Farmers' Alliances
Definition
These were organized agrarian economic movements amongst American farmers that developed during the 1870s and 1880s. Their goal was to combat declining crop prices by promoting cooperative buying and selling.
Analogy
Imagine if all your classmates decided they weren't getting enough allowance money from their parents. So they band together, form an alliance, and negotiate collectively for higher allowances - that's essentially what Farmers' Alliances did but on a much larger scale involving crop prices instead of allowances!
Related terms
Subtreasury Plan: A proposal by certain Farmer's Alliances which would have allowed federal government warehouses to store crops until prices rose; it was never implemented but shows the innovative solutions these alliances were proposing.
Populist Party: A political party created by members of the Farmers' Alliance. It represented many of the same interests and goals as the Alliances.
Sharecropping: A system where farmers would rent small plots of land in return for a portion of their crop, used throughout the post-Civil War era particularly among poor farmers. This is relevant because it's one of the economic challenges that led to the formation of Farmers' Alliances.
"Farmers' Alliances" appears in:
Practice Questions (2)
- Where did farmers' alliances meet to enact social, economic, and political changes?
- What was one main agenda mentioned in Ocala Platform that Farmers' Alliances were advocating for?
Resources
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