American Society of Equity
Encyclopedia
The American Society of Equity was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 agricultural cooperative and political organization
Organization
An organization is a social group which distributes tasks for a collective goal. The word itself is derived from the Greek word organon, itself derived from the better-known word ergon - as we know `organ` - and it means a compartment for a particular job.There are a variety of legal types of...

, founded in 1902, which aimed to organize farmers as a "Third Power" in the United States, able to compete with capital
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...

 and organized labor on equal terms. Equity inspired the creation of many farmers' cooperatives still in existence. Equity forces became involved in the politics of Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, and North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....

, leading in the latter state to the eventual rise of the Nonpartisan League. Leaders of Equity (such as U.S. Senator Magnus Johnson
Magnus Johnson
Magnus Johnson was an American farmer and politician. He served in the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives from Minnesota as a member of the Farmer–Labor Party....

 and Wisconsin State Senator
Wisconsin State Senate
The Wisconsin Senate, the powers of which are modeled after those of the U.S. Senate, is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature, smaller than the Wisconsin State Assembly...

 Henry Kleist
Henry Kleist
Henry Kleist was a farmer from Rantoul, Wisconsin who served one term as a Socialist state senator.Kleist was born on a farm in the Town of Eaton, Manitowoc. on Sept. 29, 1860. Six years later his parents moved to the Town of Rantoul in Calumet County....

) were elected to numerous local political offices.

In 1934, it merged into the Farmers' Union.
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