[skak]

Ultimately, WJ Bryan was both a tool of capital and a champion of the masses, but the free silver effort was an the exceptional issue for the reasons you explained.

I think farmers loans are worth mentioning specifically. The fixed ratio was terrible for farmers who had to seasonally borrow money and pay it back with interest.

[AnimalMuppet]

Could you expand on that a bit? Why did the fixed ratio hurt farmers (or anyone who had to borrow)? Or, how would a float between silver and gold have helped them?

It's not like a bank is going to lend you gold dollars and accept being paid back in silver dollars (or vice versa) if the ratio between them isn't fixed...

[Edit: Never mind, ffggvv answered this question below.]