<P> The Populists had the choice of endorsing Bryan or running their own candidate . After great infighting at their St. Louis convention they decided to endorse Bryan but with their own vice presidential nominee, Thomas E. Watson of Georgia . Watson was cautiously open to cooperation, but after the election would recant any hope he had in the possibility of cooperation as a viable tool . Bryan's strength was based on the traditional Democratic vote (minus the middle class and German Catholics); he swept the old Populist strongholds in the west and South, and added the silverite states in the west, but did poorly in the industrial heartland . He lost to Republican William McKinley by a margin of 600,000 votes and lost again in a rematch in 1900 by a larger margin . Historians believe this was because of the tactics Bryan used, which had not been used before; he had aggressively "run" for president, while traditional candidates would use "front porch campaigns ." </P> <P> In 1894 - 96 the Populist wave of agrarian unrest swept through the cotton and tobacco regions of the South . The most dramatic impact came in North Carolina, where the poor white farmers who comprised the Populist party formed a working coalition with the Republican Party, then largely controlled by blacks in the low country, and poor whites in the mountain districts . They took control of the state legislature in both 1894 and 1896, and the governorship in 1896 . Restrictive rules on voting were repealed . In 1895 the Legislature rewarded its black allies with patronage, naming 300 black magistrates in eastern districts, as well as deputy sheriffs and city policemen . They also received some federal patronage from the coalition congressman, and state patronage from the governor . </P> <P> The Populist movement never recovered from the failure of 1896, and national fusion with the Democrats proved disastrous to the party in the South . National alliance with the Democrats sapped the ability of the Populists to fight the Democrats locally in the South . Early on, this was less of an issue in the Western states where Republicans were strong, as the Democratic - Populist alliance was a more natural fit there, but eventually ended the party . </P> <P> In North Carolina, the state Democratic - party orchestrated propaganda campaign in newspapers across the state, and created a brutal and violent white supremacy election campaign to defeat the North Carolina Populists and GOP, the Fusionist revolt in North Carolina collapsed in 1898, and white Democrats returned to power . The gravity of the crisis was underscored by a major race riot in Wilmington, in 1898, two days after the election . Knowing they had just retaken control of the state legislature, the Democrats were confident they could not be overcome . They attacked and overcame the Fusionists; mobs roamed the black neighborhoods, shooting, killing, burning buildings, and making a special target of the black newspaper . There were no further insurgencies in any Southern states involving a successful black coalition at the state level . By 1900, the gains of the populist - Republican coalition were reversed, and the Democrats ushered in disfranchisement: practically all blacks lost their vote . The Populist / Republican alliance which had governed North Carolina, the only state in which it had any success, fell apart . </P>

What brought an end to the populist party
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