Populism

Important Terms Populism – a movement to increase

farmers’ political power and to work for laws to be passed in their interest.

Inflation – a decline in the value of money (prices go up)

Deflation – increase in the value of money (prices go down)

Gold, Silver, and Greenbacks Originally, the value of paper money

was tied to the value of gold and silver. Greenbacks are paper money that

cannot be exchanged for gold or silver. The government stopped minting silver

coins. Populists wanted the treasury to go back

to using silver and value it at 16oz of silver=1oz of gold.

Populism and The Wizard of Oz L. Frank Baum (the author of Oz books) was a

populist. Some people see populist messages in the book: Dorothy is from Kansas, the heart of the farm belt In the book the magic shoes are silver – something

the populists valued – and are the key to getting her safely home

The yellow brick road (gold) led Dorothy off to the Emerald City (greenbacks) – a city that looks good, but doesn’t really have much value.

The two evil witches were from the East and West, the two major banking/industrial areas of the country.