Around the year 1900, many farmers in the United States supported monetary and political reforms mainly because they wanted which economic goal to be achieved?

Introduction / Context:
At the end of the nineteenth century and around 1900, many farmers in the United States faced low crop prices, heavy debts and high transportation costs. This situation gave rise to farmers organisations and the Populist movement, which advocated a range of reforms. Exam questions often ask about the core economic motive behind farmers support for monetary reforms such as the free coinage of silver. This question focuses on what farmers hoped to achieve economically through those demands.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The period is roughly around 1900, the age of Populism.
• The group in question is indebted farmers, especially in the West and South.
• We are looking for their main economic goal in supporting reforms.

Concept / Approach:
Farmers often borrowed money to buy land, machinery and seeds. When the supply of money was tight and prices of crops were low, the real burden of their debts increased. Many farmers therefore supported proposals like the free coinage of silver, which would expand the money supply, create inflation and raise crop prices. With higher prices, their incomes would rise, making it easier to repay debts taken in earlier, less inflated dollars. Thus, a key economic goal was easier loan repayment through a more inflationary monetary policy, rather than simply controlling railroads or power over workers.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall that many farmers were heavily indebted and hurt by falling prices. Step 2: Understand that expanding the money supply through free silver would lead to inflation. Step 3: Recognise that inflation tends to benefit debtors, because they repay loans with money that has lower real value. Step 4: Examine the options and see which one states that farmers wanted to repay loans more easily using inflationary policies. Step 5: Choose option B, which clearly expresses this central economic goal.

Verification / Alternative check:
You can verify by recalling famous Populist speeches that criticise the gold standard and praise silver coinage as a way to lift the burden of debt from farmers and workers. Many history texts explain that these monetary demands were driven primarily by the desire to improve terms of repayment and farm incomes rather than to preserve power over others. This background supports option B as the most accurate summary of farmers main goal.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A, lower freight rates, was indeed a demand but describes a more specific regulatory goal, not the central monetary aim highlighted in many exam questions. Option C misrepresents farmers as trying mainly to hold power over industrial workers, which was not the primary focus of Populist reforms. Option D shifts attention to urban voters rather than to farmers economic needs. Option E is wrong because farmers often wanted more government regulation of railroads and banks, not complete abolition of regulation.

Common Pitfalls:
Learners sometimes focus only on railroad issues and forget the big picture of monetary reform and debt relief. Another pitfall is reading the options too quickly and missing the key phrase pay back their loans more easily. To avoid these errors, remember that in many multiple choice questions, the phrase free silver is closely associated with the goal of easing debt burdens through inflation.

Final Answer:
Around 1900, many farmers wanted to create inflation so that they could pay back their loans more easily, and they supported monetary reforms with this goal in mind.