william jennings bryan. right? bryan's chapter in this story then reaches its peak during the scopes trial of 1925. but he was not alone. that is the important thing here. there are others, lots of others like william jennings bryan, traveling the countryside during these years, talking about traditional christianity. people like billy sunday, former professional athlete turned preacher. men like mordecai ham. in 1923, 1924, ham traveled the south, decrying the teaching of evolution in public schools. and as he did this, he also took the opportunity to take shots at other modern disciplines being taught at the modern university of the 1920's. things like sociology. economics. political science. here is one little excerpt from one of mordecai ham's sermons, 1924. here is what he said. this was delivered in north carolina and this was aimed squarely at the university of north carolina. you today are listening to false prophets and seeing the prophets of god slapped in the face and doing nothing. you put men in your co

there are others, lots of others like william jennings bryan, traveling the countryside during these years, talking about traditional christianity. people like billy sunday, former professional athlete turned preacher. men like mordecai hamm. in 1923, 1924, hamm traveled the self decrying the teaching of evolution in public schools. and as he did this, he also took the opportunity to take shots at other disciplines being taught at the modern university of the 1920's. like economics. political science. here is one little excerpts from one of mordecai ham's sermons, 19 .4. here is what he said. this was aimed squarely at the university of north carolina. this is the day of the false prophets and seeing the prophets of god lasted in the face and doing nothing. you put men in your colleges who are known to believe that christ's was an illegitimate child to review wonder why russia is swept by bolshevism, white england and even your own country are swept by disruption. the day is not far distant when you will be in the grip of the red terror and your children will be taught free love by t

it's easy to bring a clarence darrow or a william jennings bryan. but george washington, we have this view of washington, for many people he's like a wax figure in madam trudeau's museum. or a carved figure up on mount rushmore, he is distant to a lot of us. i think a lot of it is that terrible picture painted on the $1 bill, that was paint near death with a bulging, he looks like a squirrel with his oversized false teeth. actually, that's not what washington was like, and i got to see that in this period of his life when he was much younger before the presidency and after he was a general when he was not in political power when he didn't have -- or military power. he didn't have an office. he was a farmer. he was a plantation owner. he was a private citizen. and i could find out that he was a very, very affable person. he was a wonderful conversationalist. he was a great retail politician. he could tell stories at parties. he loved to go to parties, he loved to dance. he would go to a party -- of course, he was the choice, he was -- when he was you

his secretary of state, williams jenning bryan -- william jennings bryan, was initially for ban on both sides, which he argued with some justification was true neutrality. if you're going to be neutral you should not lend to either side. there was pressure from business, from banks which did want to lend, and the people they probably were going to lend to were the allies. the allies were in a better position to borrow. the state department was also in favor of making loans to the allies. by the late fall of 1914, wilson had ordered the state department and ordered bryan to make it possible for the allies to borrow in the u.s. as bryan argued this was tilting , towards the allies. the loans to the allies were going to increase steadily to the point that by 1917, united states' mostly private interests had lent $7 billion to the allies. gradually, the u.s. became more financially committed to the allies and wilson did nothing to stop it. in fact facilitated it. , the war had a favorable impact on the united states because the allies were in a great position to order a great deal of war ma

party and the populist movement which was a far left wing movements come as late as 1907 william jennings bryan says it is time for the state to control the railroads. that is antithetical to the foundation of the system yet william jennings bryan in 1986 came shockingly close to becoming president of the united states. if it was not for the uptick in wheat prices he very well could have won. why did the system almost produced probably the most radical president that it could have produced? it was because of the atrocious condition of the american farmer. generally i think american farmers treatment at the hands of the railroads was a general condition whereby the nation's political economy, the political/economic industrialization was grossly unfair to the american farmer. by the way, about 1880, constituted a majority of the work force, a majority were farmers. that sort of speaks to the dangers and even -- i mention this because we can look at retrospect and say this is a good thing or this is a good thing it was a good thing in the long run. if you were a farmer in western kansas in 1887 wa

william jennings bryan was initially for ban on both sides, which he argued with some justification wasrue neutrality. if you're going to be neutral you should not lend to either side. there was pressure from business, from banks which did want to lend, and the people they probably were going to lend to were the allies. the state department was also in favor of making loans to the allies. by the late fall of 1914, wilson had ordered the state department and brian to make it possible for the allies to borrow in the u.s.. this was tilting towards the allies. the loans to the allies were going to increase steadily to the point that by 1917, united states mostly private interests had lent $7 billion to the allies. wilson facilitated it. the war had a favorable impact on the united states because the allies were in a great position to order a great amount of war material from the united states. the war also gave the opportunity for american business to begin to move in on markets that had been the preserve of the british or the french. in many ways, the war was an economic benefit to the uni

i think as late as 1907 william jennings bryan says it's time for the state to control the railroads. now, that is just antithetical to the foundation of our system and yet bryan in 1896 became shockingly close to becoming president of the united states. i mean, if it was not for the uptick in wheat prices he very well could have won. why? why did the system almost produce probably the most radical president that it could have produced? and it was because of the atrocious condition of the american farmer. and generally -- and i think that the american farmer's treatment at the hands of the railroads was a general condition whereby the nation's political economy, the political economic development of industrialization was grossly unfair to the american farmer. who, by the way, still by i think about 1880 constituted a majority of the work force, a majority were farmers. so that sort of speaks to, you know, the dangers. and even so -- and i mention this because, you know, we can look in retrospect at this time and say well, this was a good thing and this was a good thing, it was a good