DEATH OF A MULTI-ETHNIC SOCIETY: POPULISM, DISFRANCHISEMENT AND THE CONSERVATIVE COUP IN TEXAS, 1880-1904 A Dissertation by STEPHEN DENIS DELEAR Submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Chair of Committee, Walter Buenger Co-Chair of Committee, Carlos Blanton Committee Members, April Hatfield Walter Kamphoefner Sarah Gatson Head of Department, David Vaught May 2018 Major Subject: History Copyright 2018 Stephen Denis Delear ABSTRACT Texas Populists were ahead of their time. The borderlands experience in Texas caused farmers to develop economic ideas far in advance of the contemporary economic literature. Faced with Populists’ economic demands, the nation’s elites panicked. The ultimate result was the political destruction of Populism. A multi-ethnic political society that had developed in Texas since the end of Reconstruction became a casualty in the fall of Populism. This work explores the ecological and economic conditions leading to the rise of Populism in late nineteenth century Texas. Attention is paid to the role of organized labor as well as the ethnic and racial matrix in which the movement formed. The Texas borderland experience is suggested as a pivotal influencer of Populist economic policy. The movement is further contextualized within the Anglo, Hispanic and African American racial trinary found in Texas and the impact of German and other Central and Eastern European immigrant groups is explored. The role of elites in bringing an end to Populism comprises the second part of this work. Elites response to Populism was governed by a mix of status anxiety and economic self-interest. In order to suppress the political upstarts, elites in the south turned to both race baiting and formal disfranchisement schemes. In Texas, a wave of violence would largely silence the People’s Party. Changes to the state’s voting laws then institutionalized the white supremacist revolution. ii DEDICATION 02/14/2018 – 17.1 1 The date of the Parkland shooting and the number of students killed. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my committee co-chairs, Dr. Walter Buenger and Dr, Carlos Blanton, and my committee members, Dr. April Hatfield, Dr. Walter Kamphoefner and Dr. Sarah Gatson. Thanks also go to my friends and colleagues and the history department faculty and staff for making my time at Texas A&M University a great experience. Finally, thanks to Sandra Smith, Virginia Kay Delear, Michael and Ruthanne Delear, T.C. Langford, Dr. Marianne Arnold, Dr. Paul Sandul and Dr. Scott Sosebee. iv CONTRIBUTORS AND FUNDING SOURCES This work was supervised by a dissertation committee consisting of Professor Walter Buenger and Carlos Blanton as Co-Chairs, and Professors April Hatfield and Walter Kamphoefner of the Department of History and Professor Sarah Gatson of the Department of Sociology. Graduate study was supported by a fellowship from Texas A&M University and a dissertation research by the Ron Stone Dissertation Fellowship. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iv CONTRIBUTORS AND FUNDING SOURCES ...........................................................................v TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................. vi LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... iv CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................1 CHAPTER II CLIMATE CHANGE ..............................................................................................9 Factional Politics ......................................................................................................................... 9 Origins ...................................................................................................................................... 12 Drought ..................................................................................................................................... 23 Corporate Miscalculation .......................................................................................................... 32 Cleburne .................................................................................................................................... 39 CHAPTER III A MULTI-ETHNIC SOCIETY ............................................................................51 European Ethnicities ................................................................................................................. 52 Tejanos and Mexicanos ............................................................................................................ 60 African Americans .................................................................................................................... 71 Chapter IV THE WHITE MAN WITH THE YELLOW MONEY ..............................................86 The Metal of Whiteness ............................................................................................................ 86 A Brief Monetary History of the United States ........................................................................ 88 vi Page A Borderlands Solution ............................................................................................................ 92 Backlash .................................................................................................................................... 96 Crisis ....................................................................................................................................... 101 Williams v. Mississippi............................................................................................................ 107 How Democracy Dies ............................................................................................................. 110 CHAPTER V WHO SHALL SAY NO? ....................................................................................111 Populism’s Discontents ........................................................................................................... 111 Politics and Death ................................................................................................................... 117 Targeting Populists ................................................................................................................. 135 The Problem with Success ...................................................................................................... 142 CHAPTER VI A MEETING IN MONTGOMERY ...................................................................143 The Road to Montgomery ....................................................................................................... 144 The Makings of a Conference ................................................................................................. 147 A Meeting ............................................................................................................................... 150 Montgomery and Texas .......................................................................................................... 158 Progressives ............................................................................................................................ 161 Primary Elections .................................................................................................................... 170 A Confluence of Interests ....................................................................................................... 175 CHAPTER VII COUP ................................................................................................................177 Harrison County Methods ....................................................................................................... 177 Vote Buying ............................................................................................................................ 179 Louisiana Methods .................................................................................................................. 183 Implementation ....................................................................................................................... 194 Alexander Watkins Terrell ...................................................................................................... 195 The Terrell Election Laws ...................................................................................................... 197 New Deck, Same Deal ............................................................................................................ 203 A One Party State.................................................................................................................... 207 Systematic Advantage ............................................................................................................