<P> The Omaha Platform was the party program adopted at the formative convention of the Populist (or People's) Party held in Omaha, Nebraska on July 4, 1892 . </P> <P> The platform preamble was written by Ignatius L. Donnelly . The Omaha platform was seen as "The Second Declaration of Independence," as it called for reestablishing American liberty . The planks themselves represent the merger of the agrarian concerns of the Farmers' Alliance with the free - currency monetarism of the Greenback Party while explicitly endorsing the goals of the largely urban Knights of Labor . In the words of Donnelly's preamble, the convention was "(a) ssembled on the anniversary of the birthday of the nation, and filled with the spirit of the grand general and chieftain who established our independence, we seek to restore the government of the Republic to the hands of the plain people, with which class it originated ." The Omaha Platform called for a wide range of social reforms, including a reduction in the working day, a "safe, sound, and flexible" national currency, assistance to farmers with the financing of their labours, "fair and liberal pensions to ex-Union soldiers and sailors," the direct election of Senators, single - terms for Presidents and Vice-Presidents, "the legislative system known as the initiative and referendum," "the unperverted Australian of secret ballot system," the nationalization of the railroads, the telegraph, and the telephone systems, a postal savings, "a graduated income tax," and "the free and unlimited coinage of silver ." In referencing the Omaha Platform, Senator George Norris of Nebraska suggested the wealth of the "super rich" had to begin flowing "to all the people, from whom it was originally taken ." </P>

In their 1892 omaha platform populist called for