Light

Grange Movement

Definition

The Grange Movement was a farmers' organization founded after Civil War in 1867 to advocate for rural communities and agriculture interests against monopolistic practices by railroads and warehouses.

Analogy

Imagine if all your neighborhood kids decided they were being treated unfairly because they had less pocket money than others across town. So they band together forming their own club with rules designed to help them get more pocket money - that's kind of what farmers did with Grange Movement.

Related terms

Populist Party: A political party created by farmers who felt marginalized economically and politically; many members were also part of Grange Movement.

Cooperative Marketing Associations: These are organizations formed by farmers to pool their resources and market their products collectively. The Grange Movement encouraged the formation of these associations.

Monopolies: A situation where a single company or group owns all or nearly all of the market for a given type of product or service. Farmers in the Grange Movement were often fighting against monopolistic practices.