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Cross of Gold speech

The Cross of Gold speech was delivered by William Jennings Bryan, a former United States Representative from Nebraska, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on July 9, 1896. In his address, Bryan supported "free silver" (i.e. bimetallism), which he believed would bring the nation prosperity. He decried the gold standard, concluding the speech, "you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold". Bryan's address helped catapult him to the Democratic Party's presidential nomination and is considered one of the greatest political speeches in American history.

For twenty years, Americans had been bitterly divided over the nation's monetary standard. The gold standard, which the United States had effectively been on since 1873, limited the money supply but eased trade with other nations, such as the United Kingdom, whose currency was also based on gold. Many Americans, however, believed that bimetallism (making both gold and silver legal tender) was necessary for the nation's economic health. The financial Panic of 1893 intensified the debates, and when President Grover Cleveland (a Democrat) continued to support the gold standard against the will of much of his party, activists became determined to take over the Democratic Party organization and nominate a silver-supporting candidate in 1896.

Bryan had been a dark horse candidate with little support in the convention. His speech, delivered at the close of the debate on the party platform, electrified the convention and is generally credited with earning him the nomination for president. However, he lost the general election to William McKinley, and the United States formally adopted the gold standard in 1900.

Monetary standards and the United States
In January 1791, at the request of Congress, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton issued a report on the currency. At the time, there was no mint in the United States; foreign coins were used. Hamilton proposed a monetary system based on bimetallism, in which the new currency would be equal to a given amount of gold, or a larger amount of silver; at the time a given weight of gold was worth about 15 times as much as the same amount of silver. Although Hamilton understood that adjustment might be needed from time to time as precious metal prices fluctuated, he believed that if the nation's unit of value were defined only by one of the two precious metals used for coins, the other would descend to the status of mere merchandise, unusable as a store of value. He also proposed the establishment of a mint, at which citizens could present gold or silver, and receive it back, struck into money. On April 2, 1792, Congress passed the Mint Act of 1792. This legislation defined a unit of value for the new nation, to be known as a dollar. The new unit of currency was defined to be equal to 24.75 gr of gold, or alternatively, 371.25 gr of silver, establishing a ratio of value between gold and silver of 15:1. The legislation also established the Mint of the United States.

In the early 19th century, the economic disruption caused by the Napoleonic Wars caused United States gold coins to be worth more as bullion than as money, and they vanished from circulation. Governmental response to this shortage was hampered by the fact that officials did not clearly understand what had happened. In 1830, Treasury Secretary Samuel D. Ingham proposed adjusting the ratio between gold and silver in US currency to 15.8:1, which had for some time been the ratio in Europe. It was not until 1834 that Congress acted, changing the gold/silver ratio to 16.002:1. This was close enough to the market value to make it uneconomic to export either US gold or silver coins. When silver prices rose relative to gold as a reaction to the California Gold Rush, silver coinage was worth more than face value, and rapidly flowed overseas for melting. Despite vocal opposition led by Tennessee Representative (and future president) Andrew Johnson, the precious metal content of smaller silver coins was reduced in 1853. Silver was now undervalued at the Mint; accordingly little was presented for striking into money.

The Coinage Act of 1873 eliminated the standard silver dollar. It also repealed the statutory provisions allowing silver bullion to be presented to the Mint and returned in the form of circulating money. In passing the Coinage Act, Congress eliminated bimetallism. During the economic chaos of the Panic of 1873, the price of silver dropped significantly, but the Mint would accept none for striking into legal tender. Silver producers complained, and many Americans came to believe that only through bimetallism could the nation achieve and maintain prosperity. They called for the return to pre-1873 laws, which would require the Mint to take all the silver offered it and return it, struck into silver dollars. This would inflate the money supply, and, adherents argued, increase the nation's prosperity. Critics contended that the inflation which would follow the introduction of such a policy would harm workers, whose wages would not rise as fast as prices would, and the operation of Gresham's law would drive gold from circulation, effectively placing the United States on a silver standard.

Early attempts toward free silver

To advocates of what became known as free silver, the 1873 act became known as the "Crime of '73". Pro-silver forces, with congressional leaders such as Missouri Representative Richard P. Bland, sought the passage of bills to allow depositors of silver bullion to receive it back in the form of coin. Such bills, sponsored by Bland, passed the House of Representatives in 1876 and 1877, but both times failed in the Senate. A third attempt in early 1878 again passed the House, and eventually both houses after being amended in the Senate. The bill, as modified by amendments sponsored by Iowa Senator William B. Allison, did not reverse the 1873 provisions, but required the Treasury to purchase a minimum of $2 million of silver bullion per month; the profit, or seignorage from monetizing the silver was to be used to purchase more silver bullion. The silver would be struck into dollar coins to be circulated, or else stored and used as backing for silver certificates. The Bland–Allison Act was vetoed by President Rutherford B. Hayes, but was enacted by Congress over his veto on February 28, 1878.

Implementation of the Bland–Allison Act did not end calls for free silver. The 1880s saw a steep decline in the prices of grain and other agricultural commodities. Silver advocates argued that this dropoff, which caused the price of grain to fall below its cost of production, was caused by the failure of the government to adequately increase the money supply, which had remained steady on a per capita basis. Advocates of the gold standard attributed the decline to advances in production and transportation. The late 19th century saw divergent views in economics as the laissez-faire orthodoxy was questioned by younger economists, and both sides found ample support for their views from theorists.

In 1890, the Sherman Silver Purchase Act greatly increased government purchases of silver. The government pledged to stand behind the silver dollars and treasury notes issued under the act by redeeming them in gold. Pursuant to this promise, government gold reserves dwindled over the following three years. Although the economic Panic of 1893 had a number of causes, President Grover Cleveland believed the inflation caused by Sherman's act to be a major factor, and called a special session of Congress to repeal it. Congress did so, but the debates showed bitter divides in both major parties between silver and gold factions. Cleveland tried to replenish the Treasury through issuance of bonds which could only be purchased with gold, with little effect but to increase the public debt, as the gold continued to be withdrawn in redemption for paper and silver currency. Many in the public saw the bonds as benefiting bankers, not the nation. The bankers did not want loans repaid in an inflated currency—the gold standard was deflationary, and as creditors, they preferred to be paid in such a currency, whereas debtors preferred to repay in inflated currency.

The effects of the depression which began in 1893, and which continued through 1896, ruined many Americans. Contemporary estimates were an unemployment rate as high as 25%. The task of relieving the jobless fell to churches and other charities, as well as to labor unions. Farmers went bankrupt; their farms were sold to pay their debts. Some of the impoverished died of disease or starvation; others killed themselves.

Bryan seeks the nomination
Among those who spoke against the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act was Nebraska Representative William Jennings Bryan. Known as an orator even then ("the Boy Orator of the Platte"), Bryan had not always favored free silver out of conviction, stating in 1892 that he was for it because the people of Nebraska were for it. By 1893, his views on silver had evolved, and on the floor of the House of Representatives, he delivered a riveting three-hour address against repeal of the Silver Purchase Act. In his conclusion, Bryan reached back in history:

"When a crisis like the present arose and the national bank of his day sought to control the politics of the nation, God raised up an Andrew Jackson, who had the courage to grapple with that great enemy, and by overthrowing it, he made himself the idol of the people and reinstated the Democratic party in public confidence. What will the decision be today? The Democratic party has won the greatest success in its history. Standing upon this victory-crowned summit, will it turn its face to the rising or the setting sun? Will it choose blessings or cursings—life or death—which? Which?"

Despite the repeal of the act, economic conditions failed to improve. The year 1894 saw considerable labor unrest. President Cleveland sent federal troops to Illinois to end the Pullman Strike—workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company, which made railroad cars, had struck after wages were cut. Railway employees had refused to handle Pullman cars in sympathy with the strikers; this action threatened to paralyze the nation's rail lines. The President's move was opposed by the Democratic Governor of Illinois, John Altgeld. Angered by Cleveland's actions in the labor dispute, and by his uncompromising stand against silver, Altgeld began to organize Democrats against Cleveland's renomination in 1896. Although Altgeld and his adherents urged voters to distinguish between Cleveland and his party, the Democrats lost 113 seats in the House in the 1894 midterm elections, the greatest loss by a majority party in congressional history. The Republicans gained control of the House, as well as the Senate, which until 1913 was elected by the state legislatures rather than by the popular vote. Among those defeated for Senate was Bryan in Nebraska.

Bryan had long planned to run for president. Although he would only be 36 years old in 1896—one year above the constitutional minimum—he believed the silver question could carry him not only to the nomination, but to the presidency. He traveled widely, speaking to audiences across the nation. His speeches impressed many; even some of his opponents later conceded that Bryan was the most compelling speaker they had ever heard. Bryan's speeches evolved over time; in December 1894, in a speech in Congress, he first used a phrase from which would come the conclusion to his most famous address: as originally stated, it was "I will not help to crucify mankind upon a cross of gold."

A myth has arisen that Bryan was an unknown prior to 1896. This was not the case; Bryan was well known as an orator on the tariff and silver questions. Albert Shaw, editor of The Review of Reviews, stated that after Bryan's nomination, many easterners professed not to have heard of him but: "If, indeed, they had not heard of Mr. Bryan before, they had failed to follow closely the course of American politics in the past eight years. As a Democratic member of the Ways and Means Committee through two Congresses, Mr. Bryan was by all odds the ablest and strongest orator on the Democratic side of the House. His subsequent canvass [campaign] for the United States senatorship in Nebraska was noteworthy and conspicuous on many accounts."

In the aftermath of the 1894 election, the silver forces, led by Altgeld and others, began an attempt to take over the machinery of the Democratic Party. Historian Stanley Jones, in his study of the 1896 election, suggests that western Democrats would have opposed Cleveland even if the party had held its congressional majority in 1894; with the disastrous defeat, they believed the party would be wiped out in the West if it did not support silver. Bryan biographer Paulo E. Coletta wrote, "during this year [July 1894 – June 1895] of calamities, disintegration and revolution, each crisis aided Bryan because it caused division within his party and permitted him to contest for its mastery as it slipped from Cleveland's fingers."

In early 1896, with the economy still poor, there was widespread discontent with the two existing major political parties. Some people, for the most part Democrats, joined the far-left Populist Party. Many Republicans in the western states, dismayed by the strong allegiance of eastern Republicans to the gold standard, considered forming their own party. When the Republicans in June 1896 nominated former Ohio Governor William McKinley for president and passed at his request a platform strongly supporting "sound money" (the gold standard unless modified by international agreement), a number of "Silver Republicans" walked out of the convention. The leader of those who left was Colorado Senator Henry M. Teller; he was immediately spoken of as a possible candidate for the Democratic nomination.

Bryan believed that he could, if nominated, unite the disaffected behind a strong silver campaign. However, part of his strategy was to remain inconspicuous until the last possible moment at the convention. He sent letters to national convention delegates, urging them to support silver, and enclosing copies of his photograph, writings, and speeches. Jones points out that though Bryan's speaking engagements were not deemed political by the standards of 1896, by modern measurements he was far more active in campaigning for the nomination than most of the better-known candidates.

Historian James A. Barnes, in his historical journal article pointing out myths that have arisen about Bryan's candidacy and campaign, stated that Bryan's efforts bore fruit even before the convention:

"By April, 1896, many individuals were quietly working for Bryan's nomination. Circulars were being distributed in Illinois, and admirers in Nebraska, North Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and other states were urging his selection among their friends. It was not in any concerted or open action, however, that Bryan had his strength; it was in the friendly predisposition of the mass of the delegates that he had hopes."

Selection of delegates
The 1896 Democratic National Convention followed events unique in post-Civil War American history. One after another, state conventions to elect delegates to the national convention in Chicago repudiated an incumbent elected president of their party, who had not declared whether he would be a candidate for renomination. According to Barnes:

"The people of the South and the West had for years been convinced of the enormity of the "crime of 1873", and they had long since come to regard silver as the sword that would cut the Gordian knot of privilege. Consciousness of grievances of years and not of months was reflected in the decisive action of the state Democratic conventions in the spring and early summer of 1896."

Many state conventions elected delegates pledged to support bimetallism in the party platform. Gold Democrats were successful in a few states in the Northeast, but had little luck elsewhere. Speakers in some states cursed Cleveland; the South Carolina convention denounced him. Cleveland issued a statement urging Democratic voters to support gold—the next convention to be held, in Illinois, unanimously supported silver; the keynote speaker prayed for divine forgiveness for Cleveland's 1892 nomination. Gold and silver factions in some states, such as Bryan's Nebraska, sent rival delegations to the convention.

1896 convention

The 1896 Democratic convention opened at the Chicago Coliseum on July 7, 1896. Much activity took place in advance of the formal opening as the silver and (vastly outnumbered) gold forces prepared their strategies. Silver forces were supported by the Democratic National Bimetallic Committee, the umbrella group formed in 1895 to support silver Democrats in their insurgency against Cleveland. Gold Democrats looked to the President for leadership, but Cleveland, trusting few in his party, did not involve himself further in the gold efforts, but spent the week of the convention fishing off the New Jersey coast.

The Bimetallic Committee carefully planned to take control of every aspect of the convention, eliminating any threat that the minority gold faction could take power. It made no secret of these preparations. This takeover was considered far more important than was the choice of presidential candidate, and the committee decided to take no position on who should win the race for the nomination, reasoning that the victor, no matter who he was, would be a silver man. Well aware of the overwhelming forces against them, many gold delegates were inclined to concede the platform battle.

Bryan arrived quietly and took rooms at a modest hotel; the Nebraskan later calculated that he spent less than $100 while in Chicago. He arrived convinced that he would win the nomination. He had already begun work on a speech. On the evening of July 5, Bryan was visited by a delegation of Coloradans, seeking his support for Senator Teller. They went away apologetically, not having known Bryan sought the nomination.

Candidates for the nomination
Despite the desire of silver delegates to nominate a candidate who shared their beliefs, and although several states instructed their delegates to vote for a specific candidate, there was no overwhelming favorite for the nomination going into the convention. With a two-thirds vote of the delegates needed to nominate, almost every silver delegate would have to vote for the same candidate to assure success, though any organized support from gold delegates would greatly damage a silver candidate's chances.

The only gold man who put together any sort of campaign for the Democratic nomination was Treasury Secretary John G. Carlisle, but he withdrew in April, stating that he was more concerned about the platform of the party than who would lead it. However, as late as June, the gold forces, which still controlled the Democratic National Committee (DNC), continued to believe that the nominee could be pro-gold. Cleveland friend and former Postmaster General Donald M. Dickinson wrote to the President in June 1896 hoping that the delegates would recognize "common sense" and be frightened at the thought of nominating a radical.

One of the leaders of the silver movement was Illinois Governor Altgeld; a native of Germany, he was constitutionally barred from the presidency by his foreign birth. Going into the convention, the two leading candidates for the nomination were former Congressman Bland, who had originated the Bland-Allison Act, and former Iowa Governor Horace Boies, with Bland considered the frontrunner. These were the only two candidates to put together organizations to try to secure delegate votes, though both efforts were cash-starved. Both men had electoral problems: Bland at age 61 was seen by some as a man whose time had passed; Boies was a former Republican who had once decried bimetallism. There were a large number of potential candidates seen as having less support; these included Vice President Adlai Stevenson of Illinois, Senator Joseph C. Blackburn of Kentucky, Senator Teller, and Bryan.

Silver advocates take control
Although Bryan had decided on a strategy to gain the nomination—to give a speech which would make him the logical candidate in the eyes of delegates—he faced obstacles along the way. For one thing, he began the 1896 convention without any official status—the Democratic National Committee, which made the initial determination of which delegations would be seated, had chosen the pro-gold Nebraskans to represent their state. Bryan had been waiting outside the committee room when his rivals were seated by a 27–23 vote; contemporary accounts state he was "somewhat surprised" at the result. The DNC's action could be reversed, but not until the convention's credentials committee reported. However, Barnes deemed the actions by the committee immaterial to the outcome due to the silver strength in the convention:

"Anyone who doubts the power the silverites were ready to unleash in a disciplined and irresistible attack needs only to read the results of the election of temporary chairman. The gold men, though they possessed the machinery of the party, had neither the power nor the strength to challenge their opponents. They could only beg them to spare the party the humiliation of broken traditions and the overthrowing of established control. Nevertheless, Senator John W. Daniel of Virginia was by an overwhelming vote elected temporary chairman, and a Committee on Credentials was appointed that seated Bryan and his contesting Nebraska delegation."

Good luck favored Bryan—he was considered for various convention roles by the silverites, but each time was not selected. The temporary chairmanship, for example, would have permitted him to deliver the keynote address. However, Bryan, lacking a seat at the start of the convention, could not be elected temporary chairman. Bryan considered this no loss at all; the focus of the convention was on the party platform and the debate which would precede its adoption. The platform would symbolize the repudiation of Cleveland and his policies after the insurgents' long struggle, and Bryan was determined to close the debate on the platform. Bryan, once seated, was Nebraska's representative to the Committee on Resolutions (generally called the "platform committee"), which allocated 80 minutes to each side in the debate and selected Bryan as one of the speakers. South Carolina Senator Benjamin Tillman was to be the other pro-silver speaker, and originally wished to close the debate. However, the senator wanted 50 minutes to speak, too long for a closing address, and at Bryan's request agreed to open the debate instead. Accordingly, Bryan became the final speaker on the platform.

Delegates, as they waited for the committees to complete their work, spent much of the first two days listening to various orators. Of these, only Senator Blackburn, a silver supporter, sparked much reaction, and that only momentary. Delegates called for better-known speakers, such as Altgeld or Bryan, but were granted neither then; the Illinois governor declined, and the Nebraskan, once seated, spent much of his time away from the convention floor at the platform committee meeting at the Palmer House.

The debate on the platform opened at the start of the third day of the convention, July 9, 1896. The session was supposed to begin at 10:00 a.m., but as delegates, slowed by the long commute from the hotels to the Coliseum and fatigue from the first two days, did not arrive on time, proceedings did not begin until 10:45. Nevertheless, large crowds gathered outside the public entrances; the galleries were quickly packed. Once the convention came to order, Arkansas Senator James K. Jones, chair of the Committee on Resolutions, read the proposed platform to cheers by many delegates; the reading of the pro-gold minority report attracted less applause.

"Pitchfork Ben" Tillman lived up to his nickname with an incendiary address which began with a reference to his home state's role in beginning the Civil War. Although Tillman endorsed silver, his address was so laced with sectionalism that most silver delegates remained silent for fear of being seen as supporting him. Tillman's speech, scheduled to be the only one in support of silver except Bryan's, was so badly received that Senator Jones, who had not planned to speak, gave a brief address asserting that silver was a national issue.

Senator David B. Hill of New York, a gold supporter, was next. As Hill moved to the podium, a reporter friend passed Bryan a note urging him to make a patriotic speech without hint of sectionalism; Bryan responded, "You will not be disappointed." Hill gave a calm speech defending the gold position, and swayed few delegates. He was followed by two other gold men, Senator William Vilas of Wisconsin and former Massachusetts Governor William E. Russell. Vilas gave a lengthy defense of the Cleveland administration's policies, so long that Russell, fearing that Vilas' speech would cut into his time, asked that the time given to the gold proponents be extended by ten minutes. Bryan consented, on condition that his own time was extended by the same amount; this was agreed to. "And I needed it for the speech I was to make." Bryan later wrote, "This was another unexpected bit of good fortune. I had never had such an opportunity before in my life and never expect to have again."

Vilas quickly lost his audience, which did not want to hear Cleveland defended. Russell's address was inaudible to most of the Coliseum; he was ill and died just over a week later. As the gold men spoke, Bryan ate a sandwich to settle his stomach; he was often nervous before major speeches. Another reporter approached him and asked him who he thought would win the nomination. "Strictly confidential, not to be quoted for publication: I will be."

Bryan addresses the convention
As Russell concluded, to strong applause from gold delegates, there was a buzz of anticipation as Bryan ascended to the podium. There was loud cheering as Bryan stood there, waiting for his audience to calm. Bryan's lecture tours had left him a well-known spokesman for silver. As yet, no one at the convention had effectively spoken for that cause, which was paramount to the delegates. According to political scientist Richard F. Bensel in his study of the 1896 Democratic convention, "Although the silver men knew they would win this fight, they nonetheless needed someone to tell them—and the gold men—why they must enshrine silver at the heart of the platform." Bensel noted, "The pump was more than primed, it was ready to explode." Bryan would say little that he had not said before—the text is similar to that of a speech he had given the previous week at Crete, Nebraska—but he would give the convention its voice.

Bryan began softly,

"I would be presumptuous, indeed, to present myself against the distinguished gentlemen to whom you have listened if this were a mere measuring of abilities; but this is not a contest between persons. The humblest citizen in all the land, when clad in the armor of a righteous cause, is stronger than all the hosts of error. I come to speak to you in defense of a cause as holy as the cause of liberty—the cause of humanity."

Bryan's opening claimed no personal prestige for himself—but nevertheless placed him as the spokesman for silver. According to Bensel, the self-deprecation helped disarm the delegates. As Bryan was not deemed a major contender for the nomination, even delegates committed to a candidate could cheer him without seeming to betray their allegiance. Bryan then recounted the history of the silver movement; the audience, which had loudly demonstrated its approval of his opening statements, quieted. Throughout the speech, Bryan had the delegates in the palm of his hand; they cheered on cue. The Nebraskan later described the audience as like a trained choir. As he concluded his historical recitation, he reminded the silver delegates that they had come to crown their victory, "not to discuss, not to debate, but to enter up the judgment already rendered by the plain people of this country".

Bryan continued with language evoking the Civil War, telling his audience that "in this contest brother has been arrayed against brother, father against son." By then, as he spoke in a sincere tone, his voice sounded clearly and loudly through the hall. He denied, however that the contest was personal; he bore no ill-will towards those who supported the gold standard. However, he stated, facing towards the gold delegates, "when you come before us and tell us that we are about to disturb your business interests, we reply that you have disturbed our business interests by your course." The gold men, during the address, paid close attention and showed their appreciation for Bryan's oratory. Bryan then defended the right of silver supporters to make their argument against opposition from gold men, who were associated with financial interests, especially in the East. Although his statements nominally responded to a point made by Russell, Bryan had thought of the argument the previous evening, and had not used it in earlier speeches. He always regarded it as the best point he made during the speech, and only the ending caused more reaction from his listeners:

"We say to you that you have made the definition of a business man too limited in its application. The man who is employed for wages is as much a business man as his employer; the attorney in a country town is as much a business man as the corporation counsel in a great metropolis; the merchant at the cross-roads store is as much a business man as the merchant of New York; the farmer who goes forth in the morning and toils all day, who begins in spring and toils all summer, and who by the application of brain and muscle to the natural resources of the country creates wealth, is as much a business man as the man who goes upon the Board of Trade and bets upon the price of grain; the miners who go down a thousand feet into the earth, or climb two thousand feet upon the cliffs, and bring forth from their hiding places the precious metals to be poured into the channels of trade are as much business men as the few financial magnates who, in a back room, corner the money of the world. We come to speak of this broader class of business men."

Through this passage, Bryan maintained the contrast between the common man and the city-dwelling elite. It was clear to listeners as he worked his way through the comparisons that he would refer to the farmer, and when he did, the hall exploded with sound. His sympathetic comparison contrasted the hardworking farmer with the city businessman, whom Bryan cast as a gambler. The galleries were filled with white as spectators waved handkerchiefs, and it was several minutes before he could continue. The police in the convention hall, not sharing the enthusiasm for silver, were described by the press (some of whose members were caught up in the frenzy) as standing as if they thought the audience was about to turn on them. When Bryan resumed, his comparison of miner with miser again electrified the audience; the uproar prevented him from continuing for several minutes. One farmer in the gallery had been about to leave rather than listen to Bryan, whom he deemed a Populist; he had been persuaded to stay. At Bryan's words, he threw his hat into the air, slapped the empty seat in front of him with his coat, and shouted, "My God! My God! My God!"

Bryan, having established the right of silver supporters to petition, explained why that petition was not to be denied:

"It is for these that we speak. We do not come as aggressors. Our war is not a war of conquest; we are fighting in the defense of our homes, our families, and posterity. We have petitioned, and our petitions have been scorned; we have entreated, and our entreaties have been disregarded; we have begged, and they have mocked when our calamity came. We beg no longer; we entreat no more; we petition no more. We defy them!"

With this call to action, Bryan abandoned any hint at compromise, and adopted the techniques of the radical, polarizing orator, finding no common ground between silver and gold forces. He then defended the remainder of the platform, though only speaking in general terms. He mocked McKinley, said by some to resemble Napoleon, noting that he was nominated on the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. The lengthy passage as he discussed the platform and the Republicans helped calm the audience, ensuring he would be heard as he reached his peroration. But Bryan first wished to tie the silver question to a greater cause:

"Upon which side will the Democratic Party fight; upon the side of "the idle holders of idle capital" or upon the side of "the struggling masses"? That is the question which the party must answer first, and then it must be answered by each individual hereafter. The sympathies of the Democratic Party, as shown by the platform, are on the side of the struggling masses, who have ever been the foundation of the Democratic Party."

He faced in the direction of the gold-dominated state delegations:

"There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that, if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea, however, has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests upon them. You come to us and tell us that the great cities are in favor of the gold standard; we reply that the great cities rest upon our broad and fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country."

This statement attracted great cheering, and Bryan turned to rhetorically demolish the compromise position on bimetallism—that it should only be accomplished through international agreement:

"It is the issue of 1776 over again. Our ancestors, when but three millions in number, had the courage to declare their political independence of every other nation; shall we, their descendants, when we have grown to seventy millions, declare that we are less independent than our forefathers? No, my friends, that will never be the verdict of our people. Therefore, we care not upon what lines the battle is fought. If they say bimetallism is good, but that we cannot have it until other nations help us, we reply that, instead of having a gold standard because England has, we will restore bimetallism, and then let England have bimetallism because the United States has it. If they dare to come out in the open field and defend the gold standard as a good thing, we will fight them to the uttermost."

Now, Bryan was ready to conclude the speech, and according to his biographer, Michael Kazin, step "into the headlines of American history".

"Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests, and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: "You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.""

As Bryan spoke his final sentence, recalling the Crucifixion of Jesus, he placed his hands to his temples, fingers extended; with the final words, he extended his arms to his sides straight out to his body and held that pose for about five seconds as if offering himself as sacrifice for the cause, as the audience watched in dead silence. He then lowered them, descended from the podium, and began to head back to his seat as the stillness held.

Convention events
Bryan later described the silence as "really painful" and momentarily thought he had failed. As he moved towards his seat, the Coliseum burst into pandemonium. Delegates threw hats, coats, and handkerchiefs into the air. Others took up the standards with the state names on them with each delegation, and planted them by Nebraska's. Two alert police officers had joined Bryan as he left the podium, anticipating the crush. The policemen were swept away by the flood of delegates, who raised Bryan to their shoulders and carried him around the floor. The Washington Post newspaper recorded, "bedlam broke loose, delirium reigned supreme."

It took about 25 minutes to restore order, and according to Bensel, "somewhere in the mass demonstration that was convulsing the convention hall, the transfer of sentiment from silver as a policy to Bryan as a presidential candidate took place". Newspaper accounts of the convention leave little doubt but that, had a vote been taken at that moment (as many were shouting to do), Bryan would have been nominated. Bryan was urged by Senator Jones to allow it, but refused, stating that if his boom would not last overnight, it would never last until November. He soon retired from the convention, returning to his hotel to await the outcome. The convention passed the platform in Bryan's absence and recessed.

The balloting began the following morning, July 10, with a two-thirds vote necessary to nominate. Bryan, who remained at his hotel, sent word to the Nebraska delegation to make no deals on his behalf. He stood second out of fourteen candidates in the first ballot, behind Bland. On the second ballot, Bryan still stood second, but had gained as other candidates had fallen away. The third ballot saw Bland still in the lead, but Bryan took the lead on the fourth ballot. According to Jones, it was clear that Bland could not win, and that Bryan could not be stopped. On the fifth ballot, the Illinois delegation, led by Governor Altgeld, switched its votes from Bland to Bryan. Other delegations, seeing that Bryan would be nominated, also switched, securing the victory. Nevertheless, he won the nomination without the votes of the gold delegates, most of whom either left the convention or refused to vote.

Press reaction

Most contemporary press accounts attributed Bryan's nomination to his eloquence, though in the case of Republican and other gold-favoring newspapers, they considered it his demagoguery. The pro-silver Cleveland Plain Dealer called Bryan's speech "an eloquent, stirring, and manly appeal". The Chicago Tribune reported that Bryan had lit the spark "which touched off the trail of gun-powder". The St. Louis Post-Dispatch opined that with the speech, Bryan "just about immortalized himself".

According to the New York World, "Lunacy having dictated the platform, it was perhaps natural that hysteria should evolve the candidate." The New York Times disparaged Bryan as "the gifted blatherskite from Nebraska". The only paper to predict, after Bryan gave his speech, that he would not be nominated was The Wall Street Journal, which stated, "Bryan has had his day". The Akron Journal and Republican, no friend to Bryan, opined that "never probably has a national convention been swayed or influenced by a single speech as was the national Democratic convention".

Anti-Semitism controversy
Biographer Paolo E. Coletta wrote that after the speech, an anti-Semitic chant was heard from some of the delegates: "Down with the hooked-nosed Shylocks of Wall Street! Down with the Christ-killing gold bugs!" This quote, noted by many later commentators, is traced to a profile of famous German anti-Semite Hermann Ahlwardt (who had endorsed Bryan) in The Sun. Author James Ledbetter notes various circumstances that suggest this quote may be fiction or parody, and points out the level of anti-Semitic sentiment in the Populist movement is disputed by historians. The newspaper supported McKinley and the gold standard, the story was published anonymously two months after the speech, and it is unclear the author of the piece attended the speech. The quote was mentioned offhandedly and not reported in news accounts from the time of the convention.

Campaign and aftermath
The Pullman Company offered Bryan a private car for his trip home; he declined, not wishing to accept corporate favors. As he traveled by rail to Lincoln, he saw farmers and others standing by the tracks, hoping for a glimpse of the new Democratic nominee. He received many letters from supporters, expressing their faith in him in stark terms. One Indiana voter wrote, "God has sent you amongst our people to save the poor from starvation, and we no [sic] you will save us." A farmer in Iowa, in a letter to Bryan, stated, "You are the first big man that i [sic] ever wrote to."

When McKinley heard that Bryan was likely to be the nominee, he called the report "rot" and hung up the phone. The Republican nominee was slow to realize the surge of support for Bryan after the nomination, stating his view that the silver sentiment would be gone in a month. When McKinley and his advisers, such as industrialist and future senator Mark Hanna, realized that the views were more than transitory, they began intensive fundraising from corporations and the wealthy. The money went for speakers, pamphlets, and other means of conveying their "sound money" campaign to the voter. With far less money than McKinley, Bryan embarked on a nationwide campaign tour by train on a then-unprecedented scale. McKinley on the other hand, opted for a front porch campaign. Both men spoke to hundreds of thousands of people from their chosen venues.

Bryan's nomination divided the party. The dissidents nominated their own ticket; the split in the vote would contribute to Bryan's defeat. However, Bryan did gain the support of the Populists, as well as a convention of Silver Republicans. Bryan spoke on silver throughout the campaign; he rarely addressed other issues. Bryan won the South and most of the West, but McKinley's victories in the more populous Northeast and Midwest carried him to the presidency. The Democratic candidate failed to gain a majority of the labor vote; McKinley won in working-class areas as well as wealthy precincts. Although McKinley outpolled him by 600,000 votes, Bryan received more votes than any previous presidential candidate.

After McKinley's inauguration in March 1897, increases in gold availability from new discoveries and improved refining methods led to a considerable increase in the money supply. Even so, in 1900, Congress passed the Gold Standard Act, formally placing the United States on that standard. Although Bryan ran again on a silver platform in the 1900 presidential election, the issue failed to produce the same resonance with the voters. McKinley won more easily than in 1896, making inroads in the silver West.

Legacy

Bryan's speech is considered one of the most powerful political addresses in American history. Stanley Jones, however, suggested that even if Bryan had never delivered it, he would still have been nominated. Jones deemed the Democrats likely to nominate a candidate who would appeal to the Populist Party, and Bryan had been elected to Congress with Populist support. According to rhetorical historian William Harpine in his study of the rhetoric of the 1896 campaign, "Bryan's speech cast a net for the true believers, but only for the true believers." Harpine suggested that, "by appealing in such an uncompromising way to the agrarian elements and to the West, Bryan neglected the national audience who would vote in the November election". Bryan's emphasis on agrarian issues, both in his speech and in his candidacy, may have helped cement voting patterns which kept the Democrats largely out of power until the 1930s.

Writer Edgar Lee Masters called the speech, "the beginning of a changed America." Bryan's words gave rise to later economic and political philosophies, including Huey Long's 1930s Share Our Wealth program, with its trigger phrase, "Every Man a King" inspired by Bryan's speech. Author and political commentator William Safire, in his political dictionary, traced the term "trickle-down economics" (common in the Reagan era) to Bryan's statement that some believe that government should legislate for the wealthy, and allow prosperity to "leak through" on those below. Historian R. Hal Williams suggested that the opposite philosophy, of legislation for the masses leading to prosperity for all, advocated by Bryan in his speech, informed the domestic policies of later Democratic presidents, including Franklin Roosevelt with his New Deal.

Bensel ties the delegates' response to Bryan's address to their uncertainty in their own beliefs:

"In a very real sense, adoption of the silver plank in the platform was akin to a millennial expectation that the "laws of economics" would henceforth be suspended and that the silver men could simply "will" that silver and gold would, in fact, trade on financial markets at a ratio of sixteen to one. The silver men were thus in the hunt for a charismatic leader who would underpin what they already desperately wanted to believe. They manufactured that leader in the convention, a fabrication in which Bryan was only too happy to assist."

title: Cross of Gold speech


text:
Talk:Texas Revolution

Slavery as a cause of the Texas Revolution
Many academic sources identify the desire of Anglo Texans to preserve slavery in Texas after Mexico abolished it in 1829-30 as an important cause of secession. With Juneteenth being made a federal holiday such issues are perhaps particularly pertinent. Some examples of academic commentary on the importance of maintaining slavery to the Revolution:

"Ironically, a Revolution fought to secure slavery from Mexican interference provided far more opportunities for slave resistance than had ever existed under Mexican rule."

"In 1835-1836, the simmering tensions between Anglo settlers and the Mexican government boiled over. A number of issues, not the least of which was slavery, lay behind the rift."

"Texas slaveholders thus found the institution troublesome and unsettling, but, at the same time, it benefited them to the extent that they would attempt a revolution to keep it."

A recent book has a thoughtful discussion of the historiography of the Texas Revolution and takes this multi-causal explanation: Adopting a wider perspective, indeed, reveals how a complex tangle of cotton, slavery, and Mexican federalism—rather than any single factor—produced the fights that eventually led to the Texas Revolution.

From an entire article written on the subject: From the Anglo Texan perspective the constitutional changes of [1830] once again threatened liberty and interrupted economic progress, their version of which included a system of slave labor. Texans took up arms in 1835 against a regime that apparently intended to undermine their political ideals, their emerging prosperity, and their understanding of social and racial peace. Clearly the challenge to slavery contributed to the Texas decision to resist the new order in Mexico.

There are many more relevant but this is just what I've had time to research so far. With this in mind, I've added the following sentence to the header:

Frankly, I think the role of slavery in the Revolution should have much greater prominence on this page, but obviously careful research is needed. Thoughts and comments welcome! Noteduck (talk) 06:15, 23 June 2021 (UTC)

 * While I appreciate you trying to make slavery an important issue of the Texas Revolution, it is just not true. The problems with Texians fighting the Mexican government had lasted for many years and had more to do with corruption and taxes than anything else. There were very few slaves in Texas at the time - most Texians were poor farmers. I am a member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and have done extensive history on the state. You cannot make the claim that slavery was an important issue just by citing a few quotes out of some book. You must look at the bigger picture and true history. Slavery in Texas was just not that big of an issue in 1836. At all. Tammywarren (talk) 19:29, 8 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Can you cite your sources that slavery was not a major issue? Because there's scientific research to back up the position that the Texas Revolution was about slavery - but what about your point? Where is your evidence? You need to cite scientific literature. Sreyes88 (talk) 00:10, 20 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Revisionist history at best. 209.169.75.90 (talk) 22:52, 15 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Where are your scientific research sources? 146.85.131.114 (talk) 03:39, 22 June 2024 (UTC)

Title
So this un/quasigrammatical construction really is the most common way for people to talk about the Tex(an|ian) Rebellion/Revolution/War of Independence? Fair enough I guess, but any ideas on how that got started? No one calls it the America Civil War or the United States War of Independence. Was there some book or source that got this started? Confusion over whether to use Texian or Texan? or just poor local education into the Reconstruction Era? — Llywelyn II   04:52, 27 October 2022 (UTC)

 * Llywelyn, the big difference is that the United States were colonies of England, but were not given the same rights as citizens in the mother country. A lot of it was the economic policies imposed by England. They got fed up with policies from England and rebelled. The American Civil War was an internal disagreement, our slave holding states rebelling against the federal government's policies regarding slavery. Also, the term was originally "Texian", but eventally became known as "Texan". How and where it's used in the article might depend on sourcing, time period, or any number of factors. Both are correct.  — Maile  (talk) 21:32, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

"rights of its citizens had become increasingly curtailed, particularly regarding immigration"
Currently makes the unsourced claim that "rights of its citizens had become increasingly curtailed, particularly regarding immigration"

This makes no sense, as the immigrants were not citizens. Especially the ones who arrived after the immigration ban of 1830.

Besides the immigrants, who were not citizens at all, exactly what rights was the government of Mexico taking away? Prominently the "right" to deprive black people of their rights.

The vast majority of the people "revolting" were in fact "foreign invaders" who had no rights to be in the nation at all.

It's really ironic for Texans to be so upset with Santa Anna for trying to close his borders. Apparently, trying to close the borders and liberate the slaves are moves of a tyrannical dictator. GalantFan (talk) 04:00, 21 November 2022 (UTC)

 * Not really. Please see General Colonization Law, Robertson's Colony and Mexican Colonization Laws. Those are just some links for starters.  Mexico initiated the colonizations, in order to populate large parts of its domain. The revolution had a lot to do with slavery, which was illegal under Mexico's constitution, but Mexico's policies were otherwise created to encourage colonization. — Maile  (talk) 21:12, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Santa Anna became a dictator and the main reason the Texans rebelled against him was that he tore up the 1824 constitution. Mexico had invited Americans into Texas to populate it and defend it against Commanche raids, promising them certain rights. In exchange, the Americans pledged their loyalty to Mexico. This is why that Alamo Flag that they flew is basically just the Mexican flag with 1824 in the middle, in reference to the 1824 constitution that they were fighting over. Texas also wasnt the only area to rebel against Santa Anna as other states declared their independence too.Friedbyrd (talk) 13:19, 24 May 2023 (UTC)

Support
Should we have add that Texas was supported by the United States? They provided lots of support to Texas and annexed them after 10 years. LuxembourgLover (talk) 21:00, 6 September 2023 (UTC)

 * If by this, you mean an addition to the infobox, use of "supported by" in the infobox is deprecated. Cinderella157 (talk) 22:40, 6 September 2023 (UTC)

Disputed territory
To be precise, none of the Texas Republic was recognized by Mexico. The "disputed territory" should be understood to include all territory claimed by Texas, up to the U. S. border. The Nueces may have been the border of the Mexican state, but at this time it was not a de facto institution. The map shows only Mexican settlement in the Texan claim, without showing population densities or military forces, which would be useful to know how firm a grip Mexico had to this territory.. 104.219.46.242 (talk) 23:37, 27 December 2023 (UTC)

Edit request
Change “Texian” tó Texan. It is the correct demonyn. 136.33.60.55 (talk) 00:43, 25 March 2024 (UTC)

 * Oh that’s me, was logged out randomly if you want tó leave a message on my talk page. Blackmamba31248 (talk) 00:46, 25 March 2024 (UTC)
 * The correct demonym for that period was Texian. Sam Kuru (talk) 00:52, 25 March 2024 (UTC)
 * I undertsand Blackmamba31248 (talk) 00:54, 25 March 2024 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:Texas Revolution


text:
1027

Year 1027 (MXXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Europe

 * March 26 – Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II ("the Elder") and his wife Gisela of Swabia as Holy Roman Emperor and Empress, respectively, in Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Cnut the Great, King of Denmark and England, attends the coronation, proving his position as sole ruler of the Danish North Sea Empire.
 * May 14 – King Robert II of France ("the Pious") sues for peace with his sons. Henry I is crowned co-king of France at Reims Cathedral, but has little power to rule (until 1031).
 * August 6 – Robert the Magnificent becomes duke of Normandy after the death of his brother Richard III.
 * Duke Sergius IV of Naples donates the County of Aversa to a band of Norman mercenaries led by Rainulf Drengot, who support him in the war with Capua.
 * King Sigtrygg Silkbeard of Dublin and sub-King Flannacán of Brega make a pilgrimage to Rome.
 * Ealdred is appointed abbot of Tavistock Abbey in England (approximate date).

Asia

 * August 16 – Bagrat IV becomes king of Georgia on the death of his father, George I. Queen Dowager Mariam becomes regent for her 9-year-old son.
 * Wedding of Crown Prince Atsunaga of Japan and Imperial Princess Teishi.
 * This is the first year of the first rabjyung (60-year) cycle to start in the Tibetan calendar.

Science, technology and medicine

 * The Book of Healing (Arabic: کتاب الشفاء Kitab Al-Shifaʾ, Latin: Sufficientia), a comprehensive scientific and philosophical encyclopedia written by the Persian polymath Avicenna (Abū ʿAlī ibn Sīnā), is published.
 * Song dynasty Chinese engineer Yan Su reinvents the 3rd-century south-pointing chariot, a mechanical-driven compass vehicle (as recorded in the Song Shi).

Births

 * January 19 – Shōshi, Japanese empress consort (d. 1105)
 * Albert III, count of Namur (House of Namur) (approximate date)
 * Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad, Abbadid ruler of Seville (d. 1095)
 * Ernest the Brave, margrave of Austria (d. 1075)
 * Fayun Faxiu, Chinese Chan Buddhist monk (d. 1090)
 * Matilda of Franconia, German princess (d. 1034)
 * Sviatoslav II, Grand Prince of Kiev (d. 1077)
 * Ulrich I (or Udalrich), German bishop (d. 1121)

Deaths

 * January 3 – Fujiwara no Yukinari, Japanese calligrapher (b. 972)
 * August 6 – Richard III, duke of Normandy (House of Normandy)
 * August 16 – George I, king of Georgia (House of Bagrationi)
 * October 16 – Fujiwara no Kenshi, Japanese dowager empress (b. 994)
 * Abu'l-Qasim al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Maghribi, Arab statesman (b. 981)
 * Aurelia of Regensburg, daughter of Hugh Capet and saint
 * Dayang Jingxuan, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk (b. 943)
 * Dogra mac Dúnadach, king of Síol Anmchadha (Ireland)
 * Gadhra Mór mac Dundach, king of Uí Maine (Ireland)
 * Hippolytus, archbishop of Gniezno (approximate date)
 * Sulayman al-Ghazzi, Arab poet and bishop of Gaza (approximate date)
 * Walter of Speyer, German bishop and poet (b. 967)
 * Yazid II, Persian ruler (shah) of Shirvan (Azerbaijan)

title: 1027


text:
1029

Year 1029 (MXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Europe

 * Prince Pandulf IV of Capua becomes the de facto ruler of southern Italy – holding Capua and Naples himself – this in support with his powerful allies Amalfi, Salerno and Benevento. Only the Duchy of Gaeta remains out of his grasp.
 * Rainulf Drengot, head of a mercenary band of Norman knights, is approached by Duke John V of Gaeta and is persuaded to change sides. With Norman help, Duke Sergius IV recovers Naples from Capuan occupation.
 * Duke Bretislav I (Bohemian Achilles) of Bohemia of the Přemyslid Dynasty reconquers Moravia from Poland (approximate date).

Religion

 * The seat of the Bishopric of Zeitz is moved to Naumburg (Saxony-Anhalt) in Central Germany.

Births

 * January 20 – Alp Arslan (Heroic Lion), sultan of the Seljuk Empire (d. 1072)
 * July 5 – Al-Mustansir Billah, caliph of the Fatimid Caliphate (d. 1094)
 * Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī, Arab astrologer and astronomer (d. 1087)
 * Al-Humaydī, Andalusian scholar and writer of Islamic studies (d. 1095)
 * Clement III, antipope of the Catholic Church (approximate date)
 * Kaoruko (or Saien-no Kogo), Japanese empress consort (d. 1093)
 * Said al-Andalusi, Moorish astronomer and mathematician (d. 1070)
 * Ulrich of Zell (or Wulderic), German abbot and saint (d. 1093)

Deaths

 * January 20 – Heonae, Korean queen consort and regent (b. 964)
 * January 27 – Unwan (or Unwin), archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen
 * May 28 – Herman of Ename, count of Verdun (Lower Lorraine)
 * Abu'l-Qasim Jafar, Buyid statesman and vizier (Fasanjas family)
 * Al-Karaji, Persian mathematician and engineer (approximate date)
 * Fujiwara no Kinsue, Japanese statesman and courtier (b. 957)
 * Fujiwara no Tametoki, Japanese nobleman (approximate date)
 * Haakon Ericsson, Norwegian Viking nobleman (approximate date)
 * Ibn al-Kattani, Moorish astrologer, poet and physician (b. 951)
 * Kushyar Gilani, Persian mathematician and geographer (b. 971)
 * Lu Zongdao, Chinese official and politician (approximate date)
 * Salih ibn Mirdas, Arab founder of the Mirdasid Dynasty

title: 1029


text:
1024

Year 1024 (MXXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

January-March

 * January 17 – Abd al-Rahman V, Caliph of Córdoba is assassinated in a coup d'etat by Muhammad III of Córdoba.
 * February 17 – According to the cartulary-chronicle of the Bèze Abbey (officially the Abbaye Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul de Bèze) in the Burgundy region of France, the brothers Girard and Lambert repent of their seizure of the village of Viévigne and restore the property to the Abbey "for the good of their souls".
 * March 9 – In Bamberg in Germany, the Holy Roman Emperor issues an order to regulate the ongoing dispute between the ministries of Fulda and Hersfeld
 * March 23 (9 Muharram 415 AH) – In the first example of the reversal of the policy of religious tolerance created by the late Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim, Egyptian Christian Abu Zakariyya is arrested on charges of apostasy. Zakariyya, raised as a Christian, had converted to Islam, but then renounced Islam and converted back to Christianity, with immunity granted by al-Hakim. Zakariyya, apparently singled out for punishment is executed on October 14 (7 Shaban 415 CE).
 * March – Massud ibn Tahir al-Wazzan, the vizier of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt since 1019, is dismissed by the Caliph al-Zahir li-I'zaz Din Allah, and replaced by al-Rudhbari.

April-June

 * April 9 – Pope Benedict VIII, formerly Theophylact II, Count of Tusculum, dies after a reign of 12 years at Rome.
 * April 19 – Romano de Tusculana, Count of Tusculum and the brother of the late Pope Benedict, arrives in Rome to become the 144th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, and takes the name Pope John XIX.
 * May 4 (20 Safar 415) – The Ambassador from Khorasan to Egypt is received at Cairo by the Caliph al-Zahir.
 * May 13 – Fujiwara no Takako, daughter of influential Japanese statesman Fujiwara no Michinaga, is married to Minamoto no Morofusa.
 * June – Bedouins led by Abd Alla Ibn Idris al-Ja'fari attack the towns of Ayla and al-'Arish in southern Palestine after the Fatimids of Egypt refuse to restore al-Ja'fari as the Governor of the Wadi al-Qura.

July-September

 * July 13 – Emperor Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor dies in his imperial palace at Göttingen in Germany. Henry leaves no heirs. He has deliberately made no provision for a successor, "leaving that regulation in the hands of God", and his death ends the Ottonian dynasty, and plans are made to elect a new Emperor in September.
 * July 17 – In Japan, the Manju (万寿) era begins.
 * July 27 – Thu'ban ibn Muhammad becomes the new Fatimid Governor of Aleppo.
 * August 23 (17th day of 7th month of 1 Manju) – While Emperor Goichijo attends a sumo match in the Shishinden hall behind the Ichijo-in Temple, a fight breaks out between Judge Fujiwara Keisuke and Minamoto no Shigeto, leader of the Kurando Shikibu.
 * August 27 (17 Jumada II 415) – The Cairo Canal is opened in Fatimid Egypt in a ceremony that includes the Caliph al-Zahir.
 * August 29 (19 Jumada II 415) – In the wake of a famine striking Egypt, Yaqub ibn al-Dawwas issues an edict on the first day of the Coptic Christian new year, prohibiting the slaughter of cattle and announces that violators will forfeit their life and their property.
 * August –
 * Anushtakin al-Dizbari, the Fatimid Governor of Palestine, confronts the Bedouin Jarrahids, sending troops to collect the taxes from the iqtaʿ(fief) of the Bayt Jibrin, led by Hassan ibn Mufarrij. The Jarrahids kill the collectors. Anushtakin retaliates by imprisoning two of Hassan's senior aides in Ascalon and gains permission from Caliph az-Zahir to attack Hassan while the latter is incapacitated by illness.
 * The Jarrahids, led by Hassan ibn Mufarrij, invade Palestine and attack the city of Tiberias, pillaging the town and killing civilians.
 * September 1 – Basil Boioannes, Byzantine general and governor of the Catapanate of Italy, sails from Bari across the Adriatic Sea to begin an invasion of Croatia, ruled by Krešimir III. He later takes Kresimir's wife as a hostage, transporting her to Bari and then to Constantinople as a hostage.
 * September 4 – Conrad the Elder is elected as the new King of Germany by an assembly of imperial princes and nobles at Kamba, receiving more votes than his cousin Conrad the Younger, son of Conrad I, Duke of Carinthia
 * September 8 – Conrad the Elder is crowned as King Conrad II of Germany in a ceremony at Mainz, and he and Conrad the Younger are invested as joint dukes of Franconia.
 * September 11 (4 Rajab 415) – Ibn Dawwas is fired from his job of administering food relief in Egypt, and replaced by Baqiyy, described as "a black slave who also managed the two shurtas" (food supplies)of Fustat and Cairo; Baqiyy is fired only two days later as the food crisis worsens, and Ibn Dawwas is rehired.
 * September 21 – Gisela of Swabia, wife of Conrad II, is crowned as the Queen consort of Germany by Archbishop Pilgrim in a ceremony at Cologne. The royal couple then make a tour of Germany, traveling to Aachen (9/23), Nijmegen, Liege (10/2), Gendt (11/14), Dortmund and Minden.
 * September –
 * In India, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni begins his 12th, and final, expedition of plunder, departing with a cavalry of 30,000 troops, toward Multan, followed by Ajmer and Anhilvada, arriving at Somnath on January 30.
 * Anushtakin al-Dizbari of Palestine leads an expedition in the mountains around Nablus to apprehend the Bedouin leader Hassan ibn Mufarrij. However, the latter, with 3,000 of his horsemen, repulses Anushtakin, who retreats to Ramla, the capital of Palestine. Hassan and his troops then arrive at Ramla and burn the capital.

October—December

 * October –
 * Salih ibn Mirdas's forces, led by Ibn Tawq, advance against Aleppo and fight sporadic engagements with the Fatimid troops of governors Thu'ban and Mawsuf. Salih and the Bedouins camp outside of Bab al-Jinan and demand surrender from the lead Islamic judge of the city, Ibn Abi Usama, and are refused.
 * The Banu Kalb, under Sinan ibn Ulayyan begins its siege of Damascus
 * The Tayy takes over Ramla, capital of Palestine.
 * November 22 (17 Ramadan 415 AH) – The siege of Aleppo is started by Salih ibn Mirdas and an army of Bedouin warriors. After a siege of more than 50 days, and heavy casualties on both sides, Aleppo surrenders on January 18, 1025 (13 Dhu al-Qa'da 415 AH).
 * November – After a 20 day of siege, Mansur I, formerly the Emir of Derbent recaptures the capital from the Emir Yazid ibn Ahmad with help from the Christian state of Sarir.
 * December 17 – The monastery of Grottaferrata, outside of Rome, is consecrated by Pope John XIX and dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
 * December 29 – The Fatimid caliph celebrates the Eid al-Fitr in an elaborate ceremony at the Anwar Mosque, as recounted later by the Amir al-Musabbihi.
 * December – Sultan al-Dawla, Emir of Fars, dies and is succeeded by Abu Kalijar.

Europe

 * Byzantine expedition to invade Sicily: Governor Ahmed al-Akhal appeals to the Zirids of Ifriqiya for help. They dispatch a fleet, but these are caught up in a storm and destroyed near Pantelleria.
 * Battle of Lemnos: Kievan Viking raiders (800 men) sail through the straits at Abydos to the Aegean Sea. From there they make for the island of Lemnos, but are defeated by a Byzantine fleet of the Cibyrrhaeot Theme.
 * Roger I of Tosny, a Norman nobleman, leaves the battlefield of the Ebro Valley after terrorising the Saracens and capturing several towns and castles during the Reconquista in the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain).

Asia

 * Japanese waka poet Daini no Sanmi, lady-in-waiting to dowager Grand Empress Shōshi, is married to Fujiwara no Kanetaka.
 * Japanese waka poet Sagami divorces, returns to Kyoto and becomes a lady-in-waiting to Imperial Princess Shushi.
 * Murder of the daughter of the late Japanese Emperor Kazan, a lady-in-waiting to Shōshi who orders an investigation.
 * Jiaozi, the world's first paper-printed money, which later greatly benefits the economy of the Song dynasty, originates in the Sichuan province of China.
 * Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni sacks the Hindu religious center of Somnath and takes away a booty of 20 million dinars (approximate date).

Births

 * May 13 – Hugh the Great, abbot of Cluny (d. 1109)
 * Al-Kunduri, vizier of the Seljuk Empire (d. 1064)
 * Bruno II, margrave of Friesland (d. 1057)
 * Fu Yaoyu, Chinese official and politician (d. 1091)
 * Iziaslav I, Grand Prince of Kiev (d. 1078)
 * Magnus the Good, king of Norway (d. 1047)

Deaths

 * April 9 – Benedict VIII, pope of the Catholic Church
 * July 13 – Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 973)
 * Abd ar-Rahman V, Umayyad caliph of Córdoba
 * Alpert of Metz, French Benedictine chronicler
 * Brihtwine, bishop of Wells (approximate date)
 * Choe Hang, civil minister of Goryeo (Korea)
 * Cúán úa Lothcháin, Irish poet and Chief Ollam
 * Hugbert (or Hukbrecht), bishop of Meissen
 * Sultan al-Dawla, Buyid emir of Fars (b. 993)

title: 1024


text:
1023

Year 1023 (MXXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

January–March

 * January 16 – (21 Shawwal 413 AH) The Grand Vizier of the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt is executed only nine months after succeeding Khatir-al-Mulk.
 * January 24 – A solar eclipse is visible from London.
 * February 5 – At Cairo in the Fatimid Caliphate, the Caliph al-Zahir li-I'zaz Din Allah attains full power upon the death of his aunt, Sitt al-Mulk.
 * February 12 – (18 Dhu-I-qa'da 413 AH) In Spain Al-Ma'mun al-Qāsim ibn Ḥammud returns to Cordoba to become the new Emir, after the Emir Yaḥya ibn ʿAli ibn Ḥammud al-Muʿtali bi-llāh leaves the city and moves to Malaga. Al-Qasim reigns for 10 months before being forced out by Abd al-Rahman V.
 * February 23 – The Chitragupta Temple (now in India at Khajuraho at the Madhya Pradesh state) is consecrated to the Hindu god Shiva at the Maha Shivaratri celebration.
 * March 27 – Gebhard von Hohenwart becomes the new Bishop of Regensburg in Bavaria upon the death of Gebhard of Swabia.
 * March – Musharrif al-Dawla, ruler of Iraq, comes to Baghdad to see the Abbasid Caliph al-Qadir, and attempts to defy the caliphate.

April–June

 * April 10 – Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Thu'ban becomes the new Emir of Halab (in what is now northern Syria) after Safiyy al-Dawla is dismissed by the Caliph al-Hakim.
 * May 11 – In the Kingdom of León in Spain, the Abbot Oliba declines to authorize the wedding of King Alfonso V to Urraca Garcés, the sister of King Sancho of Pamplona, describing it as incesti connubii. The wedding takes place anyway.
 * May 16 – From his capital at Mainz in Germany, Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor, issues a grant of lands in Tragoess (now in Austria) to the Göss Abbey.
 * June 15 – (17th day before the kalends of July) The body of the late Ælfheah of Canterbury, the former Archbishop of Canterbury who will later be canonized as a Roman Catholic saint and a martyr of the church, is reburied at Canterbury Cathedral on orders of England's King Canute, after being moved from St. Paul's Cathedral in London on June 12 (the 3rd day before the ides of June). King Canute, whose Danish troops had murdered Archbishop Ælfheah on April 19, 1012, during Canute's invasion of England, has ordered the reburial as an atonement for Ælfheah's death.

July–September

 * July 20 – A partial solar eclipse, part of the Solar Saros 120 cycle, is visible to the natives of southern South America in what are now Brazil, Uruguay and Chile.
 * August 11 – King Robert II of France and Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor have a neutral site meeting at Ivois (now Carignan in France's département of Ardennes), and pledge to convene an assembly at Pavia to reform the clergy.
 * September 14 – Rudolph III, King of Burgundy and his wife, Queen Ermengard, grant the county of Viennois to the Archbishop of Vienne.

October–December

 * October 18 – Al-Mu'izz ibn Badis becomes the full ruler of Ifriqiya (modern day Tunisia) upon the death of his aunt, Umm Mallal, who had served as regent since 1016.
 * November 13 – The marriage of King Alfonso V of León to Princess Urraca of Pamplona is confirmed by the Roman Catholic Church.
 * December 2 – Abd al-Rahman V becomes the Muslim Caliph of Córdoba in what is now most of the southern two-thirds of Spain and Portugal by overthrowing Al-Qasim al-Ma'mun, but only serves for six weeks until his assassination by Muhammad III.
 * December – Abbad I declares the Taifa of Seville independent from Córdoban rule. Abd ar-Rahman V is proclaimed Caliph at Córdoba.

Europe

 * The Judge-Governor of Seville in Al-Andalus (modern Spain) takes advantage of the disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba and seizes power as Abbad I, founding the Abbadid dynasty.

Asia

 * April/May (Jian 3, 4th month) – An epidemic in Kyoto (Japan) is so severe that there are corpses in the streets; disease spreads throughout the country.
 * 60th birthday and longevity ceremony of Japanese matriarch Minamoto no Rinshi, wife of Fujiwara no Michinaga.
 * The Ghaznavid Empire occupies Transoxiana (approximate date).

Religion

 * The Dom Church at Utrecht (modern Netherlands) is severely damaged by fire. Bishop Adalbold II begins construction of a new Romanesque style church.

Births

 * Lý Thánh Tông, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1072)
 * Otto I (or Odon), count of Savoy (approximate date)
 * Ramon Berenguer I, count of Barcelona (d. 1076)
 * William VII ("the Bold"), duke of Aquitaine (d. 1058)

Deaths

 * March 27 – Gebhard I, bishop of Regensburg
 * May 28 – Wulfstan (or Lupus), archbishop of York
 * October 18 – Zirid princess and regent
 * October 21 – Gero, archbishop of Magdeburg
 * October 24 – Kou Zhun, Chinese grand chancellor
 * November 24 – Eilward, bishop of Dresden-Meissen
 * December 5 – Hartwig, archbishop of Salzburg
 * Abū Hayyān al-Tawhīdī, Muslim intellectual (b. 923)
 * Godfrey II, count and duke of Lower Lorraine (b. 965)
 * Llywelyn ap Seisyll, king of Gwynedd and Powys
 * Oda of Haldensleben, duchess of the Polans
 * Sitt al-Mulk, Fatimid princess and regent (b. 970)

title: 1023


text:
1022

The year 1022 (MXXII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Byzantine Empire

 * Spring – Battle of Svindax: The Byzantine army under Emperor Basil II defeats the Georgians at Svindax (modern Turkey). King George I is forced to negotiate a peace treaty, ending the Byzantine–Georgian wars.
 * Summer – Nikephoros Phokas Barytrachelos conspires with the Byzantine general Nikephoros Xiphias against Basil II. The rebellion collapses and Xiphias assassinates Phokas.

Europe

 * Spring – Emperor Henry II divides his army into three columns and descends through Rome onto Capua after the Lombard states of Southern Italy had switched their allegiance to the Byzantinians in the wake of the battle of Cannae four years earlier. The bulk of the expeditionary force (20,000 men) led by Henry, makes its way down the Adriatic coast.
 * Pilgrim, archbishop of Cologne, marches with his army down the Tyrrhenian coast to lay siege to Capua. The citizens open the gates and surrender the city to the imperial army.
 * Pilgrim besieges the city of Salerno for forty days. Prince Guaimar III offers to give hostages – Pilgrim accepts the prince's son and co-prince Guaimar IV, and lifts the siege.
 * Summer – Outbreak of the plague among the German troops forces Henry II to abandon his campaign in Italy. He reimposes his suzerainty on the Lombard principalities.
 * King Olof Skötkonung dies and is succeeded by his son Anund Jakob as ruler of Sweden. He becomes the second Christian king of the Swedish realm.

Africa

 * The 14-year-old Al-Mu'izz ibn Badis, with support of the Zirid nobles, takes over the government and (as a minor) ascends to the throne in Ifriqiya (modern Tunisia).

Asia

 * The Chinese military has one million registered soldiers during the Song Dynasty, an increase since the turn of the 11th century (approximate date).

Religion

 * After the Council of Orléans, King Robert II of France burns thirteen heretics at Orléans. These are the first burning victims for heresy.
 * Pope Benedict VIII convenes a synod at Pavia. He issues decrees to restrain simony and incontinence of the clergy.
 * Æthelnoth, archbishop of Canterbury, travels to Rome to obtain the pallium. He is received by Benedict VIII.

Births

 * Fujiwara no Nobunaga, Japanese nobleman (d. 1094)
 * Harold II, king of England (approximate date)
 * Manasses III, French nobleman (d. 1065)
 * Michael Attaleiates, Byzantine historian (d. 1080)
 * Ordulf, duke of Saxony (approximate date)
 * Rajaraja Narendra, Indian ruler (d. 1061)

Deaths

 * March 12 – Symeon the New Theologian, Byzantine monk (b. 949)
 * March 23 – Zhen Zong, emperor of the Song Dynasty (b. 968)
 * March 30 – Atenulf, Italian nobleman and Benedictine abbot
 * June 28 – Notker III, German Benedictine monk and writer
 * July 23 – Lei Yungong, Chinese palace eunuch and adviser
 * August 15 – Nikephoros Phokas, Byzantine aristocrat
 * September 2 – Máel Sechnaill II, High King of Ireland
 * November 20 – Bernward, bishop of Hildesheim
 * December 2 – Elvira Menéndez, queen of León
 * Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid, Twelver Shia theologian
 * Arikesarin, Indian ruler of the Shilahara Dynasty
 * Aziz al-Dawla, Fatimid governor of Aleppo
 * Konstantin Dobrynich, mayor of Novgorod
 * Moninho Viegas, French knight (b. 950)
 * Olof Skötkonung, king of Sweden
 * Rededya, leader of the Kassogians
 * Sidi Mahrez, Tunisian scholar (b. 951)

title: 1022


text:
1021

Year 1021 (MXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Europe

 * November – Emperor Henry II conducts his fourth Italian military campaign. He crosses the Brenner Pass with a 60,000-strong army, and reaches Verona, where he receives Lombard levies. Henry proceeds to Mantua and then into Ravenna, to spend Christmas there.
 * The Taifa of Valencia, a Moorish kingdom in Al-Andalus (modern Spain), becomes independent from the Caliphate of Córdoba (approximate date).

Africa

 * 13 February – On one of his habitual night rides in the outskirts of Cairo, the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah disappears, most likely assassinated by disaffected palace factions, apparently involving his sister, Sitt al-Mulk.
 * 26 March – On the feast of Eid al-Adha, the death of al-Hakim, kept secret for six weeks, is announced, along with the succession of his son, al-Zahir li-i'zaz Din Allah. On the same day, al-Hakim's designated heir, Abd al-Rahim ibn Ilyas, is arrested in Damascus and brought to Egypt.
 * The last evidence of indigenous Christian and non-Arabophone culture in Tripolitania (modern Libya) is seen.

Asia

 * Senekerim-Hovhannes Artsruni, king of Vaspurakan (Greater Armenia), surrenders his kingdom to the Byzantine Empire. In return, he receives Sebasteia and becomes governor of Cappadocia.
 * Battle of Shirimni, the Byzantine Empire under Basil II defeats  the Kingdom of Georgia under Giorgi I at Shirimni, at the Lake Palakazio, modern Lake Çıldır, Turkey
 * Hovhannes-Smbat III, King of the Armenian kingdom of Ani, is attacked by his younger brother Ashot IV, and loses much power to him, becoming concurrent king of outlying territories.
 * Emperor Rajendra Chola I extends his influence of the Chola Empire to the banks of the Ganges River (North India) and invades Bengal.
 * Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni appoints Malik Ayaz to the throne, making Lahore (modern Pakistan) the capital of the Ghaznavid Empire.
 * The Chinese capital city of Kaifeng has some half a million residents by this year. Including all those present in the nine designated suburbs, the population is over a million people.

North America

 * Vikings known to be occupying L'Anse aux Meadows on Newfoundland (island).

Births

 * December 8 – Wang Anshi, Chinese chancellor (d. 1086)
 * Eudokia Makrembolitissa, Byzantine empress (d. 1096)
 * Fujiwara no Kanshi, Japanese empress consort (d. 1102)
 * Wugunai, Chinese chieftain of the Wanyan tribe (d. 1074)

Deaths

 * February 13 – Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, Fatimid caliph (b. 985)
 * March 5 – Arnulf, French archbishop and illegitimate son of Lothair III
 * March 16 – Heribert, archbishop of Cologne (b. c. 970)
 * July 7 – Fujiwara no Akimitsu, Japanese bureaucrat (b. 944)
 * August 17 – Erkanbald, German abbot and archbishop
 * August 29 – Minamoto no Yorimitsu, Japanese nobleman (b. 948)
 * Fujiwara no Yoshikane, Japanese nobleman (b. 957)
 * Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani, Fatimid scholar and philosopher
 * Hamza ibn 'Ali ibn-Ahmad, founding leader of the Druze
 * Liu Mei, Chinese official and general (approximate date)
 * Mac Cú Ceanain, king of Uí Díarmata (Ireland)
 * Shams al-Dawla, Buyid emir of Hamadan (Iran)
 * Trilochanapala, king of the Kabul Shani dynasty

title: 1021


text:
1020

Year 1020 (MXX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events

 * Summer – Emperor Henry II conducts his third Italian military campaign. He makes plans to invade the south, but remains non-committal.
 * June 15 – Byzantine troops under Catepan Basil Boioannes (supported by his ally Prince Pandulf IV) capture the fortress of Troia.
 * The French city of Saint-Germain-en-Laye is founded by King Robert II (the Pious).
 * King Canute the Great codifies the laws of England (approximate date).
 * King Gagik I of Armenia is succeeded by Hovhannes-Smbat III.

Births

 * Almodis de la Marche, French noblewoman (d. 1071)
 * Beatrice of Bar, French duchess and regent (d. 1076)
 * Benno II, German bishop and architect (approximate date)
 * Bernard of Menthon, French priest and saint (d. 1081)
 * Conrad I (or Cuno), duke of Bavaria (approximate date)
 * Filarete of Calabria, Sicilian saint (approximate date)
 * Gonzalo Sánchez, Spanish nobleman (approximate date)
 * Gunhilda of Denmark, German queen (approximate date)
 * Guo Xi, Chinese landscape painter (approximate date)
 * Hallvard Vebjørnsson, Norwegian saint (approximate date)
 * Kunigunde of Altdorf, German noblewoman (approximate date)
 * Maria of Gaeta, Italian noblewoman (approximate date)
 * Osbern Giffard, Norman nobleman (approximate date)
 * Otto of Nordheim, duke of Bavaria (approximate date)
 * Stephen IX, pope of the Catholic Church (approximate date)
 * Su Song, Chinese statesman and scientist (d. 1101)
 * Sweyn Godwinson, English nobleman (approximate date)
 * Vladimir Yaroslavich, Grand Prince of Kiev (d. 1052)
 * William I (the Great), count of Burgundy (d. 1087)
 * William Busac, English nobleman (jure uxoris) (d. 1076)
 * William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford (approximate date)
 * William of Poitiers, French priest and writer (d. 1090)
 * Wulfhild of Norway, duchess consort of Saxony (d. 1071)
 * Zhang Zai, Chinese philosopher and cosmologist (d. 1077)

Deaths

 * June 12 – Lyfing, archbishop of Canterbury
 * June 15 – Dattus (or Datto), Lombard rebel leader
 * August 16 – Zhou Huaizheng, Chinese eunuch
 * Al-Mu'ayyad Ahmad, Muslim imam (b. 944)
 * Al-Sijzi, Persian mathematician (approximate date)
 * Bernard I (Taillefer), Spanish nobleman
 * Bouchard II (the Bearded), French nobleman (b. 975)
 * Einar Sigurdsson, Norse Viking nobleman
 * Ferdowsi, Persian poet and author (b. 940)
 * Gagik I, king of Bagratid Armenia (approximate date)
 * Gerald I (Tranche-Lion), French nobleman
 * Gojslav, king of Croatia (approximate date)
 * Leif Ericson, Norse Viking explorer (approximate date)
 * Melus of Bari, Lombard nobleman and rebel leader
 * Radim Gaudentius, Polish archbishop (b. 970)
 * Stephen I of Vermandois, French nobleman
 * Trdat the Architect, Armenian chief architect

title: 1020