Describe why the election of 1896 to be considered a turning point in American politics

The election of 1896 was one of the most emotional in U.S. History as it would mark the beginning of a new era in American politics.

The election of 1896 had a number of both short-term and long-term consequences on American politics

1. It marked the end of the stalemate & stagnation that had characterized politics in the Gilded Age

2. The defeat of Bryan and the Populist free-silver movement initiated an era of Republican dominance of the presidency (7 of the next 9 and

Republican dominance of both houses of Congress (17 of the next 20 sessions)

3. Once the party of "free soil, free labor, & free men," the Republicans were now the party of business, industry, and a strong national gov't

4. The Democrats carried on in defeat as the sectional party of the South and host of whatever Populist sentiment remained.

Explanation:

WILLIAM MCKINLEY'S PRESIDENCY (1897 TO 1901)

- McKinley was lucky to take office just as the economy began to revive

- Gold discoveries in Alaska in 1897 increased the money supply under the gold standard

- This resulted in the inflation that the silverites wanted

- Farm prices rose, factory production increased, and the stock market climbed

- Republicans enacted a higher tariff (The Dingley Tariff of 1897) & making gold the official standard of the U.S. currency in 1900

- McKinley was generally a well-liked, well-traveled president, who actively tried to bring conflicting interests together

- As leader during the war with Spain in 1898, he helped to make the United States a world power.

- - McKinley emerged as the first modern president, an active leader who took the U.S. from being relatively isolated to becoming a major player

in international affairs