SilveriteThe Silverites were members of a political movement in the United States in the late-19th century that advocated that silver should continue to be a monetary standard along with gold, as authorized under the Coinage Act of 1792. The Silverite coalition's famous slogan was "16 to 1" – that is, the ratio of sixteen ounces of silver equal in value to one ounce of gold, a ratio similar to that established in the Coinage Act of 1834.
Panic of 1893The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States. It began in February 1893 and officially ended eight months later. The Panic of 1896 followed. It was the most serious economic depression in American history until the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Panic of 1893 deeply affected every sector of the economy and produced political upheaval that led to a political realignment and the presidency of William McKinley.
Gresham's lawIn economics, Gresham's law is a monetary principle stating that "bad money drives out good". For example, if there are two coins in circulation containing metal of different value, which are accepted by law as having similar face value, the more valuable coin based on the inherent value of its component metals will gradually disappear from circulation.
BimetallismBimetallism, also known as the bimetallic standard, is a monetary standard in which the value of the monetary unit is defined as equivalent to certain quantities of two metals, creating a fixed rate of exchange between them. In all known historical cases, the metals are gold and silver.
Populism in the United StatesPopulism in the United States reaches back to the presidency of Andrew Jackson in the 1830s and to the People's Party in the 1890s. It made a resurgence in 2010s–2020s politics, not only in the United States but in democracies around the world. Populism is an approach to politics which views "the people" as being opposed to "the elite" and is often used synonymously with "anti-establishment".
Monetary policyMonetary policy is the policy adopted by the monetary authority of a nation to affect monetary and other financial conditions to accomplish broader objectives like high employment and price stability (normally interpreted as a low and stable rate of inflation). Further purposes of a monetary policy may be to contribute to economic stability or to maintain predictable exchange rates with other currencies.
Economic policyEconomic policy is the set of government actions setting levels of taxation, government budgets, the money supply and interest rates, regulation of the labour market, and other actions that can affect the economy. Economic policy is a broad term for both the goals governments pursue and the tools they use.
Gold standardA gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economicunit of account is defined by a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from the late 1920s to 1932 as well as from 1944 until 1971, when the United States unilaterally terminated convertibility of the US dollar into gold, effectively ending the Bretton Woods system.
SilverCu↑Ag↓Aupalladium ← silver → cadmium
Gilded AgeIn United States history, the Gilded Age is the period from about the late 1870s to the late 1890s, which occurred between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was named by 1920s historians after Mark Twain's 1873 novel The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. It was a time of rapid economic and capital growth, especially in the North and West.
GoldGold is a chemical element; its chemical symbol is Au (from Latin aurum) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a bright-metallic-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal, a group 11 element, and one of the noble metals. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements, being the second lowest in the reactivity series, with only platinum ranked as less reactive. Gold is solid under standard conditions.
Robber baron (industrialist)Robber baron is a term first applied by 19th century muckrakers and others as social criticism to certain wealthy, powerful, and unethical 19th-century American businessmen. The term appeared in that use as early as the August 1870 issue of The Atlantic Monthly magazine. By the late 19th century, the term was typically applied to businessmen who used exploitative practices to amass their wealth.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.