1. On this date, July the 8th, 1896, Wm. Jennings Bryan pleaded for Silver Money Policy in his famous Cross of Gold speech (You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold).
2. "Bryan articulated the feelings of Americans from the South and West who felt that the currency system and its effects had injured their financial and cultural interests. These sections saw a more flexible monetary system and some degree of inflation as a cure for the economic ills that afflicted farmers, miners, and industrial workers."
William Jennings Bryan: Cross of Gold Speech - Overview
a. The issue was whether to endorse the free coinage of silver at a ratio of silver to gold of 16 to 1. (This inflationary measure would have increased the amount of money in circulation and aided cash-poor and debt-burdened farmers.)
Bryan's "Cross of Gold" Speech: Mesmerizing the Masses
b. "Making silver money at the ratio of 16 ounces of silver to 1 ounce of gold was their formula. In a vastly popular pamphlet 'Coins Financial School,' the teenage fictional hero Coin argued there was lots of silver out West, but the worlds small stock of gold was controlled by wicked bankers in New York and London."
Richard Jensen, University of Illinois Chicago
What is less well known is that the well-loved "Wizard of Oz" stems from the above....
3. "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Chicago, 1900) is a parable about Money Reform and the 1890s Midwestern political movement led by William Jennings Bryan .
L. Frank Baum was editor of a South Dakota newspaper and he wrote the first of his Oz series on Bryans second attempt [for the presidency].
Oz is short for ounce, the measure for gold and silver.
Dorothy, hailing from Kansas, represents the commoner.
The Tin Woodsman is the industrial worker, rusted as solid as the factories shut down in the 1893 depression. The Scarecrow is the farmer who apparently doesnt have the wit to understand his situation or his political interests. The Cowardly Lion is Bryan himself; who had a loud roar but little political power.
The Good Witches represent the magical potential of the people of the North and the South.
4. After vanquishing the Wicked Witch of the East (the Eastern bankers) Dorothy frees The Munchkins (the little people). With the witchs silver slippers (the silver standard), Dorothy sets out on the Yellow Brick Road (the gold standard) to the Emerald City (Washington), where they meet the Wizard (the President), who appears powerful, but is ultimately revealed as an illusion; the real Wizard being just a little man who pulls levers behind a curtain....Dorothys silver slippers were changed to ruby in the 1939 film.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz article by Alistair McConnachie | Prosperity UK
2. "Bryan articulated the feelings of Americans from the South and West who felt that the currency system and its effects had injured their financial and cultural interests. These sections saw a more flexible monetary system and some degree of inflation as a cure for the economic ills that afflicted farmers, miners, and industrial workers."
William Jennings Bryan: Cross of Gold Speech - Overview
a. The issue was whether to endorse the free coinage of silver at a ratio of silver to gold of 16 to 1. (This inflationary measure would have increased the amount of money in circulation and aided cash-poor and debt-burdened farmers.)
Bryan's "Cross of Gold" Speech: Mesmerizing the Masses
b. "Making silver money at the ratio of 16 ounces of silver to 1 ounce of gold was their formula. In a vastly popular pamphlet 'Coins Financial School,' the teenage fictional hero Coin argued there was lots of silver out West, but the worlds small stock of gold was controlled by wicked bankers in New York and London."
Richard Jensen, University of Illinois Chicago
What is less well known is that the well-loved "Wizard of Oz" stems from the above....
3. "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Chicago, 1900) is a parable about Money Reform and the 1890s Midwestern political movement led by William Jennings Bryan .
L. Frank Baum was editor of a South Dakota newspaper and he wrote the first of his Oz series on Bryans second attempt [for the presidency].
Oz is short for ounce, the measure for gold and silver.
Dorothy, hailing from Kansas, represents the commoner.
The Tin Woodsman is the industrial worker, rusted as solid as the factories shut down in the 1893 depression. The Scarecrow is the farmer who apparently doesnt have the wit to understand his situation or his political interests. The Cowardly Lion is Bryan himself; who had a loud roar but little political power.
The Good Witches represent the magical potential of the people of the North and the South.
4. After vanquishing the Wicked Witch of the East (the Eastern bankers) Dorothy frees The Munchkins (the little people). With the witchs silver slippers (the silver standard), Dorothy sets out on the Yellow Brick Road (the gold standard) to the Emerald City (Washington), where they meet the Wizard (the President), who appears powerful, but is ultimately revealed as an illusion; the real Wizard being just a little man who pulls levers behind a curtain....Dorothys silver slippers were changed to ruby in the 1939 film.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz article by Alistair McConnachie | Prosperity UK
