James Baird Weaver was born on June 12, 1833, in Dayton, Ohio. He was the son of a farmer and attended common schools while growing up. His family later settled on a farm near Bloomfield, Iowa, and James later studied law in Bloomfield from 1853-1856. In April of 1856 he graduated from Cincinnati Law School and became a successful lawyer in Bloomfield. He also became involved in the anti-slavery movement after reading Uncle Toms Cabin. He originated as a Democrat, and then became a Free-Soiler, and then became a Republican for a long time. He was a Republican during the Civil War. He enlisted in the Union Army as a private and fought in the Battle of Shiloh. By the end of the war he had risen to the rank of brigadier general. After the Civil War Weaver noticed the hardships facing the nation, especially farmers, caused by high railroad rates and the governments currency policies. He no longer supported President Grant's administration and thought hat the Republican party was under the control of big business. So in 1878 James joined the Greenback Labor Party. As a Greenbacker Weaver served in the House of Representatives from 1879-1881 and from 1885-1889, for a total of 6 years. In the middle of his first term as a congressman James ran for President. During his campaign he said that the two larger political parties had lost sight of their original democratic ideas. Weaver also claimed that the gold standard was driving farmers out of business and he wanted a society where all classes could share America's economic wealth. The Greenback platform called for the coinage of silver, an adequate supply of money, and the continuation of the circulation of paper money. It also called for a maximum eight hour work day, taxing of government bonds, and the introduction of graduated income tax. The program also opposed railroad land grants. The majority of weavers support in the election came from the rural West. Weaver was now a big political name of the time, despite his loss of the election. In the following years the Greenback party merged with the Democratic party, but James didn't support this and began helping to evolve the Populist Party in 1891. The Populist party grew out of the Farmers Alliances' and became the most prominent advocate for soft money after the Greenback party died away. Similar to the Greenback party the Populist party supported unlimited coinage of silver and a system of graduated income tax. The Populists also called for public ownership of the steamboat lines, telephone and telegraph systems, and railroads lines, and wanted the abolition of national banks. The party also was the first to advocate the direct election of united States Senators by the American public, not by state legislatures as previously done. In 1892 Weaver was chosen as the Populists party candidate for the presidential election. However, James' choice to ally with black groups caused violent outbreaks and voter intimidation in the South. Weaver lost this election as well, but did the best any third party has ever done in a US presidential election. in his later years James B. Weaver became mayor of a small town in Iowa and died on February 6, 1912.
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