William Jennings Bryan: Speech to Congress on Tariff Reform

Glossary

• 1890 the year in which, thanks in large part to the unpopularity of Republican protectionism, Democrats won a three-quarters majority in the House following the elections
• blighting destroying
• co-tenants people who live in the same area
• earth’s only paradise America
• home industry referring both to the work that goes on in homes and to the “home industries” of the United States
• Mr. Clarkson James S. Clarkson (1842–1918), a major figure in the Republican Party but one who held no elective public office
• “On fame’s eternal camping ground …” a quotation from Theodore O’Hara’s “Bivouac of the Dead,” portions of which are inscribed on placards at Arlington National Cemetery
• our friends on the other side Republicans as well as those Democrats who opposed Bryan on the tariff issue
• protectionism a policy of “protecting” industry in one country by imposing high tariffs on imports, thus removing any competitive price advantage for foreign-made goods
• tariff a tax on imports