Customer Reviews

American Populism: A Social History 1877-1898 (American Century Series)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The author identifies "producerism" and "antimonopolism" as the core aspects of Populist (agrarian) thought. These themes extolled the virtues of the independent working man, fully able to produce his own and society's well-being without being dependent upon or under the control of others. It is doubtful that this idyllic state has ever been achieved in America, but there is no doubt that in the 1870s and 80s small farmers in the Plains states and in the South suffered from the vicissitudes of both natural and economic forces undermining any sense of being in control of their economic destinies.

This book explores the actions of besieged rural Americans, first through cooperative efforts based on dense community ties, and then through political efforts, to counter the forces of industrialization. It is a complex story involving a variety of agrarian and labor organizations, though dominated by the National Farmers' Alliance with its beginnings in western Texas in 1878 and to some extent the Knights of Labor, ranging from the far West, through the Plains and the Midwest, and through the entire southern belt. Agrarian reformers were forever in a contest with the forces of orthodoxy from community values to the agendas of the Democratic and Republican parties; a contest that they would eventually lose.

The author admits to drawing upon the vast work of historians concerning Populism or agrarianism. The book is somewhat complementary to the work of Lawrence Goodwyn, author of the "Democratic Promise. He finds little agreement with those who view Populists as reactionaries, unwilling to accept the demands of progress.

While Goodwyn finds the core of Populism to be located in the southern Farmers' Alliance and is somewhat dismissive of agrarian movements in other regions, McMath is more generous in his estimation of the forces of reform in the western and northern plains. In addition, he pays more attention to organizations and movements that were forerunners to the agrarian movement. They both agree that the demise of the Alliance and the Knights of Labor eroded a base of activism and undermined the chances that the Populist Party could succeed.

Despite its relative brevity, this book is a highly readable and insightful overview of the Populist movement. It is an excellent introduction to Populism. And it contains an extensive bibliographical essay for further reading.

As has been said of the role of "Hamlet," every era gets its version of Populist history. To Hicks, they were the forerunners of the New Deal. To Woodward, they possessed a fleeting opportunity at biracial coalition. To Hofstatder, they were proto-fascists. To Larry Goodwyn, they possessed a vision of a just society. To Michael Schwarz, they were radicals whose strength lay in direct action, not electioneering. The last word on the movement is far from being written and this book can only keep the reader current on the history and present state of research and interpretation. This it does wonderfully well, as well as presents a clear account of the emergence, rise and decline of the movement which synthesizes and recapitulates virtually all available histories on different aspects of the movement. I have to dissent from the reviewer below and say that I found McMath a clear and brisk writer--not in C. Vann Woodward's league, perhaps, but then...who is?--who brings the movement alive and elucidates its dynamic masterfully.

If you have the least bit of curiosity about the movement, this is the first book you should read. The one significant criticism I have is that the author cuts off the narrative at 1898. In this manner, he avoids many--but by no means all--of th e more troublesome aspects of the movement and its participants. It would also seem that an additional chapter on populism's legacy through the twentieth century would be in order, encompassing as it does such diverse figures as Wright Patman, Huey Long, and George Wallace.

Finally, to all who are interested in the issues surrounding the new global economy: Read this book! Study the Populists! You will gain much insight into the process of "development" since WWII and the struggles of people throughout the "less-developed world" for their livelihood.

Indeed, I fancy that the ghosts of Tom Watson and Mary Lease were with those in Seattle marching against the WTO last year and in Washington against the World Bank and the IMF this year!

"Who joins [the Populist movement], and why, and, conversely, why do others similarly situated not join?" This is the question, Robert McMath contends in American Populism: A Social History, 1877-1898, "that has preoccupied scholars who have studied the movement." (9) While acknowledging the work of previous scholars of the 19th century populist movement (Hicks, Woodward, Hofstadter, and Goodwyn), McMath connects the Populist's story to the "social history of rural America." He relates Populism to the "rhythms of family and community life" of the rural Plains, South and Mountain West, where this movement took root in the "social and economic networks of rural communities, not, as some would have it, among isolated and disoriented individuals." (17) In this unromantic study, McMath insists that the Farmers' Alliance and later the Populist Party grew in areas of hard-pressed agriculturalists, not secluded yeoman far from towns or railheads. Populism sprung from the "movement culture" that gave individuals and agricultural communities an avenue to make history and address their own economic and social needs, and rose from older traditions of rural cooperation and radical republicanism.
Despite this seedbed of support for the rise of cooperative alliances and, later, populist political parties, McMath shows that old allegiances to the Democratic Party in the South and a more recent adherence to the Republican Party elsewhere dissuaded many farmers and laborers from carrying the Populist banner, which prevented the new party from achieving lasting gains. "In the end," he laments, the Populist movement "failed to bend the forces of technology and capitalism toward humane ends." (211) He also concludes that the base of the movement was too limited geographically to carry a presidential election, and suffered from being "caught in the cross fire between" the two major, institutionalized political parties by the late 1890s. (208)
McMath successfully makes his case that Populism was the inheritor of earlier "movement" traditions of anti-monopolism and unionism, part of "cultures of protest." In the New South, for example, "old habits of mutuality, old relations between people on the land, were being transformed into new and more distinctly capitalistic relations...[nevertheless] old times there were not forgotten." (29) He shows that the men and women who supported the Alliance and the Populist party were ardently egalitarian in their republicanism and producersim. McMath lucidly demonstrates, however, that these farmers were never anti-capitalists who sought to return to a romantic "golden age" of Jeffersonian agrarianism. They wanted fairness and opportunity, credit and control of their lives and communities.
McMath effectively depicts the Populist movement as one of protest originating in rural America among people with legitimate economic and social grievances against monopolistic, capitalist forces. His use of a succinct narrative approach to portray this story in a "rise and fall" style shows the change over time between 1877 and the presidential election of 1898 that doomed chances of electoral success for Populists. McMath holds that initially farmers formed cooperatives and alliances for economic advantages, so-called "pecuniary benefits." By the late 1880s, he shows that the consolidation of labor and rural agricultural groups into "a permanent cooperative movement and labor party" was very much a possibility. (83) The great debate that followed was one over the decision to form a new political party or to lobby within and as part of the major parties (fusion). In the end, Populists tried both, and though some elections were won and limited political gains made, failure was the ultimate result. Many Southerners refused to leave their sacred Democratic party, while the Republicans successfully campaigned against incumbent Democratic President Grover Cleveland, and attracted "populist" votes in the process. McMath shows that after 1892 populism changed its character as the silver issue "crowded out" other reform concerns, and reduced reform politics to the "lowest common denominator." Lamentably for McMath, whose sympathies lie unabashedly with the populists about whom he writes, by the 1890s the populist cause-turned-political party inevitably ran "headlong in to the sobering realities of American politics. (170) Still, he argues, the reformers "fashioned a space within which Americans could begin to imagine alternative futures shaped by the promise of equal rights," a legacy "waiting to be fulfilled." (211)
McMath's straightforward account of the promise of reform and its ultimate political failure is a successful introduction to the study of American populism of the late 19th century.

The best thing I can say about this book is that it's not long. But it certainly felt longer than it was. I read this book for a class, and I'm not sure if I should blame the authors here because the subject matter is simply dreadful. If you find the Populist movement interesting, you may be able to tolerate this book because it's not overly complicated. However, if you're hoping that McMath turned a dry subject into a fairly interesting read, you'll be disappointed. I had trouble staying awake while I read this.

Good book, but, truthfully, you probably won't want to read it voluntarily so it is probably going to be assigned to you by a professor in a college course. Here are some of the things/themes that you ought to be getting out of the book: Review Notes on American Populism A Social History 1877-1898 By Robert C. McMath, Jr. Introduction: The author begins his narrative by explaining several events of the year 1877. He recalls that year as being the one in which Pres. Hayes ordered the withdrawal of federal troops from the Reconstruction South who had served as protectors of the newly freed slaves. He couples that event with the Strike of 1877 and the ramifications it had on the US. However, he carefully notes two forgotten events of that year that led to the populist movement that challenged the political hierarchy of US government. According to McMath the first event occurred in western New York State and the second along the Texas frontier. According to the author, in both of these areas of the country movements developed which later took the name (in some form or other) of "Farmers Alliances" which were basically groups of farmers who banded together in protest over government regulation or over issues about the effects of monopolies by big business on the farmer. This group eventually mobilized in three areas: the South, the Great Plains, and the Mountain West. These groups became the Populists of American History. He dedicates the rest of the introduction to introducing the reader to the different scholarship regarding the events of the time. Chapter One: Populist Country Before Populism: Rural Life in the New West and the New South: This chapter attempts to characterize the lives of the persons or groups who would later embrace the populist movement. The main thrust of this chapter deals with the influence of the railroads in the settlements fothe west. He describes how the railroad convinced government officials to offer free land to either white settlers or newly freed blacks in order to populate the west. He mentions that neither the railroads or the government told these people that most of this land was not suitable for farming unless they had particularly rainy years - and those were rare. He addressees the plight of both white and black settlers and how they responded to difficulties faced by living either on the great Plains, the South (meaning Texas) and the Mountain west. He identifies several individuals who sought to either exploit those settlers or those who attempted to organize the settlers in groups that could challenge the authority of the railroads and/or government and, in the process, help each other through hard times or government and/or business monopolies. He speaks of the Civil War and how that experience either changed or failed to affect the lives of farmers in different parts of the country. He addresses the transition from slavery to

sharecropping and how it affected the relationship between the planters and his former slaves. He separates fact from fiction and debunks theory that the populist was a person who was a) an isolated farmer, b) self-sufficient yeoman with little knowledge of business and/or commerce, 3) lived in stereotypical frontier settlements with little connection to the"outside." Chapter Two: Cultures of Protest 1867-86 This chapter identifies the similarities between the apparently disparate peoples that eventually formed the populist movements. Note is made of the fact that even though many of these people came from different backgrounds and areas of the country, they did share a culture of "protest" that was associated with their own history of land ownership. The Populists had a vision of a "well-ordered" society that had its origins in the Founding Fathers and antebellum farmers and artisans. They viewed the prefect society as a republic where the common good always superceded the individual need. In this ordered society there could only be one problem and that lay with the attempts of businessmen to establish monopolies, which they equated with "special privilege." They countered with the idea of "equal rights" as a way to insure stability in an orderly society. The author explains that while rural peoples were those most affected by monopolies, it would be a mistake to think that they were all the same. Most of the rural people were not the

same - divisions of race, class, culture and region existed among them. So where populists could easily identify those engaged in monopolies - the same could not be said in return because of the diverse backgrounds and beliefs of the populists. Anger against supposedly abusive business practices resulted in vigilante behavior, which spread in the South, Great Plains and Western Mountain regions. However most of the future populists did not resort to vigilante action, rather they joined "voluntary" associations, such as the Grange that helped people deal with problems they faced at the local level. This organization laid the groundwork for future political action of these people. Chapter Three: The Farmers Alliance in Search of a Cooperative Commonwealth, 1887-89 This chapter deals with the attempts of farmers from different parts of the country to organize and establish communities of strength that could deal with problems faced by them all. It also explains how they worked, when possible, with workingmen's parties who were also facing the power of monopolies. In some cases cooperation worked and in others not. Regardless, the work they did complete was enough for some to believe that these urban and rural groups could consolidate into a permanent cooperative movement and labor party that could upset the balance of political, social and economic power of the country. It describes the work of C.W. Macune and the Texas Alliance and Exchange, the National Cotton Planters Association, the Agricultural Wheel, Elias Carr and the North Carolina Farmers' State Association, Issac McCracken and Brothers of Freedom, S.O. Daws and the Agricultural Relief and others. Note is made of the recruitment processes used by each group to encourage membership, of the secrecy required of some, of the race relations (or rather lack of) between white and black farmers. It even touches on the efforts of white reformers to establish a Colored Alliance and eventually incorporate them into the entire populist movement. It compares the work of the different Alliances to the resolution of the Oil Embargo of the 1970's that affected this country and while at first successful, the Alliances were ultimately not able to compete against the monopolies that affected agriculture, especially cotton an tobacco. He finally talks about the fact that the Alliances would have all but died out if not for the Great Plain agricultural and real estate boom collapse, the drought of late 1880's, the hardships caused by falling commodity prices and rising transportation costs farmers were forced to deal with. He states that in light of these developments, the Alliances sprang back to life in many communities and formed the core of the political movement that came later. Chapter Four: Farmers, Laborers, and Politics: Interest Groups and Insurgency, 1890 This chapter outlines the different farmers movements that attempted to form coalitions of sorts in order to bring about the change they desired from the politicians of the country. Unhappy with the lack of government to respond to their needs, they took steps that would insure survival of the family farmer. However, as McMath states in this chapter, this was not an easy proposition because every alliance had their own agendas and manners in which to deal with their problems. It goes into detail about the failed mergers and how they led to successful mergers. They addressed the problems that they felt Americans faced in the age of industrialization, namely that the fundamental principles of the Republic were being undermined by unrestrained or unchecked industrialization. This led to a rise of Christian nationalism that called attention to the plight of human suffering brought on by industrialization, especially in the 1870's. These groups singled out many causes for the problems facing the republic form of government that had been established with the Constitution, but at the core, they blamed capitalism for the ills that had befallen (in their minds) the country. These new reformers continued to attract dissatisfied farmers but now added middle-class reformers and women to their ranks. The new Populism appealed to people outside the three areas mentioned before, however, this chapter deals almost exclusively with Mountain Populism (namely California and Colorado) and its effects on workers. Chapter Five: Creating a Political Culture: The People's Party, 1891-92 This chapter dealt with the efforts at establishing a political party based on the needs of the common people and the need for developing a political platform that would attract large numbers of citizens. Mention is made of the Ocala platform and how the new party acquired the name of "populus" which is Latin for people wh

Mr. McMath has created a classic history about the populist movement. It begins in the 1860's and the cultural, social and economical conditions confronting the western and southern farmers. In an easy, but thorough manner, Robert McMath explains why and how these determined and proud people came to form the grange, the greenback movement, the farmer's alliance and finally the great people's party. He covers every aspect of the populist movement and brings to light some very sound and concrete conclusions of who these people were. In closing, he explains how this relates to today and exposes the false right-wing extremists of today who call themselves "populists". Populism was, is and will forevermore be the culmination of the famers' struggles of the 1800's and the political grandfather to the modern left-wing political movement of the United States. Buy this book!!! This has to sit on your bookshelf next to the wonderfull classics of populism by Goodwyn and Hicks, for it is the crowning achievement of the history of populism!!!