You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold. —William Jennings Bryan

Why did this sentence from Bryan’s speech have such a powerful effect?

Group of answer choices (Select one)

A. It convinced Bryan’s audience that he was sincere.

B. It showed that the Populist Party was splitting the vote.

C. It used simple, religious language to describe an economic problem.

D. It showed that Democrats believed in a Populist cause

C. It used simple, religious language to describe an economic problem.

Explanation:

The Cross of Gold speech was a speech delivered by William Jennings Bryan at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The speech advocated bimetallism. At the time, the Democratic Party wanted to standardize the value of the dollar to silver and opposed pegging the value of the United States dollar to a gold standard. The inflation that would result from the silver standard would make it easier for farmers and other debtors to pay off their debts by increasing their revenue dollars. It would also reverse the deflation which the U.S. experienced from 1873-1896.

Political Cartoon of the SpeechBackers of the gold standard felt that the protection against inflation was paramount, and the gold standard would prevent runaway inflation. Such an uncontrollable inflation would put a burden on creditors such as banks whose loans' interest rates would then fall under the inflation rate and garner a loss for the creditor.

The speech was given in the context of a wider debate at the Convention about bimetallism, and so the greater part of Bryan's speech is devoted to responses to other speakers whose contributions have largely been forgotten. Bryan's speech places him in the camp of Western interests (largely farmers and other borrowers) against Eastern interests (moneylenders), in the camp of rural interests against urban interests, and in the camp of economic nationalists against internationalists who were concerned about the U.S. abandoning the internationally recognized gold standard. Bryan's speech cemented his role as a leading voice for economic populism.

the nationalists wanted a strong central government so the new country wouldn't fall apart.

- r3ktforgood ☕

he believed that strong monarchies would lead to social and political stability.