In its early days as a state, Colorado had, like the Plains States to its east, been solidly Republican. Despite widespread criticism of the national party for its monetary policy, the Republicans continuously controlled the legislature and held the governorship for five of seven terms.[1] Because Colorado was the leading silver-producing state in the nation, the policies of the federal government since President Hayes were deeply unpopular with both silver miners and mineowners. Crises emerging in Colorado's agricultural sector from low wheat prices[2] and a severe drought in 1888 and 1889,[3] combined with the state's underdevelopment to produce resentment of the Northeast,[4] where the Republican Party's power base was located.
^Ubbelohde, Carl; Benson, Maxine and Smith, Duane A.; A Colorado History, pp. 206-207 ISBN0871089424
^Gormley, Ken (editor); The Presidents and the Constitution: A Living History, p. 299 ISBN1479839906
^Larson, Robert W.; ‘Populism in the Mountain West: A Mainstream Movement’; Western Historical Quarterly; Vol. 13, No. 2 (April 1982), pp. 143-164
^Azari, Julia and Hetherington, Mark J.; ‘Back to the Future? What the Politics of the Late Nineteenth Century Can Tell Us about the 2016 Election’; The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science; Vol 667: Elections in America; (September 2016), pp. 92-109
.jpg)
