Populist Movement 3/12/18 SC’s Struggling Economy

• Supply: how much of an item there is • Demand: how many people want to buy. (Usually determines price.) to buy something. – When supply is low & demand is – When demand is high & high = price goes up supply is high = price goes up. – When supply is high & demand is – When demand is low & supply low = price goes down. is low = price goes down.

• Example: As Cotton supply rises/ the demand is lowering = price decreases to 25 cents in 1860s, to 12 cents in 1870s, then 5 cents in 1893 SC’s Struggling Economy

• SC lacked new farming machines to increase demand • Tenant farmers tried to plant more to but did use phosphates for fertilizers that increased make profit = but the more they planted cotton. the more prices fell. – in SC cotton was picked by hand well into the 20th Century (1900’s) • Supply higher than demand & prices for cotton fell. • SC banks foreclosed, land was taken for – Farmers unable to pay loans to purchase land unpaid taxes, droughts and pests led to and equipment. serious crop failures.

• Crop Lien Law: Law passed by Bourbons = allowed creditor to have first claim on farmer’s crop if quota was not met. – The Law held farmers in continuous debt. Populist Movement

• Started in SC and US as result of terrible • Farmers Alliances = Supported change economic and social conditions. in money supply to use coinage of silver and farm support. • The Grange = social club to – Popular because they encouraged alleviate/improve the isolation of farm life/fix problems in the industry. workers to unite together. – Changed into a political group in the west, but had little power in SC b/c of Elite Bourbons in control. The Populist Party

• In 1892, Farmers Alliances joined other labor groups to form the Populist Party

● Supported regulation of railroads & ● Farmers rallied w/ factory workers banking, free coinage of Silver, & for 8 hour workdays & restrictions federal farm subsidies on immigration. ● Wanted reforms = popular election ● Was successful in electing Senators, of Senators, Secret Ballots, & Governors, & Legislators to support graduated income tax (rich pay the average people. more). “Pitchfork” Ben Tillman Benjamin Tillman • Chosen to be leader of populist movement b/c of great oratorical & political skills. – Tillman was not a true advocate for the Populist Party = he wanted to gain control of the Democratic Party. • Appealed the common/poor people against the Conservative Bourbon Elite. • he blamed the Conservatives for many of SC’s problems. Land-Grant Colleges & Clemson • Fight between Tillmanites and Conservatives heated when he helped create Clemson Agricultural College = rival Usc. • Clemson advocated facilities to teach better farm management & development of new crops for $. – Property at Clemson was willed to Tillman by Thomas Greer Clemson who supported agriculture. • Clemson was also a Land Grant College est. by the Morrill Act: – $ from sales of western lands were used to develop schools in the states.

Tillman as Governor: • he ran on white supremacy and anti- conservative ticket that supported poor whites only. • Removed many former Conservatives in office with Tillmanites (Those loyal to him). – Did little to support platform of the poor in SC & used power for personal gain. • Helped to establish a railroad commission that regulated rates and limited hours to 66 hrs a week for 6 days. Tillman and Race: • Said Jefferson was wrong when he said “all men were created equal,” blacks were not equal.

• Supported the use of Lynching – Gang attacks & hangings to intimidate African Americans in SC.

• Also encouraged Race Baiting, or blaming blacks for troubles in SC. – Especially popular among poor whites! SC Constitution of 1895… ew Why a New Constitution?

• One of Tillman’s goals = write a new Constitution for SC while he was in office.

• Saw the SC Constitution of 1868 as a law that was forced on the state during Reconstruction.

• Wanted to secure SC for the Democratic Party & take back power from freedmen/Republicans once and for all.

• Tillman called for a Constitutional Convention in 1895 & worked from the Senate to change the laws. Terms of the SC Constitution of 1895

● Poll taxes required to be paid 6 months in ● Public Schools = segregated, but did not advance. have to be equal. ■ Assumed poor blacks and whites would not pay tax early. ● Required voters to be able to read sections of ● Divorce was again made illegal/playing the US Constitution/understand sections read to lottery was forbidden/Govt. officeholders them. (Literacy Tests) caught Gambling were removed.

● Could not vote if convicted of crimes as ★ Framework is still used for today’s SC theft/adultery/wife-beating. Constitution. Aye yo, Mr. Crow Jim Crow Laws

• Legalized segregation in society or separation of the races in public places. – Jim Crow: Black-face character in popular minstrel shows

• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): Ruled that separate but equal facilities did not violate the 14th Amendment.

• Separated races at restaurants, restrooms, train cars, movie theaters, factories, and schools.

Textile Mills #hgtv Industry comes to South Carolina:

• Before the Civil War= planters/elite looked down on industry b/c true Americans were farmers.

• After the war = poverty/unemployment devastated SC & workers needed help!

• The Hurricane of 1893 also destroyed the rice industry along the SC Coast (Carolina Gold was dead).

• Industries Save SC Railroads/fertilizer/phosphates/cottonseed oil/tobacco & most important textiles. The Textile Mill booms in SC • Large supply of cotton & a changed attitude about industry led to growth of Textile Mills.

• Local SC citizens like William Gregg provided most of the $ for building mills in the upcountry region.

• Modeled after New England mills that wove cotton into fabrics and clothing. – SC was 2nd in textile production in the nation by 1910.

• Mills were built next to rivers in the Upcountry to use water power/Later used hydroelectric power in Columbia.

Mill Villages: Saving the Sharecropper

• Poor farmers suffered from serious debt & were attracted to Textile Mill Villages. – Most blacks were not considered for traditional textile mill labor.

• Offered a steady job/homes/schools/churches/stores/even sports teams (Baseball/Basketball).

• Mill Houses were rented for 50 cents a month and offered 4 bedrooms and a kitchen.

• Mill stores sold food and supplies. – In bad times, mill workers paid in Scrip replacing money, but only at the store village.

Mill Life: Not as pretty as it seems

• Depended on the generosity of mill owner & economic conditions of the times.

• When depressions struck, workers were fired & children were forced working in the mills.

• Mill Workers were paid poorly. – Pay ranged from 50 cents a day to $1.50 depending on age/gender. – SC workers paid ½ of workers in the US & were given nickname Lint Heads by Planter Elite. Mill Life: Work Conditions

• Work Hours: 6am-6pm (12 hrs) & 6 days a week – until Tillman reduced work hours to 66 hrs a week.

• Mills were hot & loud as machinery clattered & Cotton dust swirled in the air, covering workers.

• Overcrowded & dangerous conditions led to career or life ending injuries & many diseases (Tuberculosis).

• Workers were not able to join labor unions in SC & those that attempted were fired by the Mill owner. Natural Disasters coming in hot Charleston Earthquake of 1886

• Charleston was one of greatest port cities in the US & impact was spared in the Civil War. • Measuring a 6.6 on the Richter Scale. – could be felt as far away as Boston, New Orleans, Cuba, Toronto & Bermuda. • On August 31, 1886 At 9:50 pm Charleston experienced one of the worst earthquakes in US History. • W/out Govt. assistance, people of Charleston organized a rapid recovery to repair the damage. • Caused 60 deaths & damaged almost 2,000 buildings.

– Little of the city was spared & it caused $5-6 Million in damage. • the city was rebuilt in 14 months & looked better than it did before.

Hurricane of 1893

• Before 1893, Rice planters in SC were struggling to • Relief from the state slowly arrived survive. • Workers were busy with damage caused by the Hurricane in July. • On August 27th, a hurricane hit Savannah, GA & devastated SC • A 3rd hurricane hit Charleston & it took 10

yrs before people could live @ the coast • Storm covered all SC Islands, killed 1,000-2,000, again. and left nearly 30,000 homeless.

• rice plantations never recovered & Carolina Gold was officially over!

Are you coming or going? Immigration vs Migration Immigration in SC

• Immigrant- Someone who moves from their native/home country to another country permanently.

• Did not come to SC in large numbers b/c the economy was in a Depression. – Lack of available land and of industrial jobs. • Neighborhoods in SC were divided into poor immigrant groups called ghettos. – Groups protected each other + helped find homes/jobs. – Est. businesses, including founder and editor of the State newspaper in Columbia. Impact of Immigration in the US

– Immigration had a much greater impact on the large cities of the NE & MW.

– Some immigrants moved west & established farms, but most immigrants were too poor to move beyond the port cities where they landed.

– in SC, racism led to restrictions on immigration. • Nativism→ hatred towards immigrants in the US. • Main targets were Irish, Germans & Southern/Eastern Europe (Jews + Italians) • Racial ethnic diversity contributed to = people, culture, languages & foods in the US. • However, it did also contribute to the belief in Social Darwinism & White Supremacy in SC. Patterns of Migration:

• Migration: Groups of people that move out of an area in large numbers. –Most moved to cheap Federal farmlands out West for new life. Pull and push factors

● Pull Factors: Positive conditions that cause someone to be attracted to move to an area. • Push Factors: Negative conditions that causes someone to want to leave an ● Opportunity to start new businesses and cheap area. land. • African Americans moved rural ---> urban in the NE & MW to work in ● Most South Carolinians could not afford to move factories. out west due to the bad economy. • African Americans left SC to get away

from discrimination( Jim Crow ● The Transcontinental Railroad & the Homestead Act (Free Land) encouraged some to move west. Laws/increased violence). Women say no more booze The Temperance Movement (1892-1935) • Temperance: To limit & control the abuses of alcohol in SC & the US. – Many women thought it was immoral, created laziness & encouraged spouse/child abuse.

• Was very popular in SC as the state had 22 “dry” counties by 1908. (No Alcohol)

• SC did not have total prohibition of alcohol because Tillman thought it would cause problems. – Wets vs. Drys The Dispensary System

• Tillman’s answer to the alcohol problem was the Dispensary System – Dispensary System - Allowed State officials to sell alcohol only, to regulate it and charge high prices for Tax $.

• Tillman organized a grading system on the barrels — X, XX, and XXX, XXX being the highest quality.

• Local dispensaries sold liquor in special bottles marked with SC or the palmetto tree. The Darlington Riots (1864)

• There was a great deal of opposition • Tillman sent in Constables/Police to to the Dispensary system. investigate.

– There were arguments & shots were • In March 1894, Fighting broke out in fired. Darlington because local officials – several people were killed, including allowed Saloons/bars to open. some Constables.

• Tillman declared Florence County in rebellion & put Darlington under martial law. 3 cheers for Women Hip hip Hooray! Hip hip Hooray! Hip hip Hooray! Beginnings of Women’s Rights Movements

• SC women received little attention to get voting as the Southern Democratic Party didn’t consider the issue.

• Convention at Seneca Falls – 1st Women’s rights convention took place in 1848 in NY. – It took 50 years before the suffrage movement took hold in SC. – Durant Young = the SC Women’s Rights Association in 1892. • Members came from Columbia/Charleston. • @ SC Constitutional Convention in 1895, Cora S. Lett tried to get support for Women’s Suffrage. – Women did not achieve voting rights, but Constitution did allow them to own land. Don’t mind me… i’m just voting!

• During WWI, women activists used more • The SC legislature did not ratify the assertive tactics in their campaign to get amendment, but women got the right to the right to vote. vote b/c of ratification by other states. – Failed to pass women’s voting • women were not successful until President until 1967! Wilson recognized their roles in the war effort. • this did not bring about any radical political change b/c women tended to • Finally, in 1919 the 19th Amendment was vote as their husbands did. passed = Women the right to vote Let’s get progressive Progressive Movement: (1890s-1920s)

• Developed to address problems of growing ● Progressive views were spread cities & the dangerous working conditions through work of ‘muckraking’ in the late 19th century. journalist. ○ Muckrakers- Writers that dug • Led by middle class that opposed paying taxes up dirt and revealed problems to corrupt city governments and who desired in big business and factories. better city services. ● Progressives first gained power by • Progressives also wanted to reform corrupt electing mayors/governors &, Govt., end monopoly in Big Business, and President Theodore Roosevelt.

improve conditions for immigrants. Challenges of Progressive Views

• Unfortunately, Progressive views were often in conflict with the culture of those they wanted to help.

• Supported Temperance and Prohibition to improve morality, but this went against traditions of immigrants groups like Italians, Irish and Germans.

• Progressives also wanted child labor laws. – Lower class families needed their children to bring income to the family.

• Between 1900 and 1910, over 200,000 African American migrated from the South to the North.

• W.E.B. DuBois and Ida B. Wells Barnett wanted to improve conditions for African Americans, but Progressives controlled power by limiting their rights. Progressive Movement in SC

• the Progressive Movement was not popular in SC. – SC was not interested in improving the rights of Blacks or solving problems of immigrants, since few came to the state.

• Southerners disenfranchised Blacks as a Progressive reform since it took govt power from a group deemed inferior to whites.

• Just like the Populist movement, Progressives in SC joined the Democrat Party rather than working with North.

• Progressive Issues: Child labor and fair treatment for workers, temperance, women’s suffrage and improving education.