Mary E. Lease, The Money Question (1892)

 “This a nation of inconsistencies. The Puritans fleeing from oppression [in England] become oppressors [in New England]. We fought England for our liberty and put chains on four million of blacks. We wiped out slavery and by our tariff laws and national banks began a system of white wage slavery worse than the first… Money rules… The parties lie to us and the political speakers mislead us. (For the Record  pg. 86)”

One thing is for sure. Mary E Lease, a passionate speaker for the Populist Party is angry.  She is enraged that a country that was founded on such noble ideals is contradicting them in every way. The political forces that are currently in power at this time known as the Gilded Age are exploiting the common folk. They are having these people toil away farming and in return giving them barely enough money to survive. Institutions such as the Santa Fe Railroad and loan companies are robbing them  blind and taking them for everything they have. The reality of the situation is that the mass of people are being oppressed by those few percent in power. It is also interesting to note that Mary E. Lease is a woman. The Populist movement was able to allow women new opportunities to exercise their political voice who otherwise would not have had the chance to. She is also a minority, so she is in a place of social consciousness to other minorities such as black people.  Lease is undoubtedly using her voice to promote social change. By raising awareness,  she is urging farmers to stand up for themselves in order to get the money and land that is continually being stolen from them.