176 THE GREEN RISING 



received 7,107,304. Bryan received 176 electoral 

 votes, which included all the Southern States ex- 

 cept Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, and most 

 of the Western States. The Populist Party un- 

 doubtedly contributed greatly to the popular vote 

 of W. J. Bryan, but its congressional strength had 

 declined. In the Fifty-fifth Congress (1897) there 

 were only five populist senators and twenty-one rep- 

 resentatives. 



The Populist Party maintained its independent 

 political organization and participated in the na- 

 tional campaigns of 1900, 1904, and 1908. But the 

 split in the party organization in 1900 further 

 weakened the strength of the agrarian forces. The 

 predominant element of the party again indorsed 

 Bryan and supported the democratic ticket. The 

 "middle-of-the-road" faction cast less than 50,000 

 votes hi the general election of 1900. In 1904 the 

 Populist Party nominated Thomas E. Watson, of 

 Georgia, who polled 114,546 votes, but the party 

 strength was about spent, and in 1908 the Populists 

 polled only 29,146 votes. This was the last time 

 the Populists held a national convention or partici- 

 pated as an independent organization in politics. 



The history of the first agrarian political party 

 in the United States was a short one. It was active 

 as a political organization from 1892 to 1908 a 

 period of only sixteen years. Its real influence in 

 politics is confined even to a shorter period, but the 

 actual accomplishments of the party cannot be 



