By the 1890s, the American government’s support of a de facto gold standard had ignited a bitter partisan divide. With Democrats, led by Nebraska Congressman William Jennings Bryan, railing against the tight money standard and advocating that the country return to its bimetallist roots.
Bryan supported the 16:1 ratio and felt that returning to it would ease the financial hardship that American workers and farmers were feeling at the time.
These sentiments grew as the country reeled from the Panic of 1893.
Bryan’s cross of gold speech, given on the floor of the Democratic National Convention on July 9, 1896 helped the then 36-year-old politician secure his party’s nomination for President. Although conservative Democrats, known as "Gold Democrats", from the northeast and midwest declined to support Bryan in the general election
Bryan’s free silver views also helped him secure the support of the Populist and Silver parties - although it wasn’t enough to overcome pro-gold Republican William McKinley.
The two men would campaign against each other again in 1900, but in that campaign the politics had shifted and Bryan ran on an anti-imperialist platform. McKinley won again- only to be cut down six months into his term by the anarchist assassin Leon Czolgosz.
William Jennings Bryan remained in politics and would eventually serve as Secretary of State for President Woodrow Wilson. Over the years, he would revisit his famous speech, recording various portions of it in 1921.
The following is the complete speech read by CoinWeek Editor Charles Morgan.
