One of the main goals of the Populist movement was the regulation of what?

The
Populist movement also wanted to regulate the banking system, which they felt was unfair to
American farmers. The Populists harked back to the days when Republicans such as Jefferson
railed against the establishment of a federal bank. Then, as now, it seemed that a centralized
banking system existed purely to serve the interests of the east coast banking and commercial
elite, ignoring the interests of the agrarian economy.

The Populists proposed
to put an end to the federal banking system, a policy that was not widely supported despite its
antecedents in American history. The thinking behind this measure was that state banks would be
more responsive to the needs of the agrarian economy, especially in places like the South and
the Midwest. Whereas under the present system, the Populists argued, the interests of farmers
and small businesses were routinely sacrificed to generate profit for the big banks and other
financial institutions.