After his defeats in 1875 , Weaver grew disenchanted with the Republican party , not only because it had spurned him , but also because of the policy choices of the dominant Allison faction . In May 1876 , he traveled to Indianapolis to attend the national convention of the newly formed Greenback Party . The new party had arisen , mostly in the West , as a response to the economic depression that followed the Panic of 1873 . During the Civil War , Congress had authorized " greenbacks " , a new form of fiat money that was redeemable not in gold but in government bonds . The greenbacks had helped to finance the war when the government 's gold supply did not keep pace with the expanding costs of maintaining the armies . When the crisis had passed , many in both parties , especially in the East , wanted to place the nation 's currency on a gold standard as soon as possible . The Specie Payment Resumption Act , passed in 1875 , ordered that greenbacks be gradually withdrawn and replaced with gold-backed currency beginning in 1879 . At the same time , the depression had made it more expensive for debtors to pay debts they had contracted when currency was less valuable . Beyond their support for a larger money supply , Greenbackers also favored an eight-hour work day , safety regulations in factories , and an end to child labor . As historian Herbert Clancy put it , they " anticipated by almost fifty years the progressive legislation of the first quarter of the twentieth century "
the national convention
1876 Greenback National Convention
James B. Weaver