LAD/Blog #24: Populist Party Platform

The populist party was formed to represent the common man, specifically farmers, against the interests of corporations and politicians.
In the preamble they talk about all of the corrupt practices that they see throughout the government.They continue by saying how the people have lost hope and how people are silenced or not given rights. They say how only a select few steal from others to build up their own wealth and then threaten the liberty of everyone else. They also talk about how the value of silver has decreased which led to decreased property value and human labor. They also talk about how political parties have failed at helping those who have truly suffered from the consequences. They say that now the parties have agreed to further suppress those of the populist party by ruining all aspects of their lives so that they, the millionaires, may insure their own wealth. They state that they want to return to the original ideas that the nation was built on, to restore the government to its original state for the common man. They say that in their hands they have the right intellect to run the government for the people.
In their platform first they state that the labor unions should be permanent. Second, wealth should go to those who earn it. Third, the railroad companies can either own the people or the people own the railroads. Financially they want a unified national currency issued by the government and not banking corporations.They also demand certain regulations on money.They also demand that railroads, telegraphs and telephones be run by the government in the interest of the people. They believe land should be for settlers and not monopolized.
The expressions of sentiments brought up and were resolved at the convention. They included topics such as having a free ballot,revenue derived from a free ballot, supporting the pensions of ex-Union soldiers, and their sympathy with the Knights of Labor. They also resolved their sympathies with organized workingmen's efforts on their hours of labor and the abolition of large standing armies of mercenaries.


                                                        Image result for donald trump
In the 2016 election, Donald Trump claimed that he was the populist party candidate because he claimed that although he was a wealthy millionaire, that he was still for the common man and many Americans believed him.

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