Question

The debate between William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan in the election of 1896 centered around A) differences between imperialist and anti-imperialist desires. B) economic concerns like the gold standard and protective tariffs. C) foreign policy issues regarding U.S. imperialist policies in the Pacific. D) civil rights issues related to segregation and discrimination in the South.

Answer 1

Your answer would be B). economic concerns like the gold standard and protective tariffs.

William McKinley and the Republican Party wanted the U.S to keep using the "gold standard" system. The gold standard system is a system where someone's account balanced is based off of a quantity of gold that they have. But, William Jennings Bryan and the populist were leaning toward the "free silver" system. The free silver system was a system that helped the poor farmers from the South and West to get America out of depression. During the election, the decisions was based on what kind of system people wanted U.S to go by, either the "gold standard" or the "free silver" system.