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Free Silver was an important political issue in the late 19th century United States. To understand exactly what is meant by "free coinage of silver", it is necessary to understand the way mints operated in the days of the gold standard. Essentially, anyone who possessed uncoined gold, such as successful prospectors, or assayers or refiners to whom they had sold their holdings, could deposit it at one of the U.S. Mints, where it would be made into gold coins. The coins would then be given to the depositor, less a small deduction for processing and funding Mint operations. Possibly in most cases the depositor would not receive coins made of the actual gold he had deposited, but would receive his due compensation in coins the mint already had ready. Free silver advocates wanted silver to be accepted by the mints in the same way; if you deposited enough silver, by weight, to manufacture a silver dollar, then the mint should pay out a silver dollar to you. Image File history File links Information. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

After the discovery of large silver reserves such as the Comstock Lode in the Western United States in the period shortly after the American Civil War, several disparate factions in American politics began to agitate for the federal government (which under the United States Constitution was responsible for coinage) to allow it to be minted freely at the rate of $1 per troy ounce. As the gold standard in effect at the time valued gold at the official price of $20 per troy ounce, the result of this policy would have been a considerable increase in the money supply and resultant inflation. General Name, Symbol, Number silver, Ag, 47 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 5, d Appearance lustrous white metal Standard atomic weight 107. ... Miner working in the Comstock Lode The Comstock Lode was the first major U.S. deposit of silver ore, discovered under what is now Virginia City, Nevada on the eastern slope of Mt. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. ... The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ... Troy weight is a system of units of mass customarily used for precious metals and gemstones. ... The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed weight of gold. ... General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Standard atomic weight 196. ...

At the time, the general price level was in a long term deflationary trend, and so inflation was seen by many as an appropriate way of maintaining wages and real interest rates. Modern economists who have studied the period are divided on whether free coinage of silver would have been inflationary, but it was clear that geographically centered interests had particular views. Eastern interests, trading with an increasingly gold standard–based world, wanted gold money; interior interests, and particularly mining interests, wanted silver money. Since banks were based primarily on the two coasts, deflation's effect of increasing the real rate of interest for loans already made was popular, for manufacturers the ability to hold wages down was also popular. For farmers, who borrowed to plant every year, and for laborers outside of the factory economy, also perpetually in debt, the idea of higher wages was attractive. Deflation (economics) Deflation (data compression) Deflation is the removal of loose soil by eolian (wind) processes This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed weight of gold. ...

Many populist and radical organizations actually favored a very inflationary monetary policy on the grounds that it enabled debtors (often farmers, laborers, and industrial workers) to pay their debts off with cheaper, more readily-available dollars; those who suffered under this policy were the wealthy creditors such as banks, leaseholders, and landlords, who under this theory could well afford any loss this caused them. Other supporters obviously included silver miners and those who supplied them, territorial and state governments in silver-producing areas, and other interests who desired to see gold demonetarized or at least reduced in prominence, including many Southerners. Look up Populism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The term Radical (latin radix meaning root) has been used since the late 18th century as a label in political science for those favoring or trying to produce thoroughgoing or extreme political reforms which can include changes to the social order to a greater or lesser extent. ... For other uses, see Farmer (disambiguation). ... Chuquicamata, the largest open pit copper mine in the world, Chile. ... This article is about the various forms of the jurisdiction of the United States. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  Politics Portal      A U.S. state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the... The U.S. Southern states or the South, also known colloquially as Dixie, constitute a distinctive region covering a large portion of the United States, with its own unique heritage, historical perspective, customs, musical styles, and cuisine. ...

For the most part, the Republican Party steadfastly opposed Free Silver, arguing that the best road to national prosperity was "sound money," a policy of attempting to maintain or even increase the dollar's value, as this rewarded those who had accumulated wealth and provided them with a strong incentive to produce and accumulate even more, which they saw as the engine driving economic growth. In 1896, some pro-Free Silver Republicans from western states split from the main Republican Party to form the short-lived Silver Republican Party. The Republican Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States of America, along with the Democratic Party. ... The Silver Republican Party was a United States political faction active in the 1890s. ...

The Populist Party had a strong Free Silver element; its subsequent combination with the Democratic Party moved the latter from the support of the gold standard which had been the hallmark of the Cleveland Administration to the Free Silver position epitomized by 1896 presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan in his Cross of Gold speech. Bryan's 1896 candidacy was supported by Populists and Silver Republicans as well as Democrats. The Populist Party (also known as the Peoples Party) was a short-lived political party in the United States in the late 19th century. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  Politics Portal      Further information: Politics of the United States#Organization of American political parties The Democratic... Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837 – June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th President of the United States, and the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms (1885–1889 and 1893–1897). ... Presidential electoral votes by state. ... William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, statesman, and politician. ... The Cross of Gold speech was a speech famously delivered by William Jennings Bryan at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. ...

Largely as a result of the support of monied interests which gave the Republicans an unmatchable campaign war chest, the Democrats failed to win any presidential elections in which the Free Silver issue was paramount, and the next Democratic President to be elected, Woodrow Wilson in 1912, had a very different plan for monetary reform which resulted in the creation of the Federal Reserve Banking system in 1913. Free Silver ceased to be a major issue, although its influence could perhaps be seen 20 years after the creation of the Federal Reserve in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's devaluation of the dollar (fixing the value of gold at $35 per troy ounce rather than $20 per troy ounce) and (partial) abandonment of the gold standard and ban against private ownership of gold coins and bullion, adopted in 1933 as measures to counter the Great Depression. Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924), was the 28th President of the United States. ... Presidential electoral votes by state. ... Federal Reserve Districts The United States Federal Reserve System consists of twelve Federal Reserve Banks, each responsible for a particular district, and some with branches. ... Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882–April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States, the longest-serving holder of the office and the only man to be elected President more than twice, was one of the central figures of 20th century history. ... Devaluation is a reduction in the value of a currency with respect to other monetary units. ... A precious metal is a rare metallic element of high, durable economic value. ... The Great Depression started after October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday. ...

See also

• Bimetallism