Which political movement advocated free silver and rights for farmers?

Which political movement advocated free silver and rights for farmers?

• A. Populists
• B. Labor Unions
• C. Great Plains
• D. Homestead Act

Answer: (A)

The main idea is a farmer-focused political movement that pushed for monetary reform to help indebted farmers. In the late 1800s, farmers faced falling prices and rising debts under a gold-standard economy that often made money scarce. The call for free silver—adding silver to the money supply to create inflation—was seen as a way to raise crop prices and ease loan burdens. That movement, known for organizing around rural grievances and advocating sweeping reforms, argued not only for free coinage of silver but for broader changes to bring political power to farmers, such as railroad regulation and other reforms. The effort drew many farmers from the Great Plains and the South and is best remembered for its Omaha Platform of 1892, which outlined these goals. The other options don’t fit as well: labor unions primarily focused on urban workers’ wages and conditions, not a national monetary standard or farmer-specific reforms; the Great Plains is a region rather than a political movement; the Homestead Act was a policy encouraging settlement, not a movement advocating free silver or farmer rights.

The main idea is a farmer-focused political movement that pushed for monetary reform to help indebted farmers. In the late 1800s, farmers faced falling prices and rising debts under a gold-standard economy that often made money scarce. The call for free silver—adding silver to the money supply to create inflation—was seen as a way to raise crop prices and ease loan burdens.

That movement, known for organizing around rural grievances and advocating sweeping reforms, argued not only for free coinage of silver but for broader changes to bring political power to farmers, such as railroad regulation and other reforms. The effort drew many farmers from the Great Plains and the South and is best remembered for its Omaha Platform of 1892, which outlined these goals.

The other options don’t fit as well: labor unions primarily focused on urban workers’ wages and conditions, not a national monetary standard or farmer-specific reforms; the Great Plains is a region rather than a political movement; the Homestead Act was a policy encouraging settlement, not a movement advocating free silver or farmer rights.