CLEP US History II

Answer: C - At the end of the 19th century, Democrats and Republicans were divided by the issue of bimetallism, a currency system in which the value of the dollar would have been based on a certain amount of gold or a certain amount of silver, instead of being backed only by gold. Republicans generally favored the gold standard, which advocated backing currency with gold alone (as the nation always had). A faction of bimetallism-supporting Republicans defected their party in 1896 to vote for bimetallism advocate and Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, who made the memorable “Cross of Gold” speech at his party’s nominating convention that year. Ultimately, the movement failed, and the United States remained (and still does) on the gold standard.