ECON 102 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: William Jennings Bryan, L. Frank Baum, Free Silver
Document Summary
Free silver movement, the 1896 election, and the oz wizard: case study: redistributions of wealth caused by unexpected price-level changes are often a source of political turmoil, as evidenced by the late nineteenth- century free silver movement. The price level in the united states dropped 23 percent from 1880 to. This deflation was good for creditors, primarily northeast bankers, but bad for debtors, especially southern and western farmers. Another solution proposed for this issue was to replace the gold standard with a bimetallic system, in which both gold and silver could be minted into coins. Changing to a bimetallic norm will increase the supply of money and end the deflation: the silver issue dominated the 1896 presidential election. Republican candidate william mckinley had campaigned on a promise to maintain the gold standard. The democratic candidate william jennings bryan also endorsed the bimetallic ideal.
