Agrarian Unrest Essay
Farmer’s anger and instability towards national policies led to the creation of the several emovements and influential bills passed by the national government. Many of the bills passed were not implemented well and or were a burden to the economy. Farmers had a right to be upset with how the economy was being run in the hands of powerful industrial tycoons. Many actions farmers took to challenging the wealthy business men of the east failed as the tycoons had a greater influence in the government and could not be touched.
In order to combat these industrial tycoons, farmers created The Grangers. An organization that wanted better regulation and less influence of the railroads as farmers had really no other choice then to ship their crops using the railroads no matter the rate because there were so few railroads to choose from. The Grangers were successful in attempting to regulate private monopolies, as the Supreme Court case Munn v. Illinois ruled that businesses of public nature would be subject to state regulation. Many other court cases went the other way as tycoons were able to bribe government officials to rule in their favor because they had a greater influence in the national government and economy. Another movement that gained the country’s attention was the populist movement which was a coalition of agrarian reformers that advocated for many different economic and political legislations that would improve the life of farmers. By this movement being formed, during presidential elections representative’s stands on these key subjects swayed national votes.
As the concerns of farmers grew the government attempted to do more to please them...
