The One-Gallused Rebellion: Agrarianism in Alabama, 1865-1896 - Softcover

Rogers, William Warren

9780817311063: The One-Gallused Rebellion: Agrarianism in Alabama, 1865-1896

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0817311068 ISBN 13: 9780817311063

Publisher: University Alabama Press, 2001

Alabama's agrarian protest began in the decades after the Civil War when individual farmers found themselves in an economic regression, unable to understand or partake in the forces behind the New South prosperity enjoyed by a few professional men, merchants, industrialists, and large planters. In reaction to this situation, yeomen farmers began to venture into the economic and business realm through the formation of such organizations as the Farmers' Alliance, the Agricultural Wheel, and the Grange.

Initially apolitical, these groups were the germ of the turbulent agrarian upheaval that culminated in the elections of 1896. Disenchanted by the reign of Bourbon Democrats and their refusal to acknowledge the individual farmer's situation, agrarian reformers united under the umbrella of the Populist Party. The Populists' defeat in 1896 marked the end of the agrarian reform movement, but the legacy of the revolt continued to affect the state politically and socially.

Utilizing important primary material from newspapers and archives as well as unpublished monographs, Rogers provides insight into this complex and influential chapter in Alabama history. In an exceptionally well-written narrative, he explains how poor white farmers, often identified by a single gallus of their worn overalls strung diagonally across a shoulder and fastened to the bib, formed an unusual alliance with blacks, industrial workers, coal miners, and a number of editors and other citizens who believed in political and economic justice.

This book was originally published in 1970 by LSU Press; this first paperback edition includes a new introduction by the author. The One-Gallused Rebellion is recognized as the definitive examination of late-19th-century agrarian struggles in Alabama and will remain so for many years to come.

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About the Author:

William Warren Rogers is an Emeritus Professor of History at Florida State University and coauthor of Alabama: The History of a Deep South State, also published by The University of Alabama Press.

Review:

"[This is] the most thoroughly researched study of farm politics in print for the period." —Journal of American History

"This is one work that will take its place among the distinguished state studies upon which future investigation will rest." —Journal of Southern History

"...a vivid and excellent account of the farmers' efforts to achieve reforms in Alabama during the post-Civil War years." --Ernest M. Lander Jr. of the University of Lagos in Nigeria, in The Journal of Negro History.

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