ABSTRACT
A conservative faction in favor of the gold standard,
the National Democrats bolted from the Democratic
Party after the 1896 convention adopted a pro-silver
platform and nominated William Jennings Bryan. With
the nation in the midst of a depression and the Pop-
ulists in the agrarian Midwest and South demanding
monetary reform, currency was the dominant issue of
the 1896 campaign. This produced a brief REALIGN-
MENT in American politics.
