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chaptertwenty-three
TILLMAN AND
THE RISE OF THE
FARMERS
How did the discontent of the farmers lead to the rise of Tillman?
OVERVIEW
While big business was growing,
farming was in trouble. Farmers began
to organize to make their voices heard.
In 1892 they formed a political party,
the People’s party (Populists), but
could not elect a president. At the
same time, the United States was
becoming an imperialist power. To
Alaska and Hawaii, America added
Puerto Rico and the Philippines and
claimed the right to intervene in
Cuban affairs after the SpanishAmerican War. At home, Americans
made racial segregation legal.
In South Carolina farmers found
a spokesman in Benjamin R.
Tillman. He became governor in
1890 and ended Conservative
power. Clemson, Winthrop College,
and the Dispensary were three institutions supported by Tillman. He
devised the
Constitution of
1895 and the
white primary as
ways to end
black political
power in the state.
SELECTED
VOCABULARY
Grange
People’s Party (Populists)
Imperialists
Yellow journalism
“Remember the Maine”
Platt Amendment
Plessy v. Ferguson
Segregation
Stump meetings
Lynching
Dispensary
Primary
Jim Crow
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TIMELINE
I. THE FARMERS’ REVOLT
Why and how did farmers attempt to organize
politically?
While business grew in the United States, farming
was in deep trouble. As the nation moved west, the number of farms tripled. But the value of farm land and farm
prices went down. Farmers piled up huge debts. Banks
in the East held their mortgages, draining cash from
rural areas to the cities.
For almost every problem, the farmers had a solution,
but their solutions had to have new laws. And the state
legislatures and Congress were controlled by banks and
big business. The farmers began to organize to make
their voices heard. In 1866 they set up the Patrons of
Husbandry, or the Grange, which had some success.
States passed “Granger Laws,” which made railroads
charge farmers the same rates to ship their crops to market that they charged businesses. States chartered agricultural colleges to teach better ways of farming.
But changes were slow in coming. Beginning in 1877,
more impatient farmers set up Farmers’ Alliances in
both the West and the South. The alliances urged the
Democratic and Republican parties to press for laws to
help agriculture. They urged the printing of paper
money and the creation of the subtreasury plan. Under
this plan the federal government would build storage
warehouses for grain. Farmers could store their grain in
return for federal loans. When prices rose, the farmers
could sell their grain and repay their loans. But party
leaders said such a plan was far too radical.
UNITED STATES
SOUTH CAROLINA
1866
Grange founded
1871
First Grange chapter in SC
1877
Farmers’ Alliances formed
1879
State Agricultural
Bureau set up
1885
Tillman’s speech in
Bennettsville
1886
Farmers’ Convention
1890
Tillman elected governor
1892
People’s Party formed
1892
Dispensary opened
1894
Darlington Riot
1895
1895 state constitution
1896
Plessy v. Ferguson
1896
First statewide primary
1898
Spanish-American
War began
1898
First Jim Crow laws passed
In 1898, Theodore
Roosevelt resigned as
Assistant Secretary of
the Navy. He became
colonel of the Rough
Riders, a volunteer
cavalry regiment.
When they charged up
Kettle Hill, near
Santiago, Cuba,
Roosevelt and his men
became world famous.
Library of Congress
Why did Roosevelt
resign his position in
Washington?
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So in 1892 the leaders of the alliance formed their own party. They called
it the People’s Party, or the Populist Party. They named candidates but got
few votes. Then the Panic of 1893 hit the country, while Democrat Grover
Cleveland was president. He did not favor making money more plentiful by
coining silver. In 1896, William Jennings Bryan, a Nebraska Democrat,
attacked Cleveland’s policies and championed the farmers’ cause. He urged
the free coinage of silver. Bryan was nominated for president by both the
Democrats and the Populists. As a result, the Democratic Party split.
William McKinley, the Republican nominee, promised a new era of prosperity. He was elected, and the Populist Party faded out of existence.
II. A MAJOR WORLD POWER
How did the United States expand its borders?
During McKinley’s presidency the United States became a major world
power. After the country reached the Pacific, many Americans believed that
it would now become the greatest nation on earth. These imperialists urged
that the United States expand overseas, as the nations of Europe had done.
The nation had already bought Alaska from Russia in 1867. Then, in 1898,
the United States annexed Hawaii. The next area for expansion was Cuba.
William Jennings Bryan was
the Democratic candidate for
president in 1896.
III. THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
How did the Spanish-American War make the
United States a world power?
Library of Congress
What other party nominated
Bryan in 1896?
Booker T. Washington was born a
slave in Virginia. As president of
Tuskegee Institute in Alabama,
he became the chief spokesman
for African Americans.
Library of Congress
What was Washington’s
philosophy?
284 | Chapter 23
In 1895, Cuba revolted against the rule of Spain. The Spanish brutally put down
the revolution. But two American newspaper owners, Joseph Pulitzer and William
Randolph Hearst, made up even greater horror stories to sell papers. This type of
reporting is known as “yellow journalism.” In 1898 the United States sent the battleship Maine to Havana to look after American citizens. Hearst then published a letter from the Spanish ambassador that insulted President McKinley. When the
Maine was blown up a few days later, the newspapers called for war. “Remember
the Maine!” they said. McKinley asked Congress to go to war.
Theodore Roosevelt, assistant secretary of the Navy, was a major imperialist.
He ordered Admiral George Dewey to take the Philippine Islands, which
belonged to Spain. When the army landed in Cuba, Roosevelt left his position
and recruited the Rough Riders to join the fight. After four months of fighting,
Spain gave up the war. In the treaty the United States paid Spain $20 million for
the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam. The United States leased a permanent
naval base from Cuba at Guantanamo Bay. Under the Platt Amendment, it
assumed the right to go into Cuba if necessary.
By 1900 the United States, which began by revolting against the colonial policies
of Britain, was now a colonial power itself.
IV. THE AGE OF RACIAL SEGREGATION
How did African Americans react to legalized segregation?
After Reconstruction the federal government left the future of the black freedmen in the hands of Southern leaders. By the 1890s the Southern states had legal-
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ized racial segregation. That is, they separated whites and blacks by law in most
areas of life, including transportation, factories, public institutions, and schools. In
1896 in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, the U. S. Supreme Court upheld segregation
in public accommodations. It ruled that racial separation was legal if facilities were
equal. This decision was the basis for segregation for the next half century.
After 1870 a steady stream of blacks left the South. By the early twentieth century many Northern cities had large numbers of black residents. There blacks found
segregation laws still in force from the years before the Civil War. Race riots
occurred in Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago.
The spokesman for blacks in this new era of segregation was Booker T.
Washington. Born a slave in western Virginia in 1856, Washington was educated
in a school for freedmen, Hampton Institute (now University). In 1881 he became
president of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He urged blacks to give up the
demand for equal rights for the time being and concentrate on hard work, racial
pride, and job training.
V. THE PLIGHT OF THE FARMER IN SOUTH CAROLINA
What happened to farmers in the state in the late nineteenth century?
In 1876, South Carolina white farmers had supported the Conservatives. They
believed the promises of Francis W. Dawson in the Charleston News and Courier. As
industry grew, he said, there would be new markets for farm products.
Manufactured goods would be cheap, and life would be better. But as business
grew, farm prices fell. From 1880 to 1890 the price of cotton went down more than
a penny, from 9.8 cents to 8.6 cents a pound. For landowners, merchants, and tenants, all of whom lived on credit, life got worse, not better. Their debts grew larger
and larger.
South Carolina farmers, like those in the rest of the nation, joined the Grange in
hope of relief. The first chapter was formed near Charleston in 1871. That same year
Colonel D. Wyatt Aiken, a farmer in Abbeville, began to form chapters all over the
state. The major goal of the Grange was the creation of the state Agricultural Bureau
in 1879. The legislature also aided the annual State Fair in Columbia. The fair promoted good farming practices.
Year after year the Conservative leaders talked about prosperity. But they did
not do anything about the farm crisis.
VI. BENJAMIN RYAN TILLMAN
Who was Benjamin Ryan
Tillman?
Between 1880 and 1890 the
price of cotton fell in South
Carolina. Life for farmers, merchants, and tenants got worse.
How did the farmers seek
relief?
A native of Edgefield County
and a farmer himself, Benjamin
Ryan Tillman spoke out about
the plight of farmers.
South Caroliniana Library
A revolution in South Carolina politics began on a hot August day in 1885
in the courthouse in Bennettsville. The
occasion was a joint meeting of the state
Grange and the Agricultural and
Mechanical Society. One of the speakers
was Benjamin Ryan Tillman of
Edgefield. In a high, rasping voice, he
What did Tillman propose to
help the farmers?
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talked about the plight of the farmers. Then he
shocked the crowd by blaming the Conservative
government for their problems. He attacked both
the University of South Carolina and The Citadel.
He said later: “I did not go to Bennettsville to pass
resolutions but to explain to the farmers how they
are duped and robbed.”
Tillman did not seem like a revolutionary. Born in
1847, he was the youngest of seven sons in a wealthy
farm family. All but one brother died, and Tillman
helped his mother operate the farm. In 1864 he
planned to join the Confederate army. But he fell ill
and lost the sight in his left eye. He was married in
1868 and began to farm his own 400 acres. In 1876 he
joined Martin Gary in the “straightout” campaign. He
took part in two riots, at Hamburg and Ellenton. With
the price of cotton going down, Tillman formed a
county agricultural society. Then he was asked to
come to Bennettsville in 1885. Later he wrote long letters to the News and Courier blasting the
Conservatives as “rotten with politics.”
In 1886 he called a Farmers’ Convention in
Columbia to voice his discontent. He urged an annual meeting of farmers, aid for a state agricultural college, repeal of the law that allowed crop liens, writing
a new state constitution, and closing The Citadel. He
said that The Citadel was a “military dude factory” for
Conservatives. His first goal was to take control of the
state Democratic party in order to get his programs
adopted.
But Tillman’s efforts failed at first. The
Conservatives elected their own candidate for governor. They blocked a new agricultural college. To stop
him they created an agricultural department at the
University of South Carolina. Tillman was so upset
that he wrote a “Farewell Letter” to the newspaper.
In 1888, Thomas Green Clemson
willed the Calhoun estate and
$80,000 to the state to open
Clemson Agricultural and
Mechanical College,
now Clemson University.
Why is the administration
building named Tillman Hall?
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VII. CLEMSON COLLEGE
How was Clemson College established?
Then Tillman’s fortunes changed. On April 12, 1888, Thomas Green
Clemson died. He was the son-in- law of John C. Calhoun and lived on the Calhoun
plantation near Pendleton. As early as 1883, Clemson had urged the creation of a
state agricultural college. In 1886, Clemson and Tillman had talked about it. In his
will Clemson left the Calhoun estate and $80,000 to set up the new college. It
would have a board of thirteen trustees. So that the Conservatives could not control the college, he named seven trustees in his will, including Tillman; the legislature would name six. After a long battle, the legislature chartered Clemson
Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1889.
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VIII. TILLMAN FOR GOVERNOR
How was Tillman elected governor in 1890?
Meanwhile, Tillman decided that the only way to get real reform was to run for
governor himself. In January 1890, the newspapers published the Shell Manifesto,
signed by G. W. (Wash) Shell of Laurens, head of the Farmers’ Association. The
time had come, the manifesto said, for “the common people who redeemed the
state from radical rule” to do battle with the Conservatives.
The Conservatives made the usual plea for unity. If the Democrats split, they
said, the Republicans would once again rule the state. However, on March 27, 1890,
the Farmers’ Convention named Tillman their choice for governor. For lieutenant
governor the convention chose Eugene B. Gary, the nephew of Martin Gary. The
Conservatives supported Joseph H. Earle of Greenville. Tillman asked for a series of
public debates between them. These stump meetings, because the speakers sometimes spoke on tree stumps, became a regular part of South Carolina politics until
the coming of television.
Tillman was a popular hero. Hundreds came to hear him speak. They brought
signs that read: “Tillman and Reform.” They chanted: “Bring out the one-eyed
Plowboy.” Tillman rode on a wagon covered with cotton, corn, and peas and drawn
by his supporters. They often shouted so loudly that Earle could not speak.
Sometimes the Conservatives shouted Tillman down. In Aiken, Wade Hampton
himself was booed when he spoke in favor of Earle.
In the end Tillman defeated Earle. He was nominated by the state Democratic
convention. A group of diehards split the party. They nominated Alexander C. Haskell of Columbia, a grandson of
Langdon Cheves. But Tillman won by a landslide, 59,159
votes to 14,828.
In 1891 Winthrop College for
women was founded by the
General Assembly. Its campus
is located in Rock Hill.
Why is the main building at
Winthrop named
Tillman hall?
IX. THE TILLMAN REGIME
What did Tillman do as governor?
As soon as Tillman took office, he began to make
changes. Tillmanites were appointed to every office by the
legislature. Clerks in the State House were replaced with
loyal Tillman men. Judge William H. Wallace, speaker of the
House in 1876, was defeated for reelection to the state
Supreme Court. Because Hampton tried to stop Tillman,
the governor had no mercy on the old general. He was
defeated for reelection to the United States Senate. Tillman’s
chief campaign advisor, John L. M. Irby of Laurens, was
elected in Hampton’s place.
Tillman had said little about race in the campaign. In his
inaugural address he urged a law against lynching, that is,
mob violence against blacks. But he also made very clear his
views on race. Jefferson was wrong when he said all men
were created equal. Blacks were not equal. “The whites have
absolute control of the State Government,” Tillman said,
“and we intend ... to retain it.”
In higher education, Tillman himself took charge of
designing the new buildings at Clemson. To punish the
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University of South Carolina, he closed the agricultural school, changed its name
back to South Carolina College, and cut the number of faculty. In 1891 he urged the
creation of Winthrop College for women from the teacher training school in
Columbia. As he had at Clemson, the governor supervised the building of the new
campus in Rock Hill.
X. OPPOSITION TO TILLMAN
What role did The State newspaper play in opposition to Tillman?
The Conservatives kept up their bitter attacks on Tillman and his programs once
he was in office. In 1891 they gained a new voice. Columbia was one of the major
centers of Conservative strength. Alexander Haskell and some other Conservatives
set up a new newspaper, The State, in which to attack the governor. The editor was
N. G. Gonzales, whose father was a Cuban revolutionary leader and whose mother
was a member of the Elliott family of Beaufort. His older brother Ambrose was president of the company, and his younger brother William was a reporter. After the
death of Francis Dawson, N. G. Gonzales became the most important newspaper
editor in South Carolina. In his editorials, he attacked Tillman day after day. In 1903
Gonzales was killed by Lieutenant Governor James Tillman, Ben Tillman’s nephew.
XI. THE DISPENSARY SYSTEM
What was the Dispensary?
In his second term Tillman urged the creation of the Dispensary as a way to control alcoholic beverages. Since the Civil War a national prohibition movement had
been growing. Its goal was to get the states to ban the sale of liquor. In 1883,
Frances Willard, the head of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU),
brought the national crusade to South Carolina. In 1892 the people of the state,
along with the other Southern states, voted for prohibition.
Tillman opposed it. He feared the issue would divide his followers into “wets” and
“drys.” To keep them united, he urged the Dispensary, and the legislature passed it.
Under this system only the state could sell liquor. State and county boards were set
up to supervise the sale. The governor himself went to distilleries that made whiskey
and made purchases for the state. He had his own grading system, which was branded on the barrels — X, XX, and XXX. The best grade was XXX. Local dispensaries
sold liquor in special bottles marked with SC or the Palmetto tree.
XII. THE DARLINGTON RIOT
What caused the Darlington Riot?
There was a great deal of opposition to the Dispensary. Fighting broke out in
Darlington. In March 1894, the governor got word that local officials in Darlington
were allowing saloons to open. He sent a group of state constables to investigate.
There were arguments, and shots were fired. Several people were killed. Tillman
declared Darlington and Florence County in a state of insurrection. He called out
the militia and put the town under martial law. His supporters cheered his quick
action. He wrote Senator Irby: “We are in the saddle more firmly than ever.”
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XIII. SENATOR B. R. TILLMAN
How did Tillman become U.S. Senator?
At the end of his second term as governor in 1894, Tillman ran for the United
States Senate. His opponent was Senator Matthew C. Butler, the last of the
Conservatives in a major office and his neighbor in Edgefield. It was the first senatorial campaign in which the people of the state could vote. Up until this time U. S.
Senators were elected by the legislature. The Seventeenth Amendment provided the
direct election of U. S. Senators. The candidates spoke in the Democratic stump
meetings. Tillman came out in support of many of the Populist reforms. He also
gained a nickname. As he attacked the policies of President Grover Cleveland, he
said: “I am going to Washington with a pitchfork and prod him in his fat old ribs.”
He became “Pitchfork Ben.” Tillman was easily elected and remained in the Senate
until his death in 1918. As their new governor, the people elected John Gary Evans
of Spartanburg, a Tillman man and the nephew of Martin Gary.
In 1894, Governor Tillman
declared Darlington and
Florence County in a state of
insurrection. He called out the
militia and put the town under
martial law.
Darlington County Historical Commission
What events led to the
Darlington riot?
XIV. THE CONSTITUTION OF 1895
What was the purpose of the 1895 Constitution?
For Tillman the new state Constitution of 1895 was his most important achievement. Though he was already in the Senate, he came back to Columbia and personally directed the convention.
His goal was to replace the Constitution of 1868 with a new document that
would end African American power in the state once and for all. But unlike the
Eight Box Law of 1882, his constitution would keep no whites from voting. Tillman
patterned his new voting law on the Mississippi Constitution of 1890. To vote, a
person had to be a male of twenty one who had registered and paid the poll tax six
months before the election. He had to live in the state for two years, the county for
one, and the local precinct for four months. He could not be guilty of a number of
crimes, such as theft, adultery, and wife-beating. He had to be able to read a part of
the state constitution or explain it when it was read to him. All who had registered
to vote before January 1, 1898, remained voters for life. After that, a voter had to
meet the new rules or pay taxes on property worth at least $300.
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The new provisions were aimed at African American voters. The crimes listed
were those for which blacks were usually convicted. It did not include murder and
fighting, which were crimes more often committed by whites. The poll tax and the
residency laws were aimed at poor African Americans who moved often. It was
assumed that registration officials would be easier on whites than on blacks in reading or explaining the constitution.
The six African American members of the convention spoke against the new voting provisions, but they were ignored. Robert Smalls made an eloquent plea: “My
race needs no special defense, for the past history of them in this country proves
them to be the equal of people anywhere. All they need is an equal chance in the
battle of life.”
Other provisions were also unfair to blacks. The public schools would be segregated, but local officials were not required to make black and white schools equal.
There was no provision for compulsory attendance.
In many other ways, the Constitution of 1895 followed the radical document
of 1868. The legislature continued to hold most of the power in state government.
Membership in the House of Representatives continued to be based on population. The Senate had one member for each county. For the first time since the
colonial period, Charleston had only one senator. The legislature elected state
judges for set terms and chose officials who were not elected by the people. The
governor kept a veto over legislation, but his veto could be overridden by a twothirds vote of both houses.
Legally, South Carolina is still governed by the Constitution of 1895. But decisions of the United States Supreme Court, federal laws, and amendments made
since World War II have changed most of the original document.
XV. THE WHITE PRIMARY
What was the main purpose of the state primary?
Another way to reduce the power of African American voters in South Carolina
was the primary system of nominating candidates for office. Political parties began
nominating candidates for statewide office in South Carolina during
Reconstruction. First, candidates were chosen by the state party conventions. Then
voters chose between the candidates of the two parties in the general election. In
1876 the Pickens County Democratic Party nominated local candidates by allowing
persons to run in a primary election. Those who won in the primary were the party
candidates in the general election. By 1890 every county had a primary. In 1890 the
party allowed only those African Americans who had voted for Hampton in 1876 to
vote in the county primaries.
The South Carolina Democratic Party held the first state primary in 1896. As in
the county primary, no African American could vote unless he had voted for
Hampton in 1876. That provision kept most blacks from voting. There were only
14,000 black voters out of a total of 114,000, so African Americans made little difference in state and county contests in the general election. The candidates chosen
in the Democratic primary were always elected. Until after World War II African
Americans played almost no part in South Carolina politics.
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XVI. SEGREGATION AND RACIAL VIOLENCE
What were Jim Crow laws?
Until the 1890s there were no laws that forbade blacks and whites to mix in
public. But beginning in 1898, the legislature passed a series of Jim Crow laws,
after a black-face character in popular minstrel shows, to separate the races.
In 1898 railroads had to place separate coaches on passenger trains for
whites and blacks. In 1904 segregation was extended to steam ferry
boats; the next year it was extended to electric trolleys. A 1906 law
required separate dining rooms at railroad stations and on steamboats.
The Factory Law of 1915 separated workers in textile mills. In a few
years the state had created a society segregated by law.
Race relations were made even worse by outbreaks of violence
from time to time. After the Ku Klux Klan was suppressed, white
mobs sometimes gathered to kill African Americans accused of
crimes against whites. These murders were called lynchings. Every
year there was at least one lynching in the state. Usually there were
more. There were more than ten lynchings reported in 1889, 1893,
and 1898. The last lynching in South Carolina occurred in Greenville
County in 1947.
XVII. BLACK LEADERS IN THE AGE OF SEGREGATION
Who were some of the African American leaders in
the Age of Segregation?
With little power left, African American leaders in South Carolina began to adopt
Booker T. Washington’s views of accommodation. Thomas E. Miller of Beaufort
served in the legislature, in Congress, and in the Convention of 1895. The next year
he urged that the legislature create South Carolina State College (now Universtiy),
which would be separate from Claflin. The college was chartered, and Miller became
its first president. Soon he was telling blacks to stay out of politics. “Show me a people that is frugal,” he said, “and I shall show you a people that is strong, virtuous,
wealthy, and happy.”
Richard Carroll followed Washington even more closely. A native of Barnwell, he
went to Benedict College and became a Baptist minister. He opened a home for
orphans and delinquent youth in Columbia. He spoke to white groups and urged
better race relations without giving offense to them. He told his own people: “Go to
the farm. Let the white folks have the cities, factories and offices. We need money;
money and property.”
Richard Carroll of Barnwell
became a Baptist minister. He
opened a home for black
orphans and delinquent youth
in Columbia.
South Caroliniana Library
Why is he sometimes
compared to Booker T.
Washington?
XVIII. SOUTH CAROLINA IN THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
What part did South Carolina play in the Spanish-American War?
When the United States went to war with Spain in 1898, not all South Carolinians
were eager to volunteer. The army trained soldiers at Camp Fornance in Columbia
and Camp Wetherill in Greenville. Troops manned the forts in Charleston harbor.
Former Confederate General and U. S. Senator Matthew C. Butler became a general
in the United States army. Two regiments were recruited in the state. The war was so
short that only the Second Regiment, led by Colonel Wilie (Y-lee) Jones of Columbia,
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This gun, salvaged from the
U.S.S. Maine, stands on the
State House grounds in
Columbia.
MCS Oliphant Collection
Did South Carolina soldiers
fight in the SpanishAmerican War?
went to Cuba. They arrived after the fighting was over.
After the war, in 1902, U. S. Senator John L. McLaurin, a former Tillmanite, voted
to annex the Philippines to the United States. Tillman opposed annexation and said
that McLaurin had joined the Republicans. The two had a fistfight on the Senate floor. The Senate censured both men.
President Theodore Roosevelt withdrew a dinner invitation to
Tillman. “He is no gentleman,” the president said.
Thomas E. Miller served in the state legislature
and in Congress.
MCS Oliphant Collection
Miller was first president of what college in
South Carolina?
292 | Chapter 23
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EYEWITNESS TO HISTORY:
A Boy’s View of Politics in the Tillman Era
John A. Rice was the nephew of U. S. Senator Ellison D. Smith.
He moved to Columbia in 1892 as a boy. Long afterward he
remembered the excitement of a Tillman political campaign. It
seemed to him that everybody in South Carolina was either a
Tillmanite or an Anti-Tillmanite.
The most loathed [or despised] man in town was a livery stable keeper... Gus sat tilted back against the wall and chewed
and spat and cussed and said whatever he pleased. ...
One day, during a hot political campaign, bets were laid
that Gus could not, as he said he could, tell a Tillmanite from an AntiTillmanite at sight. Presently a well-dressed stranger came down the street
and Gus said, “He’s a Anti.” When the stranger reached the crowd of
loafers and was asked, “Are you for Tillman?” he replied indignantly,
“Certainly not,” and Gus collected his dollar. Then a broganed blue
jeaned unwashed customer came along; Gus put him down as a
Tillmanite and won again. At last he grew so confident that when another
man came in sight, unkempt and unshaven and dressed in a suit that ...
was spotted and caked with mud, Gus varied his question and said to
him, “You’re for Tillman, ain’t you?” The man gave him a cur dog look
and said, “No, pardner, I ain’t. The reason I look this way I bin drunk
three days.”
John A. Rice, I Came Out of the Eighteenth
Century (New York, 1942), p. 66.
Questions for Reflection:
1. On the basis of your reading,
how did people in Columbia feel
about Tillman?
?
2. How did Gus tell whether a person was for or against Tillman?
3. How do you think John Rice felt
about state politics?
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Recalling wha
t you read
I. The Farmers’ Revolt
1.
2.
3.
4.
Identify the following: (a) Granger Laws (b) subtreasury plan (c) Populist
Party.
What events led to trouble for farmers in the latter part of the 1800s?
What was the purpose of the Farmers’ Alliances?
What caused the Democratic party to split in 1896?
II. A Major World Power
1. What did the imperialists believe?
2. Give the name of and dates for the two American acquisitions made during
this period that would later become states.
III. The Spanish-American War
FOR
THOUGHT
1. Why did farmers
attempt to form
their own political
party, the Populist
Party, in
1892?
2. Why did the
Constitution of
1895 effectively
remove African
American from the
political process?
1. What events led to the Spanish-American War? What phrase became a
popular call to war?
2. What role did Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst play in the
war?
3. How long did the Spanish-American War last? What did America gain
from the treaty settlement?
IV. The Age of Racial Segregation
1. What is the significance of the 1896 legal case, Plessy v. Ferguson?
2. Describe the racial segregation that existed by the 1890s in the southern
states.
3. Name three northern cities which had race riots after 1870.
4. Who was Booker T. Washington? What course of action did he favor for
blacks?
V. The Plight of the Farmer in South Carolina
1. What happened to farm prices between 1880 and 1890? Give a specific
example.
2. What did South Carolina farmers do in hope of relief?
3. What did the Grange and the state legislature do to help the farmers?
VI. Benjamin Ryan Tillman
1. How did Benjamin Tillman “shock” his audience in Bennettsville?
2. Name five actions Tillman urged at the 1886 Farmers’ Convention.
VII. Clemson College
1. How did Clemson College get its name?
2. Who would govern the new college? How was the governing body of the
college selected and by whom? Why was this method used?
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VIII. Tillman for Governor
1.
2.
3.
4.
Identify the following: (a) Shell Manifesto (b) “one eyed plowboy.”
What was a stump meeting?
Describe the sights and sounds of a stump meeting at which Tillman was
speaking.
Who was elected Governor in 1890? By how much?
IX. The Tillman Regime
1. Who did Tillman appoint to nearly every office while he was governor?
2. How did Tillman feel about race relations?
3. What school did Tillman help create in 1891? Where is it located? What
was its purpose?
X. Opposition to Tillman
1. What political group continued to oppose Tillman? What new “tool” was
used in their attacks?
2. Who was N. G. Gonzales? What happened to him in 1903?
XI. The Dispensary System
1. Identify: (a) the Dispensary system, (b) prohibition, (c) WCTU.
2. Who supervised the sale of whiskey in South Carolina?
3. What was Tillman’s “grading system”?
XII. The Darlington Riot
1. Briefly describe the Darlington Riot. What was the significance of the riot?
2. What did Tillman mean when he said, “We are in the saddle more firmly
than ever”?
XIII. Senator B. R. Tillman
1. How did Ben Tillman gain the nickname “Pitchfork Ben”?
2. How long did Tillman serve in the Senate?
XIV. The Constitution of 1895
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What was the purpose of the Constitution of 1895?
List the voting requirements of the 1895 constitution.
What did Robert Smalls say about the proposed constitution?
Who would hold the most power within the state under the constitution?
How has the Constitution of 1895 been changed through the years?
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XV. The White Primary
1.
2.
3.
Describe the primary system in South Carolina.
What restriction was placed on blacks for voting in the primary in 1896?
What part did blacks play in the election of 1896?
XVI. Segregation and Racial Violence
1. What were the Jim Crow laws? Give examples.
2. What is a lynching? How many lynchings were there in 1889, 1893, and
1898? When was the last one?
XVII. Black Leaders in the Age of Segregation
1. Name and briefly describe the contributions of two blacks in South
Carolina who played major roles during the Age of Segregation.
XVIII. South Carolina in the Spanish American War
1. What South Carolina regiment sent troops to Cuba?
2. What did Roosevelt say about Ben Tillman? Why did he say it?
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