William Jennings Bryan

Federal Reserve Act Creates Central Banking System: Wilson Signs Compromise Between Private Bank Control and Government Oversight

1913-12-23 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 10/10

President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act at 6:00 p.m., creating the Federal Reserve System as the central banking system of the United States. The need for a central bank became evident during the Panic of 1907, when the federal government lacked tools to respond and had to depend on …

President Woodrow Wilson Carter Glass Robert Latham Owen JP Morgan William Jennings Bryan banking-consolidation progressive-era financial-regulation federal-reserve jp-morgan

William Jennings Bryan's Cross of Gold Speech - Populist Challenge to Corporate Power

1896-07-09 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 7/10

At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 36-year-old former Nebraska Representative William Jennings Bryan delivers the electrifying “Cross of Gold” speech supporting “free silver” (bimetallism) against the gold standard, concluding with the famous peroration: …

William Jennings Bryan Democratic National Convention Populist Party Eastern banking interests Western farmers and miners gilded-age campaign-finance populism economic-policy bimetallism