This map, by Myron A. Root, was first published by the Boston Globe on 13 September 1896, in the context of the US presidential election of the same year. It was later replicated by many newspapers in the rest of the country.

The 1896 US election pitted Democrat William Jennings Bryan against Republican William McKinley. Bryan, as part of his campaign, proposed the free coinage of silver, with a fixed ratio to gold of 16 to 1, well below the market value of 30 to 1. With this measure he sought to win the support of farmers across the country, who would have easy access to money to pay off the debts that many citizens had acquired during the economic crisis of 1893.

William McKinley, on the other hand, was opposed mainly because the measure would cause immediate inflation, depreciating the value of the dollar by half. In addition, McKinley predicted that it would cause economic chaos and an unprecedented crisis in industry and the financial sector.

The map, with a markedly pro-Bryan propaganda character, shows precisely this division. In silver are all the states that, a priori, would clearly benefit from this measure, while in gold are the seven states that would be compensated by the maintenance of the status quo. The author, Root, takes advantage of this division to depict America as a silver dog with a golden tail, limiting support for McKinley's position to that part of the dog.

In addition, the map provides multiple pieces of information to support Bryan's position, noting that the silver states controlled all gold, silver and cotton production, as well as the vast majority of corn, wheat, barley and oats production.

If all these silver states had voted for the Democrat Bryan, he would have won a clear victory in the election. However, McKinley won all the gold states, the swing states, plus six other silver states (California, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota and Oregon). Over the next four years, the country's economic situation improved markedly and Bryan's stance was forgotten.

Sources

• The Silver Dog With the Golden Tail. Will the Tail Wag the Dog, or the Dog Wag the Tail?
• 1896 Political Caricature Map of the United States ‘The Silver Dog with the Golden Tail’.’