The Wizard Of Oz

In the late 1870s, a farmers organization, Farmers¡¦ Alliances was held in Texas. In Texas, farmers opposed the crop liens system, railroads and monopolies, which had the power of money. The Farmers¡¦ Alliances spread out to the southern states and gained a plenty of members in Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas. Therefore, in the 1890s, the Kansas Alliance formed a People¡¦s party whose members were called Populists. The populists held the new party, Omaha platform later on. Their monetary plank was for a flexible currency system, which was based on unlimited free silver. This could make farmers easily loan and pay interest. The Omaha platform demanded the sources of rural unrest such as transportation, money, and land. The populist thought that the federal governments¡¦ regulation took them into worse situation, so they requested the federal government to reclaim all land owned by railroads and foreigners. Under this Omaha platform, they nominated James B.

English: William Jennings Bryan, Democratic party ...

English: Photograph of William Jennings Bryan as a...

William Jennings Bryan and wife, N.Y., 19 June, 19...

Weaver of their own presidential candidate, but Weaver lost the election of 1892. William Jennings Bryan was the Democratic presidential candidate in the election of 1892 and William McKinley was the Republic presidential candidate and McKinley won the election. Later on, the free-silver issue prevented Populists from politics. Besides, other organizations had different view of Populists, the Populists collapsed eventually in 1896. In the Wizard of Oz, Roger S. Baum described the history during the Gilded Age by imputing characteristic roles.

The lion stands for the presidential candidate in the election of 1892, William Jennings Bryan. The lion has no courage but he still thinks that he is the king of the forest. Just like Bryan; Bryan made an effort to rally the nation but lean campaign finances and obsession with silver undermined his effort. The wicked witch represents the manufacturers, the Republican Party or the federal...