No Spanish-American War, which means:
-America stays isolationist
-wounds from Civil War last longer.
Bryan will probably be defeated in 1900, because I think his economic policies would fail and he would be labeled a wimp by the Republicans for letting the Spaniards get away with murder.
Teddy Roosevelt doesn't get to touch the White House. He won't get a popularity boost from San Juan Hill and the Republicans will not want to take a chance with a Progressive-minded person. A standard 19th-century style Republican becomes president.
Bryan strongly supported the Spanish-American War in 1898. According to historian William Leuchtenburg, "few political figures exceeded the enthusiasm of William Jennings Bryan for the Spanish war."[19] Bryan argued that "universal peace cannot come until justice is enthroned throughout the world. Until the right has triumphed in every land and love reigns in every heart, government must, as a last resort, appeal to force." He volunteered for duty and became colonel of a Nebraska militia regiment. He contracted typhoid fever in Florida and stayed there to recuperate, never seeing combat. After the war, Bryan opposed the annexation of the Philippines (though he did support the Treaty of Paris that ended the war). Bryan gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention in 1900 called "The Paralyzing Influence of Imperialism." In this speech he discusses his views against the annexation of the Philippines, questioning the United States's right to overpower people of another country just for a military base. He mentions, at the beginning of the speech, that the United States should not try to emulate the imperialism of Great Britain and other European countries.
Actually WJB supported the Spanish-American War: To Quote Wikipedia:
He viewed Spain as the Imperialists and America as the Saviors. So he might be more Pro-active in prosecuting the war, as opposed to McKinley letting people drag him into it. He also would try to get the territories to be freed, with some very good bonuses to the US for saving them (Throwing a bone to the American Imperialists).
I'm not sure about how Free Silver would work, but all I know is Farmers will be happy, and Urban Areas man as hell.
Teddy Roosevelt didn't need the SAW to get him places, it helped, but a man like TR would carve out a place for himself in history, as he was already famous for his biography on the The Naval War of 1812 . He would have a different life, but I think he would still be important in his own right.
I stand corrected.
But he was very anti-imperialist. I don't think he would get the Philippines, Puerto Rico, or Guam. That changes a lot.
He would also continue Cleveland's policy of staying out of Hawaii.
I stand corrected.
But he was very anti-imperialist. I don't think he would get the Philippines, Puerto Rico, or Guam.
Bryan supported independence of Philiphines so maybe it gained its independence much earlier. And I think that Cuba might gain real independence, not vassal state and Puerto Rico stays as part of Spain. They wanted stay under government of Spain.
How exactly would Free Silver, if it was successfully implemented, effect the US economy?
Free Silver would effectively be a 25% devaluation of the dollar. The usual effects of devaluation apply: wealth transfer from creditors to debtors, imports become more expensive, export industries boom, prices go up (wages, too, but usually less than prices at least in the short term), short-term unemployment goes down (because real wages are inflated downwards), and foreign investment dries up (hurting the economy in the medium term).
The 1967 British devaluation also seems to have massively improved the balance of payments, the US would export more