Anti-Monopoly Party

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The Anti-Monopoly Party was a short-lived U.S. political party that was founded as a national political party in 1884 at its convention in Chicago, which took place on May 14 of that year. Prior to this convention, however, there were Anti-Monopoly Parties operating at the state level, notably in California and New York. 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 for President in the 1884 election, and he was similarly nominated by the Greenback Party. Both parties nominated Absolom M. West of Mississippi for Vice President. Butler received 175,370 votes in the election, although the Anti-Monopoly Party did not exist for long after the election. The People's Party's Omaha Platform contained many planks of the Anti-Monopoly platform. Subsequently the Progressive movement saw the enactment of many political reform measures first championed by the Anti-Monopolists and Greenbackers.