The prosperity of the Gilded Age did not extend to farmers, who were burdened with high costs, low incomes, and heavy debts. They organized into groups such as Granges and farmers' alliances. Ultimately, these groups turned to politics.
The farmers joined with labor and other reform groups to form a new national political party—the Populist Party. In 1892 the Omaha platform of the Populist Party clearly reflected the interests of farmers. The Populist Party enjoyed some successes, but the movement died soon after William Jennings Bryan lost the 1896 presidential election.
Farmers were not the only ones seeking reform. The temperance movement became increasingly active, and woman suffrage became a hotly debated issue across the country. At the same time, writers such as Karl Marx proposed socialism as an economic remedy, while Henry George favored a "single tax" on land values. Americans on the whole were not interested, however, in instituting radical change.
