11th Grade U.S.

History Inquiry

Did the Populist

Party represent the
populace?

People's Party candidate nominating convention held in Columbus, Nebraska, July 15, 1890.

Supporting Questions
1. Why did the Populist Party exist?
2. Who did the Populist Party represent?
3. Who did the Populist Party not represent?

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11th Grade Inquiry

Compellin
g Question
Kentucky
State Social
Studies
Framework
Key Idea(s)
& Practices

Was the Populist Party representative of the populace?

HS4.CM.3 Processes, Rules and Laws Analyze historical, contemporary

and emerging methods for changing societies, while promoting the general
welfare.
HS4.HT.12 Chronological Reasoning: Causation and Continuity Analyze
multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past to identify change
and continuity in historical eras and assess how the significance of the actions of
individuals and groups change over time and are shaped by the historical context.

Staging the
Discuss the concept of representation through political parties through a series of
Compelling
news clips about Occupy Wall Street.
Questions
Supporting Question 1
Supporting Question 2
Supporting Question 3

Why did the Populist Party exist?

Formative
Performance Task
Make a T-Chart of what the
Democratic and Republican
parties stood for and include
who they represented and
what region they would be
from.

Who did the Populist Party

represent?

What issues did the Populist Party

not represent?

Formative
Performance Task
Make a list of issues the
Populist Party stood for and
create an iconographic
representation of the partys
core ideas.

Formative
Performance Task
Facilitate a QFT with images
depicting societal problems of
this era and have students
conduct research based on the
questions they come up with.
Students will then create a
visual representation of the
problems and solutions.
Featured Sources

Featured Sources

Featured Sources

Doc A: Election Map

Doc B: Chart of Political Parties
Doc C: Farmers Alliance Image

Doc A: Campaign Poster

Doc B: Pledge of Allegiance to
Join the Grange
Doc C: The Farmers Situation

Summative
Performanc
e Task
Taking
Informed
Action

Doc A: Riis Image (Children)

Doc B: Riis Image (Working
Conditions)
Doc C: Riis Image (Living
Conditions)

Argument

Construct an argument (e.g., detailed outline, poster, essay)

that addresses the compelling question using specific claims
and relevant evidence from historical sources while
acknowledging competing views.

Extension

Express your argument through the making of a short film.

Understand: Investigate current groups that are under represented or

unrepresented by todays political parties.
Assess: Examine the extent to which they are not represented and the issues that
group feels strongly about.
Act: Develop a party platform that represents this underrepresented population in

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the United States.

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Overview
Inquiry Description
The goal of this inquiry is to introduce students to the idea of representation through a
political party within the contexts of the Populist Party and the social, political, and
economic problems of the Gilded Age. The Industrial Revolution brought about many
good changes for the United States. However, the rapid changes also created many
problems. One groups response to some of the problems of the Gilded Age was to
organize politically, an idea that eventually resulted in the formation of the Populist Party
and the nomination of William Jennings Bryan on the national party ticket. This inquiry
will allow students to explore the problems and solutions of the Gilded Age through the
lens of political representation. Additionally, it will invite students to engage with the
idea of how and why certain groups of people are heard over others. By looking at the
rise of the Populist Party, students should understand problems of the Gilded Age and
solutions.
In addition to the Key Idea listed earlier, this inquiry highlights the following Conceptual
Understanding:
(HS4.CM.3) Processes, Rules and Laws. Students will analyze historical,
contemporary and emerging methods for changing societies, while promoting the
general welfare.
(HS4.HT.12) Chronological Reasoning: Causation and Continuity. Students will
analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past to identify
change and continuity in historical eras and assess how the significance of the
actions of individuals and groups change over time and are shaped by the
historical context.
NOTE: This inquiry is expected to take five to seven 40-minute class periods. The inquiry
time frame could expand if teachers think their students need additional instructional
experiences (i.e., supporting questions, formative performance tasks, and featured
sources). Teachers are encouraged to adapt the inquiries in order to meet the needs and
interests of their particular students. Resources can also be modified as necessary to
meet individualized education programs (IEPs) or Section 504 Plans for students with
disabilities.
Structure of the Inquiry
In addressing the compelling question Did the Populist Party represent the populace?
students work through a series of supporting questions, formative performance tasks,
and featured sources in order to construct an argument with evidence while
acknowledging competing perspectives.
Staging the Compelling Question

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The compelling question could be staged by having students watch news clips from
different media outlets about the Occupy Wall Street protests. Teachers could use these
resources to facilitate discussion about representation through political groups and the
idea that some groups do not have as loud of a voice in the government as other groups.

Supporting Question 1
The first supporting question Why did the Populist Party exist?establishes who the
political parties of the time represented and the challenges farmers were facing. This
first formative performance task asks students to make a T-Chart of what the Democratic
and Republican parties stood for and include who they represented and what region they
would be from. Featured Source A, the election map of 1892, is significant in that it
shows the regionality of the political parties of that era. Featured Source B, the chart of
political parties, will be coupled with lecture and will help students understand the
evolution of political parties. Finally, Featured Source C, the Farmers Alliance image,
shows the view farmers had of their position in society. Students will use this source to
infer the role farmers had in society and the gap in political representation that caused
them to believe they needed to create their own group.
Supporting Question 2
The second supporting questionWho did the Populist Party represent?will allow
students to explore the rise of this third party and the problems of the people it
represented. The first featured source is a campaign poster that highlights some of the
core ideas of the Populist Party. The second featured source is a transcript of the pledge
farmers took to join the Grange. The final featured source is an excerpt of a speech on
the problems farmers were facing at that time. After working through the featured
sources, students will make a list of issues the Populist Party stood for and create an
iconographic representation of the partys core ideas.
Supporting Question 3
The third supporting question What issues did the Populist Party not represent?
allows students to explore who was not being represented during this era through the
problems that were not being addressed by political party platforms. The three featured
sources for this supporting question are photographs by Jacob Riis that show some of the
societal problems of this time. The formative performance task will be a teacher lead QFT
(question formulation technique) wherein students will examine the photos and ask
questions about them. Students will ultimately conduct research based on the questions
they come up with and then create a visual representation of the problems and solutions.
Summative Assessment

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At this point in the inquiry, students have examined who was represented by the
Democrats and Republicans, the social, political, and economic problems that led to the
rise of the Populist Party and social problems that were not addressed by any party
during that time. Students should be able to demonstrate the breadth of their
understandings and their abilities to use evidence from multiple sources to support their
claims. In this task, students construct an evidence-based argument responding to the
compelling question Did the Populist Party represent the populace? It is important to
note that students arguments could take a variety of forms, including a detailed outline,
poster, or essay.
Students arguments likely will vary, but could include any of the following:
The Peoples Party represented the farmers of America, who were the common man
during this era, as they were the backbone of society.
The Populist Party did not effectively represent industrial workers (including women and
children), whose rights were also under-represented in political party platforms.
Farmers needed more rights and protections, but they were not representative of the
populace as city dwelling industrial workers also needed more representation during
this time. However, the Populist Party paved the way for social, political and economic
reforms that did benefit the populace.
Students could extend their study of political representation through research on modern
day unrepresented groups. Using their arguments as a foundation, students could make
a short film linking what they learned about the Populist Party to the unrepresented
group they researched.
Students have the opportunity to Take Informed Action by drawing on their knowledge of
the rise of the Populist Party as a means of political representation. They will
demonstrate that they understand by researching a modern group that is unrepresented
politically and create a party platform that addresses the problems they face. Students
can then send their party platform to a Senator or Representative or create a website
that would allow others to support the unrepresented group.

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Supporting
Question 1
Featured Source A
Supporting
Question 2 Fe A

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Supporting
Question 1
Featured Source B

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Supporting
Question 1
Featured Source C

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https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/populism-and-agrariandiscontent/resources/grange-movement-1875

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Supporting
Question 2
Featured Source A
Campaign Poster

https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/populism-and-agrariandiscontent/resources/people%E2%80%99s-party-campaign-poster-1892

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Supporting
Question 2
Featured Source B
Pledge of Allegiance to Join the Grange

When the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry was first organized in Minnesota in December 1867, its goals were
primarily social and educational. The organization spread rapidly throughout the agricultural Midwest, attracting more than
850,000 members by 1875. The Granges purpose also expandedit experimented (unsuccessfully) with cooperatives, and,
angered by hard times, tight money, and high railroad shipping rates, moved into politics. Members elected sympathetic state
legislators who passed laws (most of them later declared unconstitutional) regulating railroad and grain elevator charges.
When agricultural conditions in the Midwest improved in the 1880s, the Granges membership dropped to 150,000. The
Farmers Alliance (or Populists) soon replaced the Grange as the primary voice of radical agrarianism. Still, the Grange
continued as a nationwide social organization. Like other fraternal organizations, its members took part in elaborate rituals
and ceremonies, as reflected in the following excerpt from the 1895 Grange Manual.
S. [Steward] Worthy Overseer, an alarm at the gate.
O. [Overseer] See who approaches.
A.S. Men seeking employment.
S. Are they unconstrained and willing?
A.S. They are.
S. Have they been tried and found worthy?
A.S. They have.
O. Admit them for examination.
S. [Opens the door] It is the pleasure of our Worthy Overseer that you enter the field with this caution: use discretion,
respectfully obey all orders and, should work be assigned you, labor with diligence.
A.S. Let our future conduct prove us.
O. Who comes here?
A.S. Worthy and honest men seeking wisdom, who desire to become laborers in the field.
O. What wages do they expect?
A.S. Wisdom, and not silver; knowledge, rather than fine gold.
O. Are you satisfied of their integrity?
A.S. I am.
O. Friends, is it of your own freewill that you ask the position?
Cand. [Candidate] It is.
O. It is well. Conduct them to our Worthy Master; from him you will receive further instruction.
M. [Master] In the presence of our heavenly Father and these witnesses, I do hereby pledge my sacred honor that, whether in
or out of the Order, I will never reveal any of the secrets of this Order, unless I am satisfied by strict test, that they are

11th Grade Inquiry

lawfully entitled to receive them, that I will conform to and abide by the Constitution, rules, and regulations of the National
Grange, and of the State Grange under whose jurisdiction I may be, that I will never propose for membership in the Order,
anyone whom I have any reason to believe is an improper person; nor will I oppose the admission of anyone solely on the
grounds of a personal prejudice or difficulty. I will recognize and answer all lawful signs given me by a brother or sister of the
Order, and will render them such assistance as may be needed, so far as I may be able and the interest of my family will
permit. I will not knowingly wrong or defraud a brother or sister of the Order, nor will I permit it to be done by another, if in my
power to prevent it. Should I knowingly or willfully violate this pledge, I invoke upon myself suspension or expulsion from the
Order, and thus be disgraced among those who were my brothers and, sisters.
M. Brothers and Sisters, is this your Obligation?
Candidates. (All answer in a clear voice.) It is.
(Excerpted)
Source: Manual of Subordinate Granges of the Patrons of Husbandry, 7th ed. (Philadelphia, 1895), 79, 4649. Reprinted in
David J. Rothman and Sheila M. Rothman, eds., Sources of the American Social Tradition, Vol. II, 1865 to Present (New York:
Basic Books, Inc., 1975), 99104.

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Supporting
Question 2
Featured Source C
The Farmers Situation
Nothing has done more to injure the [Western] region than these freight rates. The railroads have retarded its growth
as much as they first hastened it. The rates are often four times as large as Eastern rates. . . . The extortionate
character of the freight rates has been recognized by all parties, and all have pledged to lower them, but no state
west of the Missouri has been able to do so.
In the early days, people were so anxious to secure railways that they would grant any sort of concession which the
companies asked. There were counties in Iowa and other Western states struggling under heavy loads of bond-taxes,
levied twenty-five years ago, to aid railways of which not one foot has been built. Perhaps a little grading would be
done, and then the project would be abandoned, the bonds transferred, and the county called upon by the "innocent
purchaser" to pay the debt incurred by blind credulity. I have known men to sacrifice fortunes, brains, and lives in
fighting vainly this iniquitous bond-swindle.
Railways have often acquired mines and other properties by placing such high freight rates upon their products that
the owner was compelled to sell at the railroad company's own terms. These freight rates have been especially
burdensome to the farmers, who are far from their selling and buying markets, thus robbing them in both directions.
Another fact which has incited the farmer against corporations is the bold and unblushing participation of the railways
in politics. At every political convention their emissaries are present with blandishments and passes and other practical
arguments to secure the nomination of their friends. The sessions of these legislatures are disgusting scenes of bribery
and debauchery. There is not an attorney of prominence in Western towns who does not carry a pass or has not had
the opportunity to do so. The passes, of course, compass the end sought. By these means, the railroads have secured
an iron grip upon legislatures and officers, while no redress has been given to the farmer.
The land question, also, is a source of righteous complaint. Much of the land of the West, instead of being held for
actual settlers, has been bought up by speculators and Eastern syndicates in large tracts. They have done nothing to
improve the land and have simply waited for the inevitable settler who bought cheaply a small "patch" and proceeded
to cultivate it. When he had prospered so that he needed more land, he found that his own labor had increased
tremendously the value of the adjacent land. . . .
Closely connected with the land abuse are the money grievances. As his pecuniary condition grew more serious, the
farmer could not make payments on his land. Or he found that, with the ruling prices, he could not sell his produce at a
profit. In either case he needed money, to make the payment or maintain himself until prices should rise. When he
went to the moneylenders, these men, often dishonest usurers, told him that money was very scarce, that the rate of
interest was rapidly rising, etc., so that in the end the farmer paid as much interest a month as the moneylender was
paying a year for the same money. In this transaction, the farmer obtained his first glimpse of the idea of "the
contraction of the currency at the hands of Eastern money sharks."
Disaster always follows the exaction of such exorbitant rates of interest, and want or eviction quickly came.
Consequently, when demagogues went among the farmers to utter their calamitous cries, the scales seemed to drop
from the farmer's eyes, and he saw gold bugs, Shylocks, conspiracies, and criminal legislation ad infinitum. Like a
lightning flash, the idea of political action ran through the Alliances. A few farmers' victories in county campaigns the
previous year became a promise of broader conquest, and with one bound the Farmers' Alliance went into politics all
over the West.
Source: F. B. Tracy, "Why the Farmers Revolted," Forum 16 (October 1893): 24243.

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Supporting
Question 3
Featured source A

https://photohistory.wikispaces.com/Jacob+Riis

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Supporting
Question 3
Featured source B

http://faculty.citadel.edu/hutchisson/Pages/343page.htm

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Supporting
Question 3
Featured source C

http://www.americanyawp.com/text/how-the-other-half-lived-photographs-of-jacob-riis/

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Common Core Connections Across the Grade 11 Inquiry

Social studies teachers play a key role in enabling students to develop the relevant
literacy skills found in the Kentucky State P-12 Common Core Learning Standards for
English Language Arts and Literacy. The Common Core emphasis on more robust
reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language skills in general and the attention
to more sophisticated source analysis, argumentation, and the use of evidence in
particular are evident across the Toolkit inquiries.
Identifying the connections with the Common Core Anchor Standards will help teachers
consciously build opportunities to advance their students literacy knowledge and
expertise through the specific social studies content and practices described in the
annotation. The following table outlines the opportunities represented in the Grade 11th
Inquiry through illustrative examples of each of the Standards represented.

Compelli
ng
Question

Was the Populist Party representative of the populace?

Common Core Anchor Standard Connections

Reading

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.1
Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical
inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking
to support conclusions drawn from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.2
Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their
development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

Writing

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.1
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Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or

texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.5 Develop and strengthen writing as needed

by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

Language

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.L.6
Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domainspecific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and
listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate
independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when encountering an
unknown term important to comprehension or expression.

11th Grade Inquiry