Josh The Lighthouse Guy
Major
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2012
- Location
- Jupiter, FL
The Greenback Party ran presidential candidates in 1876 and 1880, albeit without a lot of success. They only got 1% and 3% of the national popular vote in those elections.
The 1880 ticket was the interesting combination of James Weaver (Iowa Union veteran) and B. J. Chambers (Texas Confederate veteran), but faced two much more prominent Civil War generals from the two main parties, Garfield and Hancock.
The Party was united by their support for continued use of greenbacks. Republican and Democrat national platforms both favored the withdrawal of greenbacks from circulation. Greenbacks had first been issued during the Civil War as a federal financial measure.
The party was divided by other issues of the time such as women's suffrage and black civil rights.
The part drew most of its support in the West and rural South.
Although unsuccessful, it would seem to portend the subsequent Populist Party which drew on a similar support base and led to the rise of William Jennings Bryan.
Thoughts on the importance of this party or the merits of its platform?
The 1880 ticket was the interesting combination of James Weaver (Iowa Union veteran) and B. J. Chambers (Texas Confederate veteran), but faced two much more prominent Civil War generals from the two main parties, Garfield and Hancock.
The Party was united by their support for continued use of greenbacks. Republican and Democrat national platforms both favored the withdrawal of greenbacks from circulation. Greenbacks had first been issued during the Civil War as a federal financial measure.
The party was divided by other issues of the time such as women's suffrage and black civil rights.
The part drew most of its support in the West and rural South.
Although unsuccessful, it would seem to portend the subsequent Populist Party which drew on a similar support base and led to the rise of William Jennings Bryan.
Thoughts on the importance of this party or the merits of its platform?