page_title: Panic of 1896
section_title: William Jennings Bryan
hierarchical_section_title: Panic of 1896 / Election of 1896 / William Jennings Bryan
caption_attribution_description: Republican campaign poster from 1896 attacking free silver.
context_page_description: The Panic of 1896 was an acute economic depression in the United States that was less serious than other panics of the era, precipitated by a drop in silver reserves, and market concerns on the effects it would have on the gold standard. Deflation of commodities' prices drove the stock market to new lows in a trend that began to reverse only after the 1896 election of William McKinley. The failure of the National Bank of Illinois in Chicago is remembered as one of the motivating factors in the sensational Adolph Luetgert murder case. During the panic, call money would reach 125 percent, the highest level since the Civil War.
context_section_description: Democratic and Populist party candidate William Jennings Bryan ran on the platform of "free silver", in which he implored Americans to drop the gold standard and reinstate the coinage of silver in order to inflate the American economy. Bryan was an orator who gave many speeches on the issue, the most famous being his "Cross of Gold" speech of July 9, 1896. In this speech, Bryan laid out his belief that the existence of multiple forms of legal tender was necessary for the health of the national economy, as farmers would benefit from being able to sell their crops at a higher price. Bryan became both the Democratic and the Populist party nominee, due in part to his stances on the issues of the gold standard, which he believed could alleviate the Panic of 1896. Bryan was a dark-horse candidate prior to his Cross of Gold speech, but his intense rhetoric resonated among many Americans who felt that a second, less valuable, form of legal tender was necessary for less wealthy Americans, and he quickly became the front-runner of the Populist and Democratic parties.
caption: Republican campaign poster from 1896 attacking free silver.
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