Cross of gold speech
From open-encyclopedia.com - the free encyclopedia.
William Jennings Bryan delivered the "Cross of Gold" speech at the convention of the Democratic Party of the United States on July 9, 1896. The Democratic Party stood for easy money and in opposition to the proposed pegging of the value of the United States dollar to gold. The speech became famous and gets its name from its climactic ending:
- Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.
