US HISTORY, FARMERS
... farmers in 1878, aiming to help. During the Panic of 1873 agricultural prices in the United States began to decline. The economic welfare of farmers suffered badly. Droughts, grasshopper plagues, and searing heat waves made the drudging farmers suffered worst. The middlemen were taking huge cuts in profits, the railroads were fixing freight prices, the barbed wires, and fertilizer trusts provoked farmers. To add to this, City, State, and Federal governments made farmers pay painful taxes when they could least afford to do so. Farmers took their stand when the Greenback Party attempts at independent political action and failed. In 1867, The Grange, which was founded by Oliver H. Kelley, strived to improve the lives of isolated farmers through social, educational, and fraternal activities. Then, the Farmers’ Alliances agita...