Two-Party Politics in the One-Party South : Alabama's Hill Country, 1874–1920

This study challenges the long-held view that the only important and influential politicians in post-Reconstruction Deep South states were Democrats. In this insightful and exhaustively researched volume, Samuel L. Webb presents new evidence that, contrary to popular belief, voters in at least one Deep South state did not flee en masse from the Republican party after Reconstruction. As Webb demonstrates conclusively, the party gained strength among white voters in Upcountry areas of northern Alabama between 1896 and 1920. Not only did GOP presidential candidates win more than a dozen area counties but Republican congressional candidates made progress in Democratic strongholds, and local GOP officials gained control of several county courthouses. Nor were these new Republicans simply the descendants of anti-Confederate families, as some historians have claimed. Rather, they were former independents, Greenbackers, and Populists, who, in keeping with the 1890s Populist movement, were reacting against what they perceived as the control of the Democratic party by "moneyed elites" and planter landlords. Webb also breaks with previous historical opinion by showing that ex-Populists in the Hill Country, who had been radical reformers during the 1890s, remained reform minded after 1900. Webb's ground-breaking reassessment of Alabama state politics from Reconstruction to the 1920s describes a people whose political culture had strong roots in the democratic and egalitarian Jacksonian ideology that dominated north Alabama in the antebellum period. These people carried forward elements of Jacksonianism into the late 19th century, with its tenets continuing to influence them well into the early 20th century. A challenge to the long-held view that the only important and influential politicians in post-Reconstruction Deep South states were Democrats. In this insightful and exhaustively researched volume, Samuel L. Webb presents new evidence that, contrary to popular belief, voters in at least one Deep South state did not flee en masse from the Republican party after Reconstruction. As Webb demonstrates conclusively, the party gained strength among white voters in Upcountry areas of northern Alabama between 1896 and 1920. Not only did GOP presidential candidates win more than a dozen area counties but Republican congressional candidates made progress in Democratic strongholds, and local GOP officials gained control of several county courthouses. Nor were these new Republicans simply the descendants of anti-Confederate families, as some historians have claimed. Rather, they were former independents, Greenbackers, and Populists, who, in keeping with the 1890s Populist movement, were reacting against what they perceived as the control of the Democratic party by "moneyed elites" and planter landlords. Webb also breaks with previous historical opinion by showing that ex-Populists in the Hill Country, who had been radical reformers during the 1890s, remained reform minded after 1900. Webb's ground-breaking reassessment of Alabama state politics from Reconstruction to the 1920s describes a people whose political culture had strong roots in the democratic and egalitarian Jacksonian ideology that dominated north Alabama in the antebellum period. These people carried forward elements of Jacksonianism into the late 19th century, with its tenets continuing to influence them well into the early 20th century. Samuel L. Webb presents new evidence that, contrary to popular belief, voters in at least one Deep South state did not flee en masse from the Republican party after Reconstruction. Instead, as Webb conclusively demonstrates, the party gained strength among white voters in northern Alabama's Hill Country region between 1896 and 1920. Not only did GOP presidential candidates win more than a dozen area counties during this period but also Republican congressional candidates made progress in Democratic strongholds and local officials gained control of several county courthouses. These new Republicans were not simply the descendants of anti-Confederate families, as some historians have claimed. Rather, they were former independents, Greenbackers, and Populists, who, in keeping with the 1890s Populist movement, reacted against what they perceived as the takeover of the Democratic party by the "moneyed elites" and Black Belt planter-landlords. By 1900, many Hill Country Populists had found a congenial home in the GOP, albeit one with a populist and progressive bent. Webb breaks with previous historical opinion by showing that ex-Populists in the Hill Country, who were radical reformers during the 1890s, remained reform minded after 1900. Continuity existed between their movement and progressivism. Webb uses the pivotal year of 1912 to exemplify how many ex-Populists were attracted by Theodore Roosevelt and his Bull Moose Progressive party and supported a variety of reforms, particularly those related to the rights of labor. Webb then analyzes retrospectively and prospectively the reasons for the movement. The author aims to present evidence that voters in at least one Deep South state did not flee en masse from the Republican Party after Reconstruction. The book describes a people whose political structure had strong roots in the democratic and egalitarian Jacksonian ideology.