Cross of Gold Speech

aran-0205-ir 11/15/01 3:20 PM Page 14 Name Date CHAPTER 5 Section 3 I PRIMARY SOURCE William Jennings Bryan’s “Cross of Gold” Speech from During the 1896 Democratic convention, politicians fiercely debated whether to support the gold standard or bimetallism. William Jennings Bryan, the final speaker at the convention, delivered an eloquent appeal for unlimited coinage of silver. As you read this excerpt from his famous speech, consider his arguments. would be presumptuous, indeed, to present myself against the distinguished gentlemen to whom you have listened if this were but a measuring of ability; but this is not a contest among persons. The humblest citizen in all the land when clad in armor of a righteous cause is stronger than all the whole hosts of error that they can bring. I come to speak to you in defense of a cause as holy as the cause of liberty—the cause of humanity. . . . Here is the line of battle. We care not upon which issue they force the fight. We are prepared to meet them on either issue or on both. If they tell us that the gold standard is the standard of civilization, we reply to them that this, the most enlightened of all nations of the earth, has never declared for a gold standard, and both the parties this year are declaring against it. If the gold standard is the standard of civilization, why, my friends, should we not have it? So if they come to meet us on that, we can present the history of our nation. More than that, we can tell them this, that they will search the pages of history in vain to find a single instance in which the common people of any land ever declared themselves in favor of a gold standard. They can find where the holders of fixed investments have. Mr. Carlisle said in 1878 that this was a struggle between the idle holders of idle capital and the struggling masses who produce the wealth and pay the taxes of the country; and my friends, it is simply a question that we shall decide upon which side shall the Democratic Party fight. Upon the side of the idle holders of idle capital, or upon the side of the struggling masses? That is the question that the party must answer first; and then it must be answered by each individual hereafter. The sympathies of the Democratic Party, as described by the platform, are on the side of the struggling masses, who have ever been the foundation of the Democratic Party. There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that if you just legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous that their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous their prosperity will find its way up and through every class that rests upon it. You come to us and tell us that the great cities are in favor of the gold standard. I tell you that the great cities rest upon these broad and fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic. But destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in this country. . . . If they dare to come out and in the open defend the gold standard as a good thing, we shall fight them to the uttermost, having behind us the producing masses of the nation and the world. Having behind us the commercial interests and the laboring interests and all the toiling masses, we shall answer their demands for a gold standard by saying to them, you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold. from Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1895–1904: Populism, Imperialism, and Reform, vol. 12 of The Annals of America (Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1968), 100–105. Activity Options 1. Deliver Bryan’s “Cross of Gold” speech to your classmates. Then discuss why you think this speech moved the Democratic Party to nominate Bryan as its candidate for president. 2. During the 1896 presidential election, the debate over the gold standard raged. The Republican Party favored it, while the Democratic Party supported bimetallism. Create a campaign button that might have been used by either party. 3. Imagine that it is 1896. With your classmates, hold a mock debate in which you role-play a free silverite or a gold bug. If you argue against the gold standard, use Bryan’s arguments to support your position. (Review pages 222–223 in your textbook.)