Question

What was the main goal of the Farmers’ Alliance?

Answer 1

Hint: The Farmers’ Alliance was an American agrarian movement that developed during the 1870s and 80s. The movement consisted of numerous local organizations that came together into three large groupings.

Complete answer:
The major goal of the movement was to improve the farmers’ economic conditions by the creation of cooperatives and political advocacy. It consisted of numerous local organizations that came together into three large groupings.

In the late 19th century, farming in the American Midwest and West got difficult due to drought as well as the high fees for the storage and transportation of farm goods to market. In addition, interest rates on loans were also quite high. Farmers eventually formed various associations in order to deal with these issues. National Farmers’ Alliance was one such organisation formed by the white and black farmers in the American Midwest and West.

The Civil War and its after-effects caused trouble for farmers in the South, the majority of whom were sharecroppers. Smallholders also faced a lot of problems obtaining affordable loans. Here, the Alliance movement had its origin as the Texas Alliance, founded in the mid-1870s. Eventually, it became the Texas State Farmers’ Alliance as it expanded throughout the state. From the mid-1880s, it came to be known as the National Farmers’ Alliance and Industrial Union. It spread in the entire South and made advances
into the West and Midwest as well.

In the South, the Colored Farmers’ National Alliance and Cooperative Union were also formed by the African American farmers.

Note: Although the alliance failed as an economic movement, it is considered to have created a “movement culture” among the rural poor by historians. In 1889-90, the Alliance was reborn as the People’s Party, also known as the Populists.