Editing People's Party (United States) (section)

=== Third party antecedents ===
{{Further|Greenback Party
|Farmers' movement}}
[[File:Edward Kellogg.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.85|Economist [[Edward Kellogg (economist)|Edward Kellogg]] was an early advocate of fiat money.]]

Ideologically, the Populist Party originated in the debate over [[History of monetary policy in the United States|monetary policy]] in the aftermath of the [[American Civil War]]. In order to fund that war, the U.S. government had left the [[gold standard]] by issuing [[fiat money|fiat]] paper currency known as [[Greenback (1860s money)|Greenback]]s. After the war, the Eastern financial establishment strongly favored a return to the gold standard for both ideological reasons (they believed that money must be backed by gold which, they argued, had intrinsic value) and economic gain (a return to the gold standard would make their government bonds more valuable).<ref>Goodwyn (1978), pp. 10–12</ref> Successive presidential administrations favored "hard money" policies that retired the greenbacks, thereby shrinking the amount of currency in circulation.<ref>Brands (2010), pp. 432–433</ref> Financial interests also won passage of the [[Coinage Act of 1873]], which barred the coinage of silver, thereby ending a policy of [[bimetallism]].<ref>Goodwyn (1978), pp. 16–17</ref> The deflation caused by these policies affected farmers especially strongly, since deflation made it more difficult to pay debts and led to lower prices for agricultural products.<ref>Goodwyn (1978), pp. 12, 24</ref>

Angered by these developments, some farmers and other groups began calling for the government to permanently adopt fiat currency. These advocates of "soft money" were influenced by economist [[Edward Kellogg (economist)|Edward Kellogg]] and [[Alexander Campbell (Illinois politician)|Alexander Campbell]], both of whom advocated for fiat money issued by a [[history of central banking in the United States|central bank]].<ref>Goodwyn (1978), pp. 13–14</ref> Despite fierce partisan rivalries, the two major parties were both closely allied with business interests and supported largely similar economic policies, including the gold standard.<ref name="zeitz1">{{cite news |last1=Zeitz |first1=Joshua |title=Historians Have Long Thought Populism Was a Good Thing. Are They Wrong? |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/01/14/trump-populism-history-216320 |access-date=17 November 2018 |publisher=Politico |date=14 January 2018}}</ref> The [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]'s 1868 platform endorsed the continued use of greenbacks, but the party embraced hard money policies after the 1868 election.<ref name="reichley133134"/>

Though soft money forces were able to win some support in the West, launching a [[third party (United States)|third party]] proved difficult in the rest of the country. The United States was deeply polarized by the sectional politics of the post-Civil War era; most [[Northern United States|Northerners]] remained firmly attached to the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], while most [[Southern United States|Southerners]] identified with the Democratic Party.<ref name="Goodwyn 1978, pp. 18–19"/> In the 1870s, advocates of soft money formed the [[Greenback Party]], which called for the continued use of paper money as well as the restoration of bimetallism.<ref name="reichley133134">Reichley (2000), pp. 133–134</ref> Greenback nominee [[James B. Weaver]] won over three percent of the vote in the [[1880 United States presidential election|1880 presidential election]], but the Greenback Party was unable to build a durable base of support, and it collapsed in the 1880s.<ref name="Goodwyn 1978, pp. 18–19">Goodwyn (1978), pp. 18–19</ref> Many former Greenback Party supporters joined the [[Labor Party (United States, 19th century)|Union Labor Party]], but it also failed to win widespread support.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}}