LAD 24 - Bryan’s “Cross of Gold Speech"

On July 9th, 1896, William Jennings Bryan, spoke at the Democratic National convention in Chicago. First he talked about the true valve of an American worker and how important they are. Bryan believed that the coinage of silver would help the hurting economy. By sharing his feelings he was not looking to start a fight, but in fact he wanted to clear to air and fix the problem. He believed in income tax and felt that the nation needed a leader who could distribute the wealth to the people. He understands that many city people support the gold standard and tries to explain to them that their wealth comes from the poor and the poor need the coinage of silver.