Silver Republican Party

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Henry M. Teller, caricatured as "An absconding Teller" by George Yost Coffin , June 21, 1896

The Silver Republican Party was an American political party from 1896 to 1901 . It arose in the dispute over the silver currency as a split from the Republican Party .

In 1873, bimetallism was abandoned in the United States in favor of the gold standard . This met with criticism, especially in the western states with their silver mines. Proponents of the silver currency currency demanded that silver should also be the basis of the American currency again , in the hope that an increase in the money supply would fuel inflation and promote economic growth. Than it is to a major economic crisis ( "1893 Panic of 1893 came"), especially farmers raised the call for a monetization of silver ( "free silver"). Their demands were represented by the People's Party , which was newly formed in 1891 . The Democratic Party took over parts of this populist program under its candidate William Jennings Bryan for the 1896 presidential election campaign . The Republican Party nominated William McKinley at their convention in June 1896 and rejected calls for "free silver". Senator Henry Moore Teller from Colorado then left the convention in protest. As a result, Republican supporters of the free silver policy around Teller in 1896 founded the Silver Republican Party .

The Silver Republican Party had its backing mainly in the western states. The demand for unrestricted minting of silver money was practically their program. Behind this, of course, was the fear that economic interest groups on the east coast were using monetary policy to control the development of the American West. The party worked closely with the American League Bimetallic together, cooperated with the Silver Party of Nevada and supported together with the populist Democratic presidential candidate Bryan. In the 1896 gubernatorial elections in Colorado, the "Silver Republicans" supported the Democratic candidate Alva Adams . The Silver Republican Party had two congressmen and five senators after the 1896 election . After Bryan's electoral defeat, the party gradually dissolved until 1901. Most of the members rejoined the Republicans, some, like Teller, also the Democrats.

Well-known members of the Silver Republican Party

literature

  • Michael P. Bobic: Silver Republicans, 1891-1900 . In: Immanuel Ness, James Ciment (Eds.): The Encyclopedia of Third Parties in America . Vol. 2. Shaoe Reference, Armonk, NY 2000, pp. 512 f.
  • Helmut Klumpjan: The American parties: From their beginnings to the present . Springer, Wiesbaden 1998.