The Cross of Gold: Speech Delivered Before the National Democratic Convention at Chicago, July 9, 1896U of Nebraska Press, 1996 M01 1 - 28 pages William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925) moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1887 as a young lawyer and rose rapidly in local Democratic Party affairs. In 1890 he was elected to the U.S. Congress in a Democratic landslide and was reelected in 1892, although he failed in a bid for the U.S. Senate in 1894. After the 1894 campaign, Bryan became editor of the Omaha World-Herald, continued his activities as a proponent of "free silver, " and began a successful stint as a Chautauqua lecturer, honing his already considerable oratorical skills. His reputation as a free-silver advocate was such that his delivery of the "Cross of Gold" speech at the 1896 Democratic Convention won him the nomination for president at the age of thirty-six. Bryan's proposal for the unlimited coinage of silver gained him support in the agrarian South and West and opposition in eastern states where banking and mercantile interests were paramount. During the 1896 campaign, Bryan traveled over eighteen thousand miles and made six hundred speeches in twenty-seven states, an unprecedented effort. Bryan lost to McKinley by ninety-five electoral votes, a result that conceals a relatively close popular vote. Although he twice more ran for president, served as Woodrow Wilson's secretary of state, and ended his career at the Scopes "Monkey Trial, " he will always be best remembered for his galvanic address in 1896. Robert W. Cherny is a professor of history at San Francisco State University. He is the author of A Righteous Cause: The Life of William Jennings Bryan. |
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age of silver American politics Andrew Jackson answer their demand bimetallism brow of labor Bryan later Bryan's Cross campaign Cicero class which rests cluding coinage Congress cratic party CROSS OF GOLD crown of thorns crucify mankind currency expansion currency supply dard by saying declare delegate to private Demo Democratic convention Democratic party direct election electoral college farmers favor free coin friends gentleman gold stan gold standard holders of idle idle capital idle holders income tax international agreement labor this crown legislate maintain the parity majority masses prosper McKinley McKinley's victory money supply nation paper money paramount issue platform Populist candidate prosperity will find prosperity will leak reply Republican Republican party Robert W secure an international Senate silver advocate silver delegates silver Democrats silver supporters silverites speak speech struggling masses tariff tell Tillman tion to-day toilers everywhere University of Nebraska voters well-to-do prosperous William Jennings Bryan's Woodrow Wilson