Editing Cross of Gold speech (section)

=== Early attempts toward free silver ===
[[File:Richard P. Bland - Brady-Handy.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Representative [[Richard P. Bland]]]]

To advocates of what became known as free silver, the 1873 act became known as the "Crime of '73". Pro-silver forces, with congressional leaders such as [[Missouri]] Representative [[Richard P. Bland]], sought the passage of bills to allow depositors of silver bullion to receive it back in the form of coin. Such bills, sponsored by Bland, passed the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] in 1876 and 1877, but both times failed in the [[United States Senate|Senate]]. A third attempt in early 1878 again passed the House, and eventually both houses after being amended in the Senate. The bill, as modified by amendments sponsored by [[Iowa]] Senator [[William B. Allison]], did not reverse the 1873 provisions, but required the [[United States Department of the Treasury|Treasury]] to purchase a minimum of $2 million of silver bullion per month; the profit, or [[seignorage]] from monetizing the silver was to be used to purchase more silver bullion. The silver would be struck into [[Morgan dollar|dollar coins]] to be circulated, or else stored and used as backing for [[Silver certificate (United States)|silver certificates]]. The [[Bland–Allison Act]] was vetoed by President [[Rutherford B. Hayes]], but was enacted by Congress over his veto on February 28, 1878.{{sfn|Taxay|pp=261–267}}

Implementation of the Bland–Allison Act did not end calls for free silver. The 1880s saw a steep decline in the prices of grain and other agricultural commodities. Silver advocates argued that this dropoff, which caused the price of grain to fall below its cost of production, was caused by the failure of the government to adequately increase the money supply, which had remained steady on a per capita basis. Advocates of the gold standard attributed the decline to advances in production and transportation. The late 19th century saw divergent views in economics as the ''[[laissez-faire]]'' orthodoxy was questioned by younger economists, and both sides found ample support for their views from theorists.{{sfn|Jones|pp=7–9}}

In 1890, the [[Sherman Silver Purchase Act]] greatly increased government purchases of silver. The government pledged to stand behind the silver dollars and [[Treasury (Coin) Note|treasury notes]] issued under the act by redeeming them in gold. Pursuant to this promise, government gold reserves dwindled over the following three years.{{sfn|Bensel|p=25}} Although the economic [[Panic of 1893]] had a number of causes, President [[Grover Cleveland]] believed the inflation caused by [[John Sherman|Sherman]]'s act to be a major factor, and called a special session of Congress to repeal it. Congress did so, but the debates showed bitter divides in both major parties between silver and gold factions. Cleveland tried to replenish the Treasury through issuance of bonds which could only be purchased with gold, with little effect but to increase the public debt, as the gold continued to be withdrawn in redemption for paper and silver currency. Many in the public saw the bonds as benefiting bankers, not the nation. The bankers did not want loans repaid in an inflated currency—the gold standard was deflationary, and as creditors, they preferred to be paid in such a currency, whereas debtors preferred to repay in inflated currency.{{sfn|Jones|pp=43–45}}

The effects of the [[Depression (economics)|depression]] which began in 1893, and which continued through 1896, ruined many Americans. Contemporary estimates were an unemployment rate as high as 25%. The task of relieving the jobless fell to churches and other charities, as well as to labor unions.{{sfn|Williams|pp=28–29}} Farmers went bankrupt; their farms were sold to pay their debts. Some of the impoverished died of disease or starvation; others killed themselves.{{sfn|Williams|pp=67–68}}