Read “The History of the South: The Southern Revolt” (http://www.geocities.com/salika_2000/ap.html).

1		According to Petty, why did the Populist movement begin? Where did it begin? Do her arguments agree with any of those presented in Where Historians Disagree? If so, how? If not, in what ways are they different?
2		How does the explanation of the African-American experience of populism given in “The Making of a Black Populist: A Tribute to the Reverend Walter A. Pattillo” change your perspective on populism? Does Ali’s argument offer any interpretations not considered by Petty or by the text of Where Historians Disagree? If so, what are they and how compelling do you find them?

Now read “Recent Literature on American Populism” (http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~shgape/bibs/populism.html).

3		According to Edwards, what are the major issues on which historians of Populism have focused lately? What new interpretations of Populism have these new histories provided? Have they fundamentally changed the terms of the debate over the nature of Populism? If so, how?

To get a sense of how these historical debates can enter popular culture, read “The Rise and Fall of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a ‘Parable on Populism’.” (http://www.halcyon.com/piglet/Populism.htm)

4		What connections between Populism and this famous children’s book have historians and other academics raised? How seriously do they seem to take this interpretation of Oz as a parable of Populism? How compelling do you find the arguments that it offers such a parable?
5		Finally, return to the question we have addressed at the end of each of these exercises, how might historical debates over the nature of Populism affect contemporary Americans? Does, for example, Michael Kazin’s argument in The Populist Persuasion offer a contemporary value for understanding the legacy of Populism?

Other sites with primary and secondary sources about Populism include:

6		1896 People’s Party Platform (http://iberia.vassar.edu/1896/peoplesplatform.html) – primary document that reveals the prominent concerns of the political party that grew out of the Populist movement. The Cross of Gold Speech (http://douglass.speech.nwu.edu/brya_a26.htm) – 1896 speech by William Jennings Bryan that in some ways served as the culminating moment (and also the beginning of the downfall) of the Populist movement.