Question

farming was changing as the 20th century dawned. write ONE paragraph about the challenges facing american farmers and include two of the following sub topics in your brief commentary. (APEX!!!) 

*railroad companies 
*panic of 1893 
*deflation 
*free silver 
* populism 

Answer 1

Farmers were very much affected by the panic of 1893.

One of the factors of the panic were the populists. The populists was a political party that was against capitalism and had hostility against cities, elites, banks, railroads and gold miners - everything that symbolized capitalism - it was supported by farmers.

Another factor was the free silver movement. This movement consisted of the defense of silver as a movement of economic justice. Farmers defended this movement because they were full of debt and they wanted to have the right to turn silver directly into money without a central mining institution. This also was a platform of the populist party.

Answer 2

The early 20th century was a period of great change in American political and social reality. One of the areas that changed significantly was farming. An example of such a change was the agrarian populist People's Party. The People's Party was a left-wing agrarian party that was particularly important in the Southern and Western United States. This party promoted collective action among farmers, as well as federal regulation of railroad rates. This was a response to the fact that railroad companies had a lot of power during this era. Instead of powerful railroad companies, the People's Party called for the public ownership of railroads and communication lines.