We move into the 1890s, when farmers and working people across the country pushed back against economic inequality and political corruption during the Gilded Age. This episode examines the rise of the Populist movement, the formation of the People's Party, and the growing belief that government should actively protect ordinary Americans from powerful banks, railroads, and industrial monopolies. We'll explore key ideas like free silver, regulation, and direct democracy, as well as major protests and elections that revealed deep tensions between rural and urban America. As the course continues past its midpoint, this lesson highlights how grassroots political protest reshaped national debates and set the stage for Progressive reforms in the early twentieth century.