The Gilded Age | Cross of Gold | 6

American History Tellers

Wondery

Society & Culture, Kids & Family, History, Education For Kids

4.7 • 18.3K Ratings

🗓️ 26 August 2020

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the spring of 1894, hundreds of unemployed workers trudged through rain and snow on a 400-mile trek from Ohio to the nation’s capital. They joined armies of jobless men from all across the country to march on Washington, fed up with the government’s inaction in the face of the crippling Panic of 1893.

The century’s most punishing economic depression unleashed fierce political turmoil. A bitter debate over the gold standard consumed Americans nationwide. With the Treasury on the brink of collapse, President Cleveland made the desperate and controversial decision to turn to the nation’s top banker for a bailout.

The conflict over currency culminated in the emotional election of 1896, which pitted William McKinley against the charismatic reformer William Jennings Bryan, who electrified voters with his sensational “Cross of Gold” speech.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime members, you can listen to American History Tellers add free on Amazon Music,
0:05.6	download the app today.
0:09.4	Imagine it's a brisk afternoon in April 1894.
0:20.6	You're in the bozeman pass in Montana.
0:24.0	You and 300 other men are racing to clear the wreckage from a rock slide that is blocking
0:28.4	the rails of the Muir tunnel.
0:30.6	You used to be a railroad worker, but the depression put you out of a job.
0:34.4	And now, it's made you a criminal.
0:37.1	Last night, you helped hijack a North Pacific train and set off east for the nation's
0:41.3	capital.
0:42.3	You're joining thousands of other unemployment on a march to Washington to demand government
0:46.7	action.
0:47.7	You're just heading there a little faster than most.
0:50.5	But now the tracks are blocked by piles of rock, mud, and timber.
0:55.5	Your friend drops his pickaxe and wipes his brow with his handkerchief.
0:58.7	Oh, God.
0:59.7	I don't know if I can take this anymore.
1:01.3	We've been at this for hours.
1:02.9	Yeah, but we don't have much choice unless there's some secret track only you know about.
1:06.8	This is the only way east.
1:09.0	Your friend shakes his head in size.
1:11.0	I just...
	...

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