Agrarian Unrest
As seen during the Reconstruction Era, little was done to ensure newly freed slaves had the resources for economic betterment. African Americans weren’t given land to own and had no money to purchase large enough tracts. The only option became sharecropping or tenant farming, a system where they worked on land for white plantation owners for little pay or compensation. Tenant farmers often fell into a cycle of debt to the land owners due to extensive fees for equipment or housing. This created a new system of slave labor, that while black and white southerners were subject to, it hit former slaves and their descendants the hardest. Due to the government’s lack of aid in these scenarios, unrest began, leading to the formation of the Populist party, which focused on bettering the lives of farmers. The quote below , from the Chicago Defender Newspaper published in the early twentieth century, describes the unfair fees and overall system seen in Southern Agriculture during the latte 1800s and early 1900s.
“Very frequently do they pay for their “furnish” as they call their supply of provisions and are forced to give up their mules and cows. One more straw to the back of the one-crop system of the South.”
Link to Full Text: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:bsc:&rft_dat=xri:bsc:multimedia:2664728
Fall of Populism: White Supremacy
The Populist Party didn’t last very long due to white southerners’ unrest regarding black citizens gaining political power. White supremacists actively worked against the Populist Party’s momentum, or any movement that attempted to empower African Americans. This was evident through the already popular poll taxes, as well as many Southern states limiting what groups counted as needing “suffrage” legislation. In order to limit the power of parties that worked to better agrarian economy, poor farmers, regardless of race, were restricted from state welfare and voting. Quotes below from a collection of political newspapers highlight the fall of Populism due to white power insecurity
“The only brief respite came in the ’90s when the populist movement made a drive for the Negro vote. Here again, racial chauvinism provided a stronger alliance than allegiance to democracy. Populism dashed itself on the rock known as “the Solid South.”
Link to Full Text: https://congressional.proquest.com/histvault?q=001594-006-0828&accountid=10506