The surprising and yet probably not a coincidental connection between The Wizard of Oz and the economic and political storms that led up to the Gilded Age (1870-1900). Some argue there is no connection, while others argue there is. Sometimes critics see more than what the artist (author) intended. Whatever the truth may be, it is an interesting parallel to a classic parable published in 1900.
The Wizard of Oz can be interpreted as a monetary allegory of the complexity of social and economic changes. Such as the ongoing debate on going back to sound money, meaning currency backed by something like precious metals like gold or silver. The Industrial Revolution radically transformed economies that were based on agriculture and handicrafts, into economies based on large-scale industry, mechanized manufacturing, and the factory system. Farmers were struggling due to a convergence of factors– debt, high mortgage interest rates, droughts (affecting crops), surpluses, prices set by world markets, railroad corruption, and monetary policies. The government, investors, and bankers faced the challenges of financial panic and run. Railroads were the nation’s largest non-agricultural employer. Banks and other industries were putting their money into railroads. So when the banking firm of Jay Cooke and Company, a firm heavily invested in railroad construction, closed its doors on September 18, 1873, a significant economic panic swept the nation.
The history of the Civil War and through the “Greenback Party” (1874-1889) is where it all started to go downhill with monetary mistakes that mostly affected farmers, but the farmers mistakenly supported and implemented their own demise with some (keyword: “some”) of their monetary ideas and policies. By the eighteen-nineties, America was divided over the nation’s money system. The issue peaked from 1893 to 1896, when the economy was suffering from a severe depression characterized by falling prices (deflation), high unemployment in industrial areas, and severe distress for farmers.
Should the United States support its currency with gold or with gold and silver? This question became the main issue in the presidential election in eighteen ninety-six. First, those who supported silver were called the Silverites (Free Silver Movement). They thought the value of the dollar was too high. A high dollar, they said, drove down prices for agricultural products. Most were farmers, laborers, and owners of small businesses. They formed “The People’s Party” (a populist party). Second, those who supported the gold standard, and a stronger dollar were called ‘gold bugs,’ consisting mostly of businessmen, bankers, and investors. Third, many other Americans wanted the United States to support its money with both gold and silver.
HARRY MONROE: The debate over gold and silver was especially important because of an economic depression that began in the United States in eighteen ninety-three. Thousands of banks and businesses closed. Millions of men lost their jobs. Foreign investors withdrew their money from America. Americans who had money were afraid to invest it.”
In conclusion, the American public couldn’t easily and quickly find a resolution to the monetary issue, beginning with farmers and their justifiable strife. The struggling farmers blamed Wall Street and the bankers. Whatever answers the different parties came up with would ultimately be decided by a political vote. Yet, one has to wonder why no one intervened to help the farmers with their debt and high mortgages? The printing of greenbacks way back since the Civil War kickstarted everything, with banks denying folks from exchanging their other currencies snowballed into catastrophe. By the time the government did, it was far too late because it gave rise to the People’s Party and populism. Nevertheless, some good and bad policies came out of the People’s Party. And it is not to say all bankers, investors, and businessmen were saints either. A few were monopoly tycoons like John D. Rockefeller. The history of Deutsche Bank (Germany) is also interesting with its financial ups and downs are also connected to the economic progress in America like the Northern American Railroad.
Bonus: NEWSIES is inspired by the real-life Newsboys Strike of 1899 when newsboys Kid Blink and David Simons led a band of orphan and runaway children on a two-week-long action against newspaper publishers Pulitzer and Hearst.
Sources:
https://www.occ.gov/about/who-we-are/history/1863-1865/index-occ-history-1863-1865.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenback_Party
https://www.britannica.com/event/Greenback-movement
https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/mckinley-wins-1896–97496664/115884.html
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