Changes

Not everyone in America was happy with Republican dominance in the White House, and unregulated free enterprise in the economy.  Many farmers, for example, that railroads were charging prices that were too high.  From 1867 to 1874, there was a political movement for states to regulate the prices charged by railroads, which was led by "Granger" politicians.  A leader in "The Grange Movement" was Oliver Kelley, a former official in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  Initially the Grange was devoted to social gatherings and educational programs for farmers, who otherwise had a somewhat isolated and tedious lifestyle.  

Not everyone in America was happy with Republican dominance in the White House, and unregulated free enterprise in the economy.  Many farmers, for example, that railroads were charging prices that were too high.  From 1867 to 1874, there was a political movement for states to regulate the prices charged by railroads, which was led by "Granger" politicians.  A leader in "The Grange Movement" was Oliver Kelley, a former official in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  Initially the Grange was devoted to social gatherings and educational programs for farmers, who otherwise had a somewhat isolated and tedious lifestyle.  

In many ways farmers in the 1870s were like homeschoolers today:  divided and lacking in political force.  The Grange Movement attempted to change that.  When there was a financial crisis known as the Panic of 1873, the Grange surged in popularity among farmers who had too much debt and not good rates from railroads for shipping their products.  Popularity grew in the farm states of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, and the Grangers were able to pass "Granger laws" to regulate the railroads for the benefit of farmers.<ref>http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h854.html</ref>

In many ways farmers in the 1870s were like homeschoolers today:  divided and lacking in political force.  The Grange Movement attempted to change that.  When there was a financial crisis known as the Panic of 1873, the Grange surged in popularity among farmers who had too much debt and expensive rates to ship their products on the railroads.  Popularity grew in the farm states of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, and the Grangers were able to pass "Granger laws" to regulate the railroads for the benefit of farmers.<ref>http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h854.html</ref>

The owner of a grain elevator (which charges farmers to store their grain) fought an Illinois Granger law all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in ''Munn v. Illinois'', decided in 1876.  That decision upheld the power of states to regulate the rates charged by grain warehouses or any other public facility made available for the general public good, such as railroads.  This ruling in favor of the farmers energized the populist movement.  But a later lawsuit brought by the railroads to challenge state regulations of the terms it placed in its contracts, the Wabash case (1886), invalidated the state regulation and put the farmers almost back to where they started.  The Wabash case led to the federal government ultimately intervening in favor of the farmers by creating the Interstate Commerce Commission in the Interstate Commerce Act (1887).  This new federal agency, known by its initials as the "ICC", regulates railroad rates and terms in its contracts with the public.

The owner of a grain elevator (which charges farmers to store their grain) fought an Illinois Granger law all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in ''Munn v. Illinois'', decided in 1876.  That decision upheld the power of states to regulate the rates charged by grain warehouses or any other public facility made available for the general public good, such as railroads.  This ruling in favor of the farmers energized the populist movement.  But a later lawsuit brought by the railroads to challenge state regulations of the terms it placed in its contracts, the Wabash case (1886), invalidated the state regulation and put the farmers almost back to where they started.  The Wabash case led to the federal government ultimately intervening in favor of the farmers by creating the Interstate Commerce Commission in the Interstate Commerce Act (1887).  This new federal agency, known by its initials as the "ICC", regulates railroad rates and terms in its contracts with the public.