The People’s Revolt: Texas Populists and the Roots of American Liberalism

by Gregg Cantrell

An engaging and meticulously researched history of Texas Populism and its contributions to modern American liberalism

“A work of deep research and profound wisdom that adds a critical dimension to our understanding of Populism and the American liberal tradition. It is political history at its finest.”—Charles Postel, author of The Populist Vision

In the years after the Civil War, the banks, railroads, and industrial corporations of Gilded‑Age America, abetted by a corrupt political system, concentrated vast wealth in the hands of the few and made poverty the fate of many. In response, a group of hard‑pressed farmers and laborers from Texas organized a movement for economic justice called the Texas People’s Party—the original Populists. Arguing that these Texas Populists were among the first to elaborate the set of ideas that would eventually become known as modern liberalism, Gregg Cantrell shows how the group broke new ground in reaching out to African Americans and Mexican Americans, rethinking traditional gender roles, and demanding creative solutions and forceful government intervention to solve economic inequality. Although their political movement ultimately failed, this volume reveals how the ideas of the Texas People’s Party have shaped American political history.

Genres: History, Politics

592 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2020

About the author

Gregg Cantrell holds the Erma and Ralph Lowe Chair in Texas History at Texas Christian University.

Reviews

[Frank Stein · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a fine local history that makes a strong case for Texas's impact on the shape of the Populist movement and thus on modern liberalism.

The author begins with the important point that many histories of Populism, including great works like Charles Postel's The Populist Vision, actually end around the birth of the Populist Party itself. These books instead focus on the Farmer's Alliance, which actually started in the Texas County of Lampasas in 1877 (and whose earliest leaders, such as S.O. Daws and William Lamb, the traveling lecturers, and Charles Macune, the Alliance's head editor, were from Texas) and which grew into a large educational and cooperative organization, before the failures of some of its enterprises caused members to move into political action after 1890. If one looks at the Populist Party proper, however, one finds that many of its leaders were not just Alliancemen, but former Greenbackers and Knights of Labor members, again often from Texas. The 17 Cleburne Demands of the national Alliance from 1886 (Cleburne a town 30 miles South of Fort Worth, which just elected a combined Knights of Labor-Allianceman, Hiram Broiles, as mayor) featured all these different groups in attendance. When the Union Labor Party was organized in 1888, Lamb, Broiles, and others joined in. The Texans, again from multiple former Third-Party groups, were again prominent at the Ocala Platform in 1890 and the Cincinnati meeting the next year for the official Populist Party. Some of the Populist Party demands at Ocala, such as a graduated income tax, government ownership of railroads and telegraphs, and direct election of U.S. Senators, came not from the Alliance (which focused narrowly on land, finance, and transportation at first) but from the Greenback Party demands from back in 1874.

The book shows that Texans were both similar and distinct from other Populists. They tended towards evangelical and "reformationist" religious movements, most especially the Disciples of Christ, and had a large number of preachers, from Daws and "Stump" Ashby to the black Baptist John Raynor. (Although not a preacher Eben Dohoney, a Disciples of Christ elder and "father of prohibition" in Texas for his local option plank in the 1876 Constitution, was also a prominent member). It shows that the Texan Populists tended to eschew an "honor" culture for one focused on "dignity," which allowed women to have prominent places in the movement and even address conventions, and they featured many prominent suffragists. The group tended to be much older on the whole than other politicians, with often a near majority of Confederate veterans at the head, but they also allowed black members to join prominently (although they could only be "at-large" members of conventions so they wouldn't represent directly a white constituency) and were willing to work on a partial state-based fusion with the Republicans in 1896 (where Texan Populist promised to vote for McKinley if Republicans would vote the state Populist ticket.)

Although the movement busted apart after 1896 (the national fusion with the Democrats and the local fusion with the Republicans made it almost impossible to stay together), the ramifications continued on. The Farmers Union was formed in the Populist stronghold of Northeast Texas by former Populist Newt Gresham in 1902, and became the most left-wing and powerful farmers movement in the nation. Many Populist planks were championed by former Democratic Governor Jim Hogg, and under Governor Thomas Campbell in 1907 they were enacted into law (stronger antitrust planks, stronger railroad regulation, a state department of agriculture, a franchise tax on railroads and corporations, ending the convict lease system, etc.), with many ex-Populists still in the legislature. The strongest connection to modern liberalism, however, is through Sam Ely Johnson, who was a confederate solder, rancher, Christadelphian free-thinker, and Populist candidate for state legislature in 1892 (he lost to his son-in-law). Sam Johnson would tell his grandson Lyndon about the need to fight the powers that be, and thus undoubtedly helped birth the Great Society. This book shows both the surprising origins and the long consequences of Texas Populism and should help us rethink both Populism and modern liberalism.

[Gary B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent account of the rise in the late 19th century of Populism in Texas, short-lived though it was. Cantrell does an outstanding job tying that movement to the birth of American liberalism.

[Jason S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting account that proves that populist party of the 1890s in Texas and elsewhere were the forerunners of modern liberalism.

[Hubert]

I was given an e-copy of this text in exchange for an honest review. #netgalley