Populist Cartoons
| Skip Introduction and Go To Presentation |
The Populist movement of the 1890s was a major attempt to reform the
American social, economic, and political structure through third-party politics.
Most of the third party's support came from the farmers and laborers of
the South and West, although the People's Party made some inroads into the
Northeast and Midwest in the mid-1890s. Unlike
present-day third-party efforts led by notable personalities, Populist attracted
few of the nation's elite to their cause. The
party, however, did have a strong grass-roots organization, and usually ran a
full slates of candidates for office during the party's heyday.
Most nineteenth-century newspapers were political in orientation and highly partisan.
BY the 1890s, it took only $100 to $150 (about $1,700-$2,500 in today's
money) to establish a small newspaper. Texas
had 75 papers claiming Populist (or Farmers Alliance) affiliation in the 1890s .
Kansas had more than 100. Because Populism was a poor people's movement,
Populist-oriented newspapers became a major means of organizing and propagandizing
potential supporters. Reform
editors formed a link between party leadership and followers, frequently
becoming part of the party's local leadership.
Since party
propaganda was a major function of their paper, editors accepted both cash and
produce in payment, and rarely cut off a subscriber for nonpayment.
Because a picture can be worth a thousand words,
Populist newspapers frequently included cartoons.
The cartoonists usually worked free lance (the major exception was the Rocky
Mountain News, a Populist daily, which had a staff cartoonist).
A number of small papers used ready-print boiler-plate syndication pages
which usually contained cartoons. These
illustrations must have struck a significant chord with readers because the
cartoons had to be purchased, and most Populist newspapers were run on a
shoe-string budget. It was a chord
that has touched the soul of American politics ever since, as evidenced by the
continued use of the word "Populist" to denote a person, group, or
idea at odds with a perceived elite or the establishment.
The
following presentation is drawn from Populist newspapers preserved primarily by
state historical societies and research libraries, and is designed for classroom
use only. These cartoons are in the public domain, and may be used by anyone.
I have provided citations to help anyone interested in finding them. Because these illustrations sometimes were microfilmed out of
focus, or contained shadows, grit, blemishes, or other distortions, I
used a graphics program to make them suitable for this presentation. Instructors
may use the presentation online, or download and reproduce any or all of these
illustrations, but for classroom use only.
Those wishing to publish any of the "cleaned up" cartoons in
book, articles, or other websites need to secure my permission or obtain a copy
that is in the public domain and clean it up themselves.
The cartoons cited in the Anthony Weekly Bulletin, Kansas
Populist, and Republic County Freeman were part of syndication pages.
Thus, these cartoons probably can be found in a number of other
small-town Populist newspapers at about the same date.
How to Use the Cartoon Presentation
Each cartoon has a "More on Subject" link. I have collected all of them into one file for those who wish to print a copy.
Acknowledgements:
I wish to thank Mathew J. Vaughn and Roslyn Hamelink for their help with cleaning up the cartoons, and Liang-Yi Lin and Mathew J. Vaughn for their technical assistance with this web page. I also wish to thank my department head, Marc Cooper, for his support. I could not have completed this project without their help.