Claim: William Jennings Bryan was an American politician.

Free silver was a major policy issue in late 19th-century American politics . Its advocates were in favor of an inflationary monetary policy using the `` free coinage of silver '' as opposed to the deflationary gold standard . Its supporters were `` Silverites '' . The Silverites promoted bimetallism , the use of both silver and gold as currency at the ratio of 16 to 1 -LRB- 16 ounces of silver would be worth 1 ounce of gold -RRB- . Because the actual value ratio was about 32 to 1 at the time , most economists warned that the cheaper silver would drive the more expensive gold out of circulation . Everyone agreed that free silver would raise prices ; the question was whether or not this inflationary measure would be beneficial . The issue peaked from 1893 to 1896 , when the economy was in a severe depression -- called the Panic of 1893 -- characterized by falling prices -LRB- deflation -RRB- , high unemployment in industrial areas , and severe distress for farmers .   The debate pitted the pro-gold financial establishment of the Northeast , along with railroads , factories and businessmen , who were creditors who would benefit from disinflation -LRB- resulting from demand pressures on the relatively fixed gold money supply against a backdrop of unprecedented economic expansion -RRB- , against poor farmers who would benefit from higher prices for their crops -LRB- resulting from the prospective expansion of the money supply by allowing silver to also circulate as money -RRB- . Free silver was especially popular among farmers in the wheat belt -LRB- the western Midwest -RRB- and the cotton belts -LRB- the Deep South -RRB- , as well as silver miners in the West . It had little support among farmers in the Northeast and the Corn Belt -LRB- the eastern Midwest -RRB- . Free silver was the central issue for Democrats in the presidential election of 1896 and that of 1900 , under the leadership of William Jennings Bryan , famed for his Cross of Gold speech in favor of free silver . The Populists also endorsed Bryan and free silver in 1896 , which marked the effective end of their independence . In major elections free silver was consistently defeated , and after 1896 the nation moved to the gold standard .   The debate over silver lasted from the passage of the Fourth Coinage Act in 1873 , which demonetized silver and was called the `` Crime of ' 73 '' by opponents , until 1913 , when the Federal Reserve Act completely overhauled the U.S. monetary system .