AP® United States History · Unit 6 · Topic 6.13
Machine Politics and the Populist Revolt
Watch it explained
- How it worksWalk me through the spoils system and what civil service reform replaced it with.
- Worked exampleShow me farm prices and farm debt moving in opposite directions from 1870 to 1896.
- How it worksHow does free silver promise to inflate a farmer's debt away?
- Worked exampleDraw the 1896 electoral map and show the new coalition that outlasts it.
Check yourself
Your turn1 of 2
Farm prices for crops like wheat and cotton fell steadily from the 1870s through the 1890s even as farm debt burdens rose, since falling prices meant it took more bushels of crop to pay off the same loan. What economic proposal did many indebted farmers rally behind as a solution to this specific problem?End of topic.