Explore our nations past. As a Public Service and brought to you today by your television provider. Good evening and welcome to the third installment of cspans contend series. We look at Williams Jennings bryant. What better way to introduce to you the man than hearing directly from him. Heres a portion of the speech that he delivered at the Democratic National convention back in 1896. Its commonly referred to as the cross of gold speech which led directly to his first run at the white house at the age of 36. We do not come as aggressors. Our war is not a war of conflict. We are fighting into our homes, our families and prosperity. We have petitions, and our petitions have been scorned. We treaties and our treaties have been disregarded. We have begged and they have mocked when our calamity came. We beg no longer. We entreat no more. We petition no more. We defy them. We go forth confident that we shall win. The words of William Jennings bryan coming to you from his home in nebraska. I
To crucify gold would be, of course, connected to Pontius Pilate crucifying christ. In the same way, bryan and populists and populist minded democrats and republicans, too, thought that the American Economy was being run for the interest of those who already had property or those who already had money, those who already had banks and big industries, so theres a class divide in american politics at that time. Now we have a lot of anger about the economy. The anger wasnt focused on money the same way it was then. After all, remember then, every dollar people had in their pockets could be redeemed for a dollar in the federal treasury, first with gold. Bryan wanted that to be redeemed in silver as well, the means a lot more dollars could have been minted and coined because there was more silver in circulation than there was gold. Really a call for cheaper money, lower Interest Rates, and greater Economic Opportunity for a Small Business person, a farmer, a worker who wanted to be a Small B