The basis of the
populist campaigns
Purvis mentioned was the abandonment of the
gold standard in favor of "
bimetallism," giving
silver an equal place alongside that of
gold as
specie. This would have had the
effect of instantly enriching thousands of
laborers, mostly in the
West, who possessed the much more common silver, and allowing them to pay off
debts previously assumed payable only in gold.
The gold or silver decision was his main campaign plank, and while it played well in the less populous West, the more populous and business-heavy East (where, not coincidentally, most of the creditors did business) feared the instability this might cause, both domestically and internationally (as the U.S. would be the first bimetallist country in the world).
For the text of his most famous speech, given 9 July 1896 at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, see Cross of Gold.