The Cross of Gold Speech: William Jennings Bryan’s Address on Imperialism
William Jennings Bryan presented his speech to a large crowd on August 8, 1900. A topic he felt passionately about, he addressed the crowd about his views on imperialism, with the speech "Imperialism". Many may argue whether or not this speech is propaganda or persuasion and it can be hard to pinpoint which it truly is. I believe that William Jenning Bryan`s Imperialism speech is not propaganda but rather, a persuasive speech. It was difficult to come up with this evaluation but because of numerous reasons, I have deemed it to be persuasive. I believe it`s relevant to today because Bryan was speaking out during times of trouble for America and working on the premises of what could be done to fix things and save the country from imperialism. Presidential candidates still, to this day, run and promote themselves as the right person to fix and change America for the better.
William Jennings Bryan, a political figure in the 1900s, was a populist in the Democratic Party. He was an educated man, attending college in Illinois and Law school in Chicago. He eventually moved to Nebraska where his political career began. Bryan was a congressman, being elected twice, and was influential in many aspects due to his involvement in free silver, high protective tariffs, his anti-Darwinism beliefs, and his infamous Cross of Gold speech. After running for presidency twice and being defeated both times, he eventually became Secretary of State during Woodrow Wilson`s presidency beginning in 1912. Bryan later resigned because of "protest over `war preparedness` as Wilson carried the nation into World War 1." (Rebecca Edwards).
He delivered his imperialism speech on August 8, 1900. However, this speech was not a memorized speech, but a written one that was read from notes. In the beginning of his speech he asks for the audience`s indulgence while he read his speech from paper. He explains that he does this because then he will be able to read mass audiences "for it is a thousand times as numerous as any crowd that could assemble here."
