During its explosive heyday between 1890 and 1896, the radical Populist movement thoroughly disrupted American politics, especially in the rural South and West. Propelled by hard times and the transformative changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution, the Populists demanded sweeping reforms designed to break the power of ascendant corporate monopolies and the compliant Democratic and Republican party politicians who did their bidding. Populist success at the polls forced the Democrats to embrace several of their proposals, most notably the free coinage of silver, and to nominate Nebraska congressman William Jennings Bryan for the presidency in 1896. Choosing fatefully to endorse Bryan’s candidacy, the Populists went into rapid decline following his crushing loss to Republican William McKinley.
In the enormous scholarly literature devoted to the Populist uprising, most accounts effectively end with the grand debacle of 1896, ignoring the lengthy postscript that continued the People’s party saga into the opening years...