Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality
Here's a bit of a mystery (to me anyway...I've never heard of a Silver Republican Club)
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Political party. In the Gilded Age, the Republicans were the party of the wealthy industrialists, the Democrats were the agrarian and immigrant party.
The debtor class (farmers and city workers) favored inflationary monetary policies, such as going off the gold standard ("You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold") in favor of bimetallism or "Free Silver." Monetizing silver would have increased money in circulation, hence devaluing the currency. If the dollar was worth less today than it was when a debt was incurred, the debtor wins.
The Silver Republicans were a small set of wealthy western silver mine owners whose personal economic interests ran counter to their party interests. They didn't last long.