Silver Republican Party

Silver Republican Party
Silver Republican Party
Leader	Fred Dubois; Henry M. Teller
Founded	1896
Dissolved	1900
Split from	Republican Party
Merged into	Republican Party; Democratic Party (minority)
Ideology	Agrarianism; Bimetallism
Political position	Center-left
International affiliation	None
Colors	Red
	Politics of United States; Political parties; Elections;

The Silver Republican Party was a United States political party in the 1890s. It was so named because it split from the Republican Party over the issues of free silver (effectively, expansionary monetary policy) and bimetallism. The main Republican Party supported the gold standard. Silver Republican strength was concentrated in the Western states where silver mining was an important industry. A leading spokesman in the House of Representatives was Willis Sweet of Idaho. Silver Republicans were elected to the Congress from several Western states. In 1896, Silver Republicans supported Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan over William McKinley. After 1900, the Silver Republican Party was on the decline and most of its members rejoined the Republican Party. However, some such as Senator Fred Dubois of Idaho and former Secretary of the Interior Henry M. Teller of Colorado joined the Democratic Party.

Noted Silver Republicans

Frank J. Cannon – Senator from Utah
Fred Dubois – Senator from Idaho
Thomas Kearns – Senator from Utah
John P. Jones – Senator from Nevada
Lee Mantle – Senator from Montana
Richard F. Pettigrew – Senator from South Dakota
John F. Shafroth – Representative from Colorado, later Governor and Senator
Willis Sweet. - Representative from Idaho
William Morris Stewart – Senator from Nevada
Henry M. Teller – Senator and Secretary of the Interior from Colorado
Edgar Wilson – Representative from Idaho

Silver Republican Party

Noted Silver Republicans

See also

Further reading