Anti-Monopoly Party

The Anti-Monopoly Party was a short-lived U.S. political party that was founded in 1884 at its convention in Chicago, which took place on May 14th of that year. The party's platforms were similar to those of other parties identified as progressive, as the party advocated such measures as direct election of senators, a graduated income tax, legal rights for labor unions, and antitrust legislation, among others.

Former U.S. army general and Massachusetts governor Benjamin F. Butler was nominated to run as the party's candidate in the 1884 U.S. presidential election, and he was similarly nominated by the Greenback Party. Butler received 175,370 votes in the election, although the Anti-Monopoly Party did not exist for long after the election. The party's cause was taken up by others, including the Progressive Party, and many of the Anti-Monopoly Party's goals were eventually realized.

External links

Information about the party from the History Channel's "This Day in History."