The populist movement is a variety of reform initiatives associated with popular sentiment. Populists dreamed of creating a broad political coalition. Populism, however, was primarily aimed at small farmers with economic security. In the Midwest, Populists were typically family farmers who wanted their land back or were trying to keep it in the first place. In the South there were many modest landowners, but also sharecroppers and sharecroppers. Despite all the differences, most populists had one thing in common: they were associated with one type of agriculture. Populists tended to be not only economically but also culturally marginal. The populist movement was aimed at all isolated farmers who felt cut off from the world. He gave everyone a chance to go back; it also gave them a social life, the need to be present for the community. Populists did not attract many groups. They made vigorous efforts to try to include workers within the coalition. In 1890 the Populists gained control of the Kansas state legislature, and Kansan William Peffer became the party's first U.S. Senator. Peffer, saw little evidence of populism in their states and often treated the party as a joke. However, populists in the south and west quickly gained support. In 1892 the national party was officially founded through the merger of the Knights of Labor and the Farmers' Alliance. The Panic of 1893 led to the most severe depression the nation had ever experienced. In March 1893, when a company was unable to meet payments on loans, it declared bankruptcy. After a few more months, another company also went bankrupt. This triggered a stock market crash. Soon a wave of bank failures began. This caused a credit crunch, meaning many of the new, aggressive and ... middle of paper ...... or Bryans 176 and received 51.1% of the popular vote versus Bryans 47.7. Bryan carried areas of the South and West where miners or struggling basic farmers predominated. The democratic program, like that of the populists, had been too narrow to win national elections. For the populists, the elections were a disaster: they had bet everything on the "fusion" with the Democratic Party and lost. A few months after the elections, the People's Party began to dissolve. American farmers would never again unite to demand economic reform. The 1896 elections were overall not good and were a complete waste of time for the Populists. With the end of the Democratic Party they lost all momentum. After the onset of the depression, everything for the populists began to get worse. Their last strength and ingenuity were invested in the elections with the opposite effect.