November 3, 1894 | Illustration
In 1894, Democrat William Jennings Bryan ran against Republican John M. Thurston for Nebraska's open seat in the United States Senate. During the race, the Omaha Bee, a Republican reform paper, campaigned against the Burlington & Missouri Railroad as an especially nefarious force endangering the republic. In this political cartoon, Editor Edward Rosewater broadened the paper's attack to include all monopolies.
November 3, 1894 | Newspaper
Republican editor Edward Rosewater attacks "the corporation anaconda" he sees in the Nebraska 1894 campaign. The intimidation of railroad employees and the organization and direction of railroad money are his chief targets.
November 3, 1894 | Newspaper
Conservative Republicans organized "Business Men's Associations" in the 1894 campaign to fund and support Republican candidates, elect John M. Thurston, and defeat William Jennings Bryan. These associations spawned considerable political debate about the role of business in politics.
November 1, 1894 | Newspaper
The Republican paper emphasizes the split in the Democratic party between Bryan and the Cleveland administration.
November 1, 1894 | Newspaper
The quality, availability, and cost of railroad service in a local community often became a contentious political issue pitting locals against non-locals and spilling into local political contests. The Omaha Bee, an enemy of railroad power of any sort, emphasizes the local community's "right" to equal service.
November 1, 1894 | Newspaper
In this advertisement in Bryan's World Herald, the State Republican Party of Nebraska presents the case against Bryan and Populism as harmful to the state's interests. Populism "burns up value" in Nebraska's assets, the ad charges, and accuses fellow Republican Edward Rosewater, editor of the Omaha Daily Bee, of perfidy and betrayal. The ad depicts Rosewater, a Jew, as a "Shylock" and "petty" tyrant, emphasizing instead the manliness of the Republican candidates and leaders.
October 31, 1894 | Newspaper
Bryan's World Herald reports on the endorsements of labor organizations.
October 28, 1894 | Newspaper
Republican editor Edward Rosewater attacks the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad as the silent moving force behind the conservative Omaha business men's associations and their efforts to persuade voters in smaller towns to support Tom Majors for governor.
October 28, 1894 | Newspaper
Even though the Omaha Daily Bee campaigned against railroad political power, the newspaper celebrates the opening of a new line it expects to reshape the West and enhance the prominence and position of Omaha, Lincoln, and other cities.
October 26, 1894 | Newspaper
Bryan's World Herald emphasizes the stock watering and financial schemes of railroads that have gone bankrupt. Bryan's campaign consistently points to the railroads as bloated and overvalued in stocks and, as a consequence, threatening to ruin the reputation of the United States in world financial markets.
October 25, 1894 | Newspaper
The Nebraska State Journal ridicules Bryan for his attractive looks and youth, and sarcastically dismisses Populist-Democractic gubernatorial candidate Silas Holcomb as a local loan shark. The paper also prints a humorous poem mocking Bryan.
October 24, 1894 | Newspaper
Ever vigilant against railroad political power, the Republican Omaha Daily Bee warns against the possibility of voter fraud in the election through the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad employees whom the company is moving back into Nebraska right before the election.
October 22, 1894 | Newspaper
In this roundup of Western news about "progress," the Omaha Daily Bee depicts the Indians as unable to manage relationships with aggressive, and presumably corrupt, railroad companies. It applauds the decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to restrain the railroads from building across Indian lands. The other news of the West evokes the progress that comes with railroads and that such decisions denied Indians.
October 22, 1894 | Newspaper
Speech by William Jennings Bryan.
October 21, 1894 | Newspaper
Bryan's World Herald publishes information on Bryan's next speeches and appearances, as well as reminds voters that the only way for Bryan to be elected Senator is for Democrats to elect Democratic representatives to the legislature.
October 21, 1894 | Newspaper
Bryan commissioned journalist and author Elia W. Peattie to cover the joint debates. One of a small number of women in the audience, Peattie explains "how a woman viewed" the candidates' respective speeches, political views, manners, and fashion.
October 21, 1894 | Newspaper
The Republican State Journal depicts the disagreement over tactics in the Democratic Party because of Bryan's fusion with the Populists.
October 21, 1894 | Newspaper
Speech by William Jennings Bryan.
October 20, 1894 | Newspaper
Bryan's World Herald criticizes John Thurston's claims in the joint debate that the Republicans defend American working men with the protectionist tariff.
October 19, 1894 | Speech
This article from the October 19, 1894 edition of the Omaha World Herald summarizes the second debate between Republican candidate John M. Thurston and Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan during the 1894 Nebraska Senate campaign. The article also presents each man's speech, in full, as well as their rebuttal statements.