Ben's

Oliver Hudson Kelley who was born in Boston where he then moved out to Minnesota to become a farmer. The farm trade in Minnesota was mostly dominated by the Indian trade, but he knew that the future of the state would be in agriculture and farming.  He became “famous” for lack of a better word because he came up with different and new farming methods.  He also became one of the first people in the state of Minnesota to buy a mechanical reaper.  He also wrote about his new methods and ideas on farming to national newspapers and eventually earned him enough rep to get a position as a clerk for the national commissioner of Agriculture in Washington D.C. (1)

He then went to go on and form a group called the Grange. After going on a three month tour of agricultural states, he decided he wanted to form a society for farmers to join so that they can band together to fight the rough times they were having.  This group was open to women, which was revolutionary back in that time, and was to be closely aligned with the federal government.  Just after 7 years of the group being organized they had over 20,000 members. (2)   The ultimate goal of the Grange was to fight the high prices the railroads and the warehouses were charging to move and store their grain.  The Grange then went on to try and get the State and Federal Government to step in.  The organization ultimately got a set of laws called the Granger Laws to become passed. These laws were not necessarily helpful with the prices of their good, but it helped people to come by paving the way for a system where the government can regulate private enterprises for the “Public interest.”  These laws would eventually lead to the interstate Act, which will prevent companies from charging unfair prices for shipping their products. (3)   So in short you can say that Kelley does achieve his goal by not having unfair rates charged for stuff that is being shipped, but it didn’t happen in the way that he wanted it to happen.

Mary E. Lease was a famous figure in the Populist movement, also known as the people’s movement.  She was a fiery speaker who strongly opposed the high rates that the railroads charged, (4)similar to Kelley’s reason for upset.  She took a different approach though, she was more of a get in your face type of person, who told farmers to “raise less corn and raise more hell”. She traveled all over Kansas and gained a fair amount of support, she also traveled over the midwest and south also lobbying for more support for her cause. Despite this she was a huge target by the media, just because she is a woman.  The believe back then was that a woman should stay in the house and be a housewife. She went out against this and traveled around and voiced her opinion on the high charge for shipping goods. In the 1908 election she spoke on behalf of a political candidate. The goals that she had though, were to promote social equality. Her desire for this became stronger when she was a teacher, before she moved to Kansas.  She became upset because she couldn’t have any serious laws passed for her cause, but when Roosevelt ran for president, she joined back into the Republican party after leaving many years prior.  She continued to make public speeches for about 10 years advocating her goal of social equality. Unlike Kelley, she did not have any laws, helpful or not, passed due to her efforts. (5)(6)

 

1. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/oliver-kelley-organizes-the-grange

2. http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Oliver_Hudson_Kelley.aspx

3. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/oliver-kelley-organizes-the-grange

4. http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/lease.html

5. https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/mary-elizabeth-lease/12128

6. Brinkley, Alan. The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2004. Print