Populism refers to the Populist Party (also known as
The People's Party), an organization of farmers that started in the
1860s. They were angry because there was little support for the
aims of farmers within the two
traditional political parties. It seemed that there were groups looking out for
the rights of all citizens, except for the farmers. The Populist Party set out to
change that.
The party
nominated
James B. Weaver of Iowa, to run as
president in their first serious political
race, and
James G. Field of Virginia to run as vice president (both former
Civil War Generals). Though the
Democratic leader
Grover Cleveland was elected, the Populists came in a strong
third. They had the support of over one
million, and ended up with 22
electoral votes.
I'll be going through and
fixing this up,
adding to it, etc. Populism is an
interesting topic, in my
opinion. :)