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

=== Farmer's Alliance ===
{{Further|Farmers' Alliance}}
[[File:Macune-C-W.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.85|Charles W. Macune, one of the leaders of the [[Farmers' Alliance]]]]

A group of farmers formed the [[Farmers' Alliance]] in [[Lampasas, Texas]] in 1877, and the organization quickly spread to surrounding counties. The Farmers' Alliance promoted collective economic action by farmers in order to cope with the [[crop-lien system]], which left economic power in the hands of a mercantile elite that furnished goods on credit.<ref>Goodwyn (1978), pp. 24–26</ref> The movement became increasingly popular throughout Texas in the mid-1880s, and membership in the organization grew from 10,000 in 1884 to 50,000 at the end of 1885. At the same time, the Farmer's Alliance became increasingly politicized, with members attacking the "money trust" as the source and beneficiary of both the crop lien system and deflation.<ref>Goodwyn (1978), pp. 32–34</ref> In the hopes of cementing an alliance with labor groups, the Farmer's Alliance supported the [[Knights of Labor]] in the [[Great Southwest railroad strike of 1886]].<ref>Goodwyn (1978), pp. 35–41</ref> That same year, a Farmer's Alliance convention issued the [[Cleburne Demands]], a series of resolutions that called for, among other things, collective bargaining, federal regulation of railroad rates, an expansionary monetary policy, and a national banking system administered by the federal government.<ref>Goodwyn (1978), pp. 46–49</ref>

President [[Grover Cleveland]]'s veto of a Texas seed bill in early 1887 outraged many farmers, encouraging the growth of a northern Farmer's Alliance in states like Kansas and Nebraska.<ref>Brands (2010), pp. 433–434</ref> That same year, a prolonged drought began in the West, contributing to the bankruptcy of many farmers.<ref>Reichley (2000), pp. 134–135</ref> In 1887, the Farmer's Alliance merged with the Louisiana Farmers Union and expanded into the South and the [[Great Plains]].<ref>Goodwyn (1978), pp. 57–59, 63</ref> In 1889, [[Charles Macune]] launched the ''[[National Economist]]'', which became the national paper of the Farmer's Alliance.<ref>Goodwyn (1978), p. 90</ref>

Macune and other Farmer's Alliance leaders helped organize a December 1889 convention in [[St. Louis]]; the convention met with the goal of forming a confederation of the major farm and labor organizations.<ref>Goodwyn (1978), pp. 91–92</ref> Though a full merger was not achieved, the Farmer's Alliance and the Knights of Labor jointly endorsed the St. Louis Platform, which included many of the long-standing demands of the Farmer's Alliance. The Platform added a call for Macune's "[[Sub-Treasury Plan]]," under which the federal government would establish warehouses in agricultural counties; farmers would be allowed to store their crops in these warehouses and borrow up to 80 percent of the value of their crops.<ref>Goodwyn (1978), pp. 107–110, 113</ref> The movement began to expand into the [[Northeastern United States|Northeast]] and the [[Great Lakes region]], while Macune led the establishment of the National Reform Press Association, a network of newspapers sympathetic to the Farmer's Alliance.<ref>Goodwyn (1978), pp. 116–117</ref>