Greenback-Labor Party

Greenback-Labor Party, in U.S. history, popular name for the National party, a political party organized in 1878 by workers and farmers as a means of relieving their economic difficulties resulting from the depression of the 1870s. The party was formed by Greenbackers, members of the defunct Greenback party, and by the members of a number of labor organizations. The Greenbackers sought labor support for their program, which called for the issuance of the greenback, or paper currency not backed by gold, and for a monetary policy based on bimetallism; the labor groups desired Greenbacker support for their demands, which included a reduction in working hours, the establishment of a labor bureau in the federal government, and the curtailment of Chinese immigration, which was viewed as a cause of lowered wages. At its first national convention, held in Toledo, Ohio, in February 1878, each group pledged to support the demands of the other.

The congressional elections of 1878 marked the height of power of the Greenback-Labor party, which polled about 1 million votes and elected 14 representatives to Congress. In the following year, economic conditions in the nation improved, and interest in politics among the workers and farmers decreased. The 1880 convention of the party, held in Chicago, nominated Iowa congressman James Baird Weaver for the presidency. In the election he received only 308,578 votes, but eight Greenback-Labor candidates were elected to Congress. In ensuing years the party continued to decline. Its last national campaign was conducted for the 1884 elections, in which its presidential candidate, the American Civil War general Benjamin Franklin Butler, won 175,370 votes. Soon afterward the party ceased to exist; it was succeeded in the 1890s by the Populist party.