CLEP US History II

Answer: D - In 1896, presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan addressed the Democratic National Convention with an oratory that came to be known as the “Cross of Gold” speech. America and the other developed nations of the world spent the last two decades of the 19th century engaged in a debate over the standard for currency. The value of paper money was dictated by gold, but many political leaders were advocating bimetallism, a standard by which the value of currency would be dictated by gold and silver. Bryan was an ardent bimetallist, and his speech was a rousing call to arms for those who were like-minded. It earned its name from his final line: “You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”