The Farmers Alliance-

“The government played its part in helping the bankers and hurting the farmers; it kept the amount of money- based on the gold supply- steady, while the population rose, so there was less and less money in circulation”

Farmers who were financially unstable lost their land and homes and were forced to become tenants. This happened mainly due to the lack of money in circulation. It made it harder for the farmers to pay back debt. And when they did managed, due to deflation they ended up paying more money than they were given. Bakers profited because the dollars they got were more valuable than when they had given it away. The rising number of tenant farmers and lack of help from the government led to the creation of the Farmers Alliance. It began in Texas and as a result of the brutal crop-lien system that was “little more than a modified form of slavery” (Goodwyn). The Alliance spread like a wildfire and by 1892 it had reached forty three states. Howard Zinn included the Alliance because of the atrocities committed against the farmers. The large corporations, bankers and government gave these people no other option but to riot. The Alliance played an important role in this era because they ended up becoming the People’s party—the Populist Party.