Illinois Wesleyan University
Digital Commons @ IWU
Honors Projects
History Department
1966
The Colored Farmers' Alliance and Negro
Disfranchisement in the South
Sandranel Bahan '66
Illinois Wesleyan University
Recommended Citation
Bahan '66, Sandranel, "The Colored Farmers' Alliance and Negro Disfranchisement in the South" (1966). Honors Projects.
Paper 37.
http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/history_honproj/37
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©Copyright is owned by the author of this document.
II
To understand and evaluate fully and accurately the
of the
I
to
te
is
revo lt
s and the grievances that
to the
revolt and the
The rem.ainder of the
A l liance and >,Ti l l
the Colored
11 examine in
to
the
ll ionce in southern life and po
of
of the nine-
, therefore, the first
Of neces
it is necessary
the
of the
nd
Union
National A l liance and
\,,1 th the
that developed
and
paper
of'
of the farmer0
the\ro le of the
and the
is
vrith
There is a screw loose.
s have
The
The railroads have
icultural
industrial
out of
and
be,'m so
The banks have never done a
better or more profitable husiness
and
s never made more
, and
money or were in a more
Towns and cities flourish and
8®
I and grow and Ibooml and
shes.
ture
and fees were never
and d
1
and
is true that the b
civilization had not benefitted
1
in
United states
of
the
, and
Ie classes than had been
to
The
to the
been
the lO'tler
to the oi ty dv:ellers
exi
the United
to
seek
itical action
one the
in the
in
to
to
c
G
2
for his lack
1
convinced
to
a
he did not
COlll.'1lodi ties on
and
*
market.
s
In the years from
he
t
I n certa.in
on at a lOSSe 4
was actual
of the so-called
for the
:z;
from his lande/'
'VJas due to the 10',1
decl
to
and
the
success of his farm and a
never doubted that his lack of
he r eceived
In
erts back east
rmersl
gross
s true that the
t while it
doubled in the
increase
st
d
that since the "Testern la.nds
tiv
s
new -- in
s of
d
and the southern
inois,
to
of' the
The farmers
10:
-2 -
no
s to
their
and cooperative
cterized Great
road
In Minnesota and
,
, fo
to pay over half the value of
to
to be sold.
6
s "rere
The fantastic
but the
to the
ace
all the
st of all,
traffic to the
cars
"las
of
"rest 'flere
s
the fantastic
lost money for the
for
,
the
res.son that0� there "rere too many of them
say,
the
even
Mitchell, South
Even vlith
still
to pay the cost
Third,
,
•
s in these areas 'itlere tremendou s ly overbuilt"
the
it
to
and the South went in one direction
traffic in the
fre
farmers viere
\vheat
necessary for several reasons.
east.
farmer-rail-
heeded 8,11
in
not be
railros.d eXecuti
did this
farnler
t
r line
the
the remainder of the
continue
to
cars,
which meant a loss of
nee
tion
II
the
s and
more obstacles to fair
to
rmerrwished to send his
the e
in
to
addition
or
to market.
srnall group of
nail-
on
s
tor
chance of
or
cooperative
the railroad lines.
that if a
l ine the el
s
to
iscrimination and
the elevrtor
st
an
ind ivid ual
te elevf,tors on their ovm
rmens to sot up
or alongside the nearest railroad line vias doomed to failure
estab-
since the railroads refused to first of all deal with any
elevators,
lished
and second
to
Is to colleot their
ny
the :f'8.ct
A
ievances
redre
b
rticular
slative
sible since
tical s
the railroads
in the western states
it vlas the Santa Fe
In
cific lines
Union
votes in the
control
other ste.tes to
in
ce
chance in
control of
in the
10
tures.
s intro-
insl.l.lt
st
of the
s.
to have
s of �.he iunerican
federal
lisheci claims
had, hovtever, e
to much of this
lie d
considerable
idea
on.
to
no
for free land
The d
nei for homesteads
territories is best exemplified
in the
land at
d proceeded to sell
ere,
s
the
ven to the American
the
led to death in the rush for
tiUable Imd.
were
The railroads, the farmers
the federa l
citizens.1 1
crops raised in
t there 'l'lere
s
rates,
one
corn
interest.
•
tes
ralseu
End
in
were so
ised value
of
cases
for
west were too heR
in debt that
the
IS
there
the
ins.
1
i
and
e
stence
t'
14
, t
end moved back east or 2nvo
the ],arger CJ. ':Les.
declared
.
that has been said
the South and to the
and
bout the
he
to live
in
to
and an
their situation or
lords
"lith indiff-
fae
1.'lhi te ccunter-
the railroads,
, plus the businessmen and the
future
15·
in
the
fir
in
s and some
bsentee mmer
s
of the
to go
ition to the crop liens, most
to
their
crop
,.rinter s.nd pay for
t:leir needs.
to
vlith
have and often forced
oor ,,?hites in the South "rere victims of
arenee
A
the southern farmer i'lElS faced \-,'ith
in
i
icable to
is
with one ad ition.
liens the
into d
or
to
United
out of
s
ove-stated
lliance
of
American
is
'lhe
Milton
llinois on
1
June
in
linois
In its ch'3.rter the A lliance issued a condenme.tion
the
advocated
control
6
of the railroads to
The
Al ia.nce idea
and
were the
in I l li nois,
less success
ouri" 17
Wisconsin,
the years
the
crops and
lliance movement declined as
but por crops and hard times
eturned
Id
,,,hen the A l lianc
nee movement was once
del
further
lie.nce
s
its
is dis
8
events in the
in
loca. lized
frot.:
Northern
to secret rituals --
the
1
9,
rural
1 iance
1
•
J.l�ance
'
In
.19
lliance in
it
local or
20
In
at
s as its
21
to the
sister
the Southern Alliance
Before
Bted
entire
in
j oint
Louis,
national Alliance.
name
issues
three
st
TllaS over the
,,[ould be called.
of the tvlO
the national
upon cal
tion the Farmers'
ob j ected
li8.nc
Southern
unification of
one
joined
Laborers'
Unione
lli ance
The
instead
word Alliance and
I
tion
southerners
This was considered
into
" 1
minor
iT
of'
exclusion
l1iance
d been proc
'\rihi
18
to
the
to
colored c
s
i ns
clause
each state
would decide for itself
it wished to include
third
to
It the need i'o1'
The
lienee activities
to
itself in secrecy
A llience
liance,
in contra st,
had from tree very
e the IIort h sm-l
the nead for secrecy in its activi ties
no need for secrecy e.nd the South was
to ezpose its
or
te
but the
not
s
bee
of
or
sourc
of
of
the
and
lances
1
in
&
It
cand
leotians ..
tll2,t tIle id
so
Allir:.nce
s
Here too
a.
the t\'iO
same ends.22
to achieve
the conference dre,'! to a close four specific a reas of activi
1'16re to
as the
11anco '{ia
j or aims of t11e
liance Yll0Ver",1ent.
social
to be
si
crooted in locnl communities to
aid
, material, snd spiritual
of
orises or
or
groups 1:[ero
1vas
end
e members
some loss
on the
v[aS b8Ck on its feet
sid until
calendar was used as an exouse to
special
These
an
the
offered
for members in a
and en.scuss
to
,
sick
.
and accomplishments.
miles or more to corne to an
1
A second aUll
tho Alliance
s education
but in
the
S
lisl1L1ent of
-10-
and South
In
1:101 ,
col
e
see
fun
to
,
to discussio n of
the latest
nel'l innova tiona tha t
',las
fertil
end every
any
Iso
farmers.
tural
for the estab-
Leges i'lhere f'8.rmers could learn adve.nced
c
s.
means of
the
that
came the
these
lishment of
ided on crop
education,
farnel's neVi und
was stressed
as a
of hO\'1 to solve their
and be better farmers and businessmena
sett
third aim of the J\l1isnce was financiaL
elevetors and
and
in the South,
up
especially
the
to ease the
them easy credit
burden and
better financial
ition, the members of the
,vould
sny
t to
s
their
of
fins
the
cor!i!!1unitie
llicnc
was
the
into state and national
active
,
to
hold that the railroads had on
of
to
tes
in
itical
and in
liance
the
achieve some
control of
It vias
this
control of the
control the
-1 --
t ret
latures in
rather
executiva o ffices vihieh
directed
axe
Sine
little real power to enect
sla.tiv
in
no
ential election, it i·ras
considered a off-election year
enthusi8sm
i
iticians
of the Allianc ..
lacent
e
In the
rude
and South
the
Al
in r'�orth Dakota,
lliance states
Kansas,
of
lican
into the
Iov1a,
, and
Illinois,
In many cases this meant tha.t 'l'lhile the
to win the elections, the
Nebraska,
elected full s
candidates to local offices, and ate de
"
there vras little
the elections.
wi th the exc
,
enforce
Hance failed
icans, many of them
incum-
bents, also lost and Democrats took over in many of the state
slatures..
'fhe
control o f the
di
discontent and
e
the
s.
e
rolina
The
the
iance leader
lliance controlled the
sDuri, Missi
Tennessee!>
In
1
'{las elected
Ben
in Ala. bama ,
Carolina,
ition to
success in state elections
and three
the Alliances vvere able to elect
s to
in
traditional
2-
of
lic8.ns
in the north and i'iest
in the South had
the old Democratic
'J.'he idea of a success-
their conservative
pa
an
no
Encourages
their successes the Southern Alliance
Florida, in December 1890. and the
d
t firs':
, and six
the
cone
o'Vmer
but
ad-
for free silver for several yeers
Second ''laS abolition of the nRtional banks;
nd tel
of rai
of alien
,
the president
tIe
for them in the
had been
vlith little success.
II
:;;m d South very
'11hich 'v,'ould prove political
states
In essence
free silver, an issue
s$
ineated as their common
i'/hich
in
llience at
the saae
liances
t Ocala
of reform for the future.
snecific
the two
4
ble d
ident,
ition
fourth,
a constitutional 8Jnendment to elect
("lnd all sene tors
d
of the Australian ballot
sixth,
third,
vote of the
..
25
last two demands Vlere to be successful and the issue of free silver
or nati
the
In
1 e lection issue.
South 'Vlere faced with the most difficult
pp"
1
-1
d
establish
eo
te slate
for
in
Or'
s
local elections
a
di
nominated
thema to southerners,as their candidate for
,"[ould aJriiost
liance
ther join the new third
Democra
candidate, even
had
believed in
the
it meant
nd
inst
sVlallovTed their distate and folloTtled
stl"tes v/here the third
heated and
had
and the 08ro11n2s, the
to be in
The
in
t
81
r
In
too,
hethe pro£:rs.m unaI'p
to many"
st
the third
tried
tson
nor
here it tvas a case of"
'rhe c9ndidates '�Jere
Tom
man;{ votes as there
third
voters.
ee
, bribery,
tricks of the
li!:moe
the
but in the bal
j
1
nt
,"las
the
Democre, tic ma.chine
all
those
line.
In
third
but most
did buck the pa
in the
the
-1
but 8.1
s
the
notional
d
in
unified
a
itical movement ,,,as after t he disasterous election of
to lose its
and much of its
PoUtical
st movement had failed,
b
ishments
but it did achieve
sult
the
,
, "Toman
seventeenth
for direct election
elections for po
e,
Qf
the
sen8tors was
nomina.tions becefrne the comraon
and both the referendum and recall beCAme
of our govern-
2.ddi tion to these very positive accompl
the
lli€mc
Ie for the federal
movement vras
tion of the currency
and for
cU.lminated in the esta lishment of the
of
llie.nce and the
the intense
Hies
Democre. ts in
the
SO�1.th
9
ed to undermine
i
the
licans in the
"lOuld
:Never
the
"
in
th8.t the
0_
\.,
South.
It
of this
-1
the same
be
to
1
to the
.is f'inal
11
be
1
b
itiolll
oos
, the
11il1noo advoc8ted
mont of
eventual
rsl
is.nce Emd
Na tional
vias fir s t formed
or
tion in Houston County,
\vhite
orod Alliance
tion.
the first
he
in 1867.
this Vias the
8.
white
c onvention
of existence of
for
11
farmers
W8S
virtual
Thus the
to
out in the years fro:l1
in the year
in
ry
leaders had
1 as
The earliest
been the Patrons of
of Richmond,
The
T'his
but the rest of the officials v,ere
bellurn
state-
hnd achieved national status.
of the
, D. C.
s the Colored
On December 29, 1886, it became
flnd
ist missionary,
t o be known
tive Union"
1?S B. local
'rexas, on December 11
i8h-
est!?
se of economic
e secret rituals of the
a"?pealed to the
ed
fanners.
in such a.n
Alliance
tion
,
es of
,
II
the
social
the love of'
of the
secrecy
of
cooperative
M�obile, and
In
the Colored Alliance be,gan
li
a
lled the National Alliance
counter-
was to be the
Alliance's
the
t the
lliance
to ace
be seen in the Declaration of
lish ultimate
of
can
Colored Alliance:
liTo elevate the colored people of the United St8tes
them to love their
and their homes;
less and sick and destitute;
more for their
for the education
more
in
espec
to CRre
to labor
themselves and their
turnl pursuits
become better farmers e,nd laborers and less
.
1tjastemethods of
ful i n
II
be more obedient to the civil law and vIithdral"l their
itical
bec
ored
b etter citizens Rnd truer
liance
s 8.nd 1trives. II
sou,ht close ties 1trith
est
in
effect more
results
not
Alliance in the first
to every state
lace I'ras ll:ost
northern Al iance groups all
el
their
ctive in
South, since
1
members in the
any real need for
s behreen
colored
E
1
v,hite and colored Alliances varied
in degree f'rom state to stste"
In
no
there
et1tleen the hiO,
34
v;hile in
hard to
in southern re18tions.
TIlere are several reasons for this di
,
in
,
in
the
the
\Vere car
cons
bosses,
the
to be
a.ddition
such
JUlianoe vias not
in North
e
white
.,,-TQuld leave the state and be
sett
the
\i'hen
on
did ste.rt
of the
northward in
s in
num b ers in the
s
e
o f the Southern
c
th,'1.t one of the
of the
In
tural
a
t enant
be
iance..
in the South
tha.t this ten8.nt
Then lilhen
'tihite
of the
, many
\-lith mass
Oarolinians protested
the
of voters a.nd the curtailment of educational
t had led many
as
oppressive
In
led
s to abandon the state
in
I'fatson and the
not only
desired
and
the
for the W3.y to a neYl re Is
the whites in
t held the
se of
for the
It 1IlaS a v8.liant
and
At
in
the
tothe colored
there i"l2 S a
young Tom itl8tson.
and cond
gro e conomica
to break
futile,
tic
beliefsliW
Ocala convention for the Southern
the
Alliance also met at
conventions the tvlO Alliance
of over four mill
over hlO
million
and
s emer
I iance
these tv.lO
virtually fused into one
members
llion members
liance
1Il1'dle
of the
in
-1
convention
s
the
subtreasury plan
land loans
of money to
ohibit det'l
3
per
in futures
free coinage of silver
of land
land
limit
revise the tariff in the intere,}t of' the
er
incoI:1e t ax
control of the rai
7
e lec
of
States Senators
irect voto of the
people
e those
seven
c
from the Southern
and the Northern
tiOi:101
1
Omaha
1 iance
convention in
1 ie.nce
the
on the colored
It i'iaS from this
a
lli8.nce
C('Dvention
st national
$
in
The motion 'das
the call
lienee
the Colored Al iance ivas
lin
"
-20-
that
it
the
to
Alli8.nce in the
in
of'
been several
the Oolored
1
call
for a
oourse infuriated Southern farmers
s of
those vlho v.roro
so
outhern Alliance
the enac
This of
strike of cotton
llirmce
Force
of
favored
and
111anoe
the di
of
in
times until the election of 1892
From
on suffr"nce only, since it yfaS
in the South
stood that the
were to have no chance to ydne
1 undersituation
in
of the small
thG
1:las returned
the el ection of
to
federal supervision of
lioan voter
nee
tion to the co
8
e��ercise of
the Hous
pm·mr
, hOi'ieVer,
"
bill met
11
1
to vote
bill out of its
of the silver bil
make y{ay for the c
in the
ov
on the
this
, end there
-21-
feel
•
of
usua
it
in
to be a
into its constitution v�hat
fonnula for elimina
the election
vote®
the
the third
was a
and
Kansas "ias one of the first states to appeal to the
for
Severe.l
1
to
and there vias an acti ve drive to
in the election.
for
In Texas, too, there i'iaS an
I
the
to run for certain offices and to generally
activities in search of
appes.l for
S He t'l.Vl.
't'�esG 47
been
have al
in
noted"
t otal member
lUanee boasted
nOvl the
were
the southern
In
of two million
,
nee
fir
the Oolored Al iance
the creation
had be
discu.ssions
rets
since the
one or it
their pre idential nominee for the rorthc
I1t:td chosen
the
national
All
southerners
stood
chance of
Democratic machine and
control over southern
di
--'"
of
�22-
vio"{,s
because of his
f'inancial
Thus
HUlh�Htltion r allied
to
the
l'he
on
in the South had
OVer the years since reconst:n<wtion
to
no
of the
1
of
vi
to exercise their constitutional
in the South
election of
s pa
but at tho Ramo time called it self 8
left the Co
the
liance
sts
8a\1 that
in the midd Ie.
stood
chance at least of
8
the same
s.
in Southern
influence and
were threatened
bea
their
in countIes
tion vJh8tever
d
ied
in effect, boiled
election o f
m'in
control in the South
•
1
lca./.
tte
coerced
an
ll-out
tever
sures
neceSS8 ry
in
t o the
it
sanctioned.
vote
e,
the
still had sufficient reason
nd in some cS.ses to fe
reasonably certain that their can-
in
when the
viere c
the
s
, Texas, and
the
the
to mere fantasies"
.....
s had
of all,
.
VlCI.-Orl.es.
in
the threat of 8. third party successful
on Democratic
racist Democrat
to make the
The threat
the third PC;)
ed dOvln to one
en entente
the
any
stood Ii ttle real chFll1c e of
the
than a
to
son.
or
to the
tic nominee viSS ..
in the southern persona
the
c
;',e1'e more nurnorous than
t since
could outvote
ed
Southern
(a
in the
in
the numerical
in
COlmcil
over-
S
and \�lith the
the
of
s to
to 'f/hite
at
in
'rhe mer e three t of
s.
to
to the new leaders of the
race
11 unsure of hoi': successful thier
had
rats re:
to ches
, and
mentioned before, Tom
there 'f,ere
and
on election
of voters were all
"lost
t\vice
(5 S
many votes as
Alabama
voters in his
as
were beaten or bribed or
as
came to
'!lere turned avtay from the
1s on every
was in
'I'hird
to
to vote
to avoid
ace
lives
necessary to win.
determined to
, and their
if
up to
on
in
ke it
lots
ts to steGl
in
slleces
0
a
of the Southern Alliance
ca
bove all else the
iilesl force.
that
vlere a
s
so
s
factor in
to
subordinate
must
economic
to
s
of the
to offset Democrstic tactios
]?rom
eny real
this move meet wi
"nd even here it illas more
of
their
Unf'ortun'"'
tho
lliance had c
The Democretic
sleture in the South
in the
every
ed
s virtual
run
the
test, h8d the l\l1iance
rest
failed so
offers
p
II
es
hate the ne'cT people
1 supremacy of their aristocratic rule
to
who have
into actus.l
tion,
as not even the
Iicans
critical examination to find the cause
raL'1ovitz
the
fro:n its
-white
the
the
lli2.nce
s t ride to
d made a
Their establishment of a
,
of their m-ffi
third
olitical
the
of the
movement made the
of
the
ritual
te.nt in itself"
lliance
manls
Sh8
A
1 need for association with the S01).thern Alli ance
men and 1:mmen
o f two
this
group.
endent, u:1ified
1\
sep8ra�
niz.ation
ceB.sed to be a
in the
the
many southerners
of
for the
the
after
vias 8bsorbed into the
Al
become a
some
iiith the idea of disfranchi
It to fake election resul ts
the need that the
r esult
, however,
that
every chenoe of
For
not
it Trias tree. ted
the colla se of
to the
and "muld
at least a fair el
if not in a
the time
vlOuld remOVe
of the
that
after
1896
in
Ie poal ticn 'IThiah
and
ord
been
ion behleen
in "chne neve broken
ho
Emd '''hite
had enaoted measures
des
1
voters
taxes�
every state cons
9.11
i'irst
of
tests viere
ssive measures were
tl1€
suIt
out of
r
the debetes over the
1.
e
the emergence of the Oolored
south had been
shaken to
the une:x-
d
e of a
p
',las no
mes.ger
and take vlhatever
to
Nov.r,
the itlhites
viera
penniless,
ted,
in
in a
j
life.
s ::lnd their
DOllllnon effort to
It
st
rs ,,[:;0,
in 1
nationol
the
terial
It ,\lias also
Iit tl
so
tha t the
their
'1 • .L, ..
re
s
,
.Lll.,..1.Ca .L
t
a
to
their causo,
the members of their race to
do more than
or tslk
in
l11en such
bout
S8
look back to
So
domination.
to do
vms
Hnd to the
in the e1
to the
s
their
could make the
All �:he vihi te southerner
force in southEiitrn
8S
in 1892 to see i-rhat
as
in the
vIas
to
to vote southerners t'tould never be free of the £e81" of
sement v,'as the only
j
.;.....--
-------
June 1891,
Science
, Leonidas L@,
s Discontent,1I
P.meri08,n
---
tion," Forum,
Atlanta .Oonsti
��4
• _____
, 1890
h"
December
5, 1890
December 8,
October 6,
'fribune,
1890
1892
1880
,
---�.'
1890
1890
----,
Ja.nuary
December
1,
Arnett,
,
",:",,",,,-�-
, t'lilliam
Ph. D" The
in America, Neltl
of' Kansas,
Society,
.,
Press,
----
)veaver,
sity of'
Im'i'a
s,
,
Politics,
and the
r in American
�------
,
"
L oui si e.na
Baton
�----�
, Helen
.,
��8.sters Thesis,