, McKinley was about to file for bankruptcy after loaning a friend a considerable amount of money. When McKinley’s political friends began to raise money to help him out, the public responded favorably and sent in the amount of money to cover the debt. McKinley’s political strategist Mark Hanna of Cleveland OH masterfully arranged for pre-convention appearances across the nation for McKinley, which led to his nomination on the first ballot. The convention voted 812–110 for a strong plank in their platform defending the gold standard.

The Democrats met four weeks later and approved the opposite plank. After the famous “Cross of Gold” speech by William J. Bryan, the Democrats adopted a plank calling for the coining of silver at a 16 to 1 ratio to gold. Bryan was then nominated for President over the front-runner, Richard Bland MO, on the fifth ballot.

The Populist and Silver parties met concurrently in St. Louis two weeks after the Democratic convention. The Silver Party mainly followed the proceedings of the Populists, then endorsed Bryan and Sewell. The Populists rejected Sewell in favor of Thomas E. Watson GA.

The Democrats were not united in supporting Bryan. Many of the delegates at their convention abstained from voting as a result of the silver plank. The hard money Democrats met in Indianapolis to offer another Democratic ticket. As it turned out, the National Democrats had little impact on the vote.

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