Ch 8 Age Of Agrarian Discontent

Chapter Eight

Age of Agrarian Discontent

1870 – Texas had only 583 miles of railroad tracksHigh freight rates and slow land service prevented

the growth of commerce in TexasEconomic growth depended on a large rail network

Land Grant Law of 1876Texas Constitution of 1876 defined railroads as

public carriersLand Grant Law authorized 16 sections of land for

every mile of rail trackResults

Forty railroads received 32 million acres for roughly 3000 miles of track

Railroads and Economic Development

Railroad speculators promised instant prosperity to communities that subsidized routes through their townMany ghost towns result from over speculation

Money for rail expansionEastern investorsForeign investorsPublic aid from communities/towns that could

afford itResults

Some areas of the state were overbuiltOther areas lacked any rail facilities


Old Perry (Falls County)Otto (Falls County)Osage (Colorado County)Anson (Jones County)

Named after Anson Jones

Ghost Towns Resulting from Railroad Speculation

Otto, Texas

Osage, Texas Perry, Texas (Falls Co.)

Anson, Texas

Jones County Courthouse

Transportation company issuesMost did not prosper from the sale of granted landLand was awarded in alternating sections

Most wanted to buy land in contiguous sections

However, the Texas Pacific Land Trust (est. 1888) is still the state’s largest landownerAmassed the holdings of the Texas and Pacific

RailroadResults of rail expansion in Texas

1872- Texas ranked 28th in the U.S. for rail mileage1904 – Texas led the nation in rail mileage (10,000)Population growth corresponded with the growth of

the rail network


Major LinesMissouri, Kansas, and Texas (Katy)Texas and Pacific Railroad (T&P)Southern PacificGreat Northern

Rail influence on other industriesLumbar

Need for ties, bridges, stations, etc.Cotton Gins


Patterns of tradeThe rail network broke up old patterns of tradeFarmers and businessmen were forced to deal with

markets far removed from their regionTrade agents were impersonal and impartial to local

concernsCriticisms of the rail industry

Shipper discriminationSecret agreements between monopolistic linesPrice discrimination

The Texas Traffic Association (1885) attempted to regulate rates

Atty. Gen. James Hogg won a court order to dissolve the association

Numerous successors would attempt to regulate rates for the next 40 years


1876- Texas had 61 million acres of public landTwo categories for land

Permanent School FundRoughly 42 million acres

Unappropriated Public DomainCould be sold for numerous purposes; retire public debt,

railroad allocation, economic development

Fifty-Cent LawPermitted the sale of all unappropriated public domain

for 50 cents an acre; no quantity limitationsTexas sold less than 2 million acres during the law’s

tenureHowever, it depressed the cost of land drastically

Public Land

Fifty-Cent LawRailroads and land-holders were forced into recievershipLand speculators bought land at deflated valuesCritics argued that Gov. Oran Roberts sold Texas to

corporations and syndicatesRevision

Public domain land reclassifiedAgricultural, timber, or pastoral values

No more land could be sold to railroadsTexas legislature creates the State Land Board

Oversee the reclassification of public domainEnsure settlers received priority over speculators

General Land Office administered public land after the State Land Board was abolished in 1887

Public Land

Overall, land legislation’s success was debatable

Public opinion ran against the state’s early choices

Too many believed that farmers and small businesses fell victim to the state’s overzealous sale of land to railroads and corporations

Public Land

Railroads led to the expansion of barbed wire and windmills in Texas

Cattlemen began fencing their surface water sites, pastures, ranches, and sometimes public domain in around 1883

Disputes began to occur over fencing and “fence-cutting wars” beganOccurred in more than ½ of the counties in the state

1884 Fencing Law It was a felony for fence cuttingEvery three miles of fence required a gateProhibited the enclosure of public land

Fence-Cutting Wars

Secret organizations were formed against fencing in generalSaw it as a threat to republicanism (land use and

democracy)Developed into a class consciousness that worked its

way into PopulismWere very popular in the Cross Timbers regionAlso responsible for fence cutting in the area

Law enforcement and public opinion against fence cutting quelled the wars by 1890One Texas Ranger placed dynamite at a fencing

location and rigged it to explode if the fence was cut

Fence-Cutting Wars

East Texas yellow pine grew on roughly 20 million acresThe mild climate and cheap labor made it an ideal

location for a lumber industry in TexasMost farmers considered pine trees a nuisance

Overcutting in the MidwestWhite pine forests in the Upper Midwest led to

depletion in the mid 1880sMost consumers did not prefer the yellow pine of

Texas, but short supply quickly ended that preferenceTexas’ lumber industry grew from a cottage

industry to one of the nation’s largest

The Lumber Industry in Texas

Fowlerton Lumber Yard, Fowlerton (La Salle County)

By 1900, Texas produced more than 1 billion board feet of lumber in 637 establishments

John H. Kirby organized the Kirby Lumber Firm First multi-million dollar firm in Texas Acquired timberlands at less than $2 an acre

Company Towns Lumber entrepreneurs built company towns with churches,

schools, housing, and stores Camden, Texas

Over 75 of the workforce was unskilled labor that earned $1.50 to $2 a day until the early 1920s

Companies frequently paid in merchandise checks redeemable only at the company store Prices were almost always inflated

Essentially, workers who lived in company towns were at the mercy of lumber mill owners for almost all aspects of their lives

The Lumber Industry in Texas

Texas and IndustrializationNational per capita value of manufactures was

$171 (1900)Texas’ value was $39.99Texas was far from being a profitable industrial

stateCottonseed Mills

4,514 cotton gins in the state (1 was in Osage)Produced roughly 34 percent of the nation’s

total cotton cropFlour Milling

Other Industries in Texas

OilBecomes the mineral that makes Texas rich during the

early 20th centuryCoal

Industry worth over $5 million in 1900Most profitable mineral before the oil explosion

SaltSecond to CoalVan Zandt County had the Grand Saline plant

IronSome iron ores discovered in East TexasCherokee County produced 50,000 tons of pig iron

annually

Minerals in Texas

Cotton Processing, Galveston, Texas

Dallas was the leading industrial center Flour and grist milling, printing, publishing

Houston (2nd) Railcar construction, cottonseed processing

San Antonio (3rd) Distilling of malt liquors

Fort Worth (4th) Meat-packing, flour and grist milling

Galveston (5th) Once the leading city in Texas, now exporting cotton

Waco, Sherman, and Beaumont represented other significant cities

Agricultural wealth’s concentration in major cities irritated farmers Cities became rich at the farmer’s expense This sentiment paves the way for political movements such as

Populism

Manufacturing in Texas

Working Conditions12 hour work days, 6 days a week$12 per month for unskilled laborUp to $100 for skilled laborWorks accepted terms of employment or found

other jobs; no negotiationTexan Views of Organized Labor

Strikes led to violence, thus, threatened stability and order

Organized labor akin to radicalism, thus, un-American

Organized labor was primarily a foreign influence

Unions in Texas

Why Unions Fail in TexasMajority of the workforce was unskilled

Little reason to demand better wages when you could easily be replaced

State government endorsed anti-unionismPart of the New South creedNeed to attract industry to the region

Had to guarantee an inexpensive and stable labor forceUnions only complicated the matter

Industries came in and were allowed to bust unionsBlacklistingHiring of strike-breakersGovernment force used to break strikes

Unions in Texas

Knights of Labor“reform unionism” (very political in nature)Claimed 30,000 Texan members in 1885Led numerous strikes, but public support went

against them when violence resultedGovernment power used to break strikes and

the union declined in TexasAmerican Federation of Labor (AFL)

“business unionism” (apolitical)Numerous branches of the AFL form in Texas,

but overall, they do not do well

Unions in Texas

New South mentalityDiversification of crops would lead to self-sufficient farms

Wheat, corn, oats, and cottonScientific farming and crop rotation would preserve the

family farm and prevent sharecroppingPolitical Influence

Democrats blamed Republicans and Reconstruction for the Panic of 1873 and the subsequent agricultural instability

If Democrats were allowed, they would restore economic stability to Texas

Problem with these ideasTechnology led to overproduction

It was now too easy to get crops to marketEveryone wanted a stake in cash crops like cottonPrices suffer as a result

Agricultural Issues

Tenant farming and sharecropping increase despite the grand rhetoric of agricultural advisors and the Democratic party

Sharecropping and CottonThe only way for sharecropping to fail

miserably was for cotton prices to increaseAs most speculated it would

However, cotton prices did not increase at the rate needed to keep sharecroppers out of chronic indebtedness

These issues lead to the rise of Populist sentiment during the mid-1890s

Agricultural Issues

ProblemsOvercrowding and inadequate correctional facilities

Result of population growth and lawlessness in West TexasSelf-sufficiency

Prison labor force to essentially run the prison

Gov. Oran Roberts believed pardoning and self-reliance in the prison system would help

Convict LeasingPrivate individuals could lease convicts from the prison

system to work whatever economic necessity the renter desired

The system is overhauled numerous times with little success

It became a bigger issue around 1920

Prison Reform

Convicts working at a quarry, Marble Falls, 1880

Law of 1884Completed reorganized the public school systemMandated a partial return to a centralized system

State superintendants, record keeping, teacher certification, etc.

Local districts were allowed to tax themselves (with the county’s help) to support common schoolsBeginning of “independent school districts”

Regular attendance mandatedAges eight to sixteen

Success of the law was somewhat limitedScattered settlement patternsEducation in the city was better than in rural areas

Common Education

Texas A&MFirst public college in Texas opened in 1876Located near BryanIt was originally designed to be a part of the

University of Texas systemThe Morrill Act required that the all male

school provide military trainingLawrence “Sul” Ross, former Confederate hero

and Waco local became president in 1891Blacks could not attend Texas A&M per state

law

Higher Education

University of TexasChartered in 1839, but did not begin classes

until 1883Austin was picked for the main campusGalveston was selected for the medical schoolFormer Texas Gov. Oran Roberts served as the

first dean of the law schoolUniversity was financed through general

revenues and the permanent fund (from the sale/lease of UT’s 2 million acres of land)

Higher Education

Prairie View Normal InstituteOpened in 1879Provided an agricultural education for black

studentsAlso became a college to train teachers

Sam Houston State Normal SchoolOpened in 1879 in HuntsvilleBecame the institutional model for other

normal schools throughout the stateLater becomes Sam Houston State University

Higher Education

Democrats became the de facto party of choice after ReconstructionWelded to the “Lost Cause” mentalityThe party almost became a homage to the Confederate

dead and their causeWhites Voting against the Democratic party meant

dishonoring the party of their fathersThis mentality lingers well into the 1940sMajor achievements from 1876-1886

Building the new state capitolOverall, Democrats strove to maintain the status quo

and did little to help the poor and dispossessedProhibition becomes a key issue during the 1880s, yet

they do nothing

Conservative Democratic Control

Norris Wright Cuney (Galveston) becomes head of the Republican party in Texas due to his influence with black votersStrength of the party was in East

Texas and the Gulf CoastWhite Republicans formed “lily-

white factions” in protest of blacks controlling the partyThey wanted to become more

influential with the national Republican party

They decline due to their refusal to merge with any other third parties

Republicans in the 1880s

First third-party to challenge Democratic control of TexasOrganized in response to deflation of the national money

supplyU.S. gov’t took the country off the gold standard during the

Civil WarGov’t issued “greenback” paper money that was not backed

by gold during the warGreenbacks caused inflation, but allowed for economic

expansionThe problem with greenbacks

Financiers and Wall Street brokers wanted to redeem their greenbacks for gold

In response, the U.S. gov’t goes back to the gold standard in 1875 (Specie Resumption Act)

The Greenback Party

The problem with greenbacksAs a result, the amount of money in circulation

declinesInterest rates increaseFarmers are hit especially hard

They are already fighting a recession (1873)

Greenback party’s goalReverse the policies that were leading farmers to

financial ruinEspecially the Specie Resumption Act

Railroad regulation, better school system, elimination of convict leasing, reduction of useless offices in state gov’t

The Greenback Party

Constituency Radical farmers Courted white Republicans from lily-

white factions Talk of fusion with these factions

produced nothing Had most of their strength in East

Texas, the Cross Timbers, and other poor, farming counties

Decline Peaked during 1882-1883 as George

“Wash” Jones runs for Texas Governor

However, they remain a distant third with voters

Their party declines, but their issues get raised again with the Populist party

The Greenback Party

Governor James “Jim” S. Hogg

Attorney General (1887-1891) and Governor of Texas (1891-1895)

Ushered in a new era of Progressive DemocratsHad not fought in the Civil WarLess bound by tradition than conservative Democrats Identified with the common man and sympathized with

their issuesProgressive agenda

Use state powers to regulate railroads and trustsRailroad Commission (1891) – appointive body that could set

rates and faresPrevent foreign ownership of Texas public land

Farmers and agriculturalists loved his stance towards big business

James S. Hogg: Progressive Democrat

“Hogg laws”1 – establishing the Railroad Commission

Supreme Court upheld the commission after 7 railroads sued

2 – railroad stock and bond lawAllowed the Railroad Commission to regulate railroad

stock3 – law forcing land corporations to sell off holdings

in 15 years4 – Alien Land Law

Forbid further land grants to foreign corporationsAttempted to put land back in the hands of Texans

5 – Restriction on the amount of bond debt that county and municipalities could legally undertake

James S. Hogg: Progressive Democrat

Agrarian GroupsPatrons of Husbandry “The Grange”

Secret, fraternal organization comprised mostly of family farmersOffered educational and social benefits to its membership; later

focused on economic issues affecting farmersWhile the organization was apolitical, it encouraged members to

take political actionCatered primarily to higher middle-class farmers

Texas Farmers’ AllianceTakes the place of the Grange in the mid 1880sGrass-roots organization originating from the Cross Timbers

regionBased on voluntary associationsNever denied that it was a political organizationBy 1886, it claimed 100,000 members, making it a viable potential

for a third partyAs depression set in the early 1890s, members readily joined the

Populist party

Populism “The People’s Party”

The Subtreasury PlanNational legislation that would have allowed farmers

to store staple crops in gov’t storageFarmers could receive loans against the market value of

cropsGov’t notes could be used as currency

Conservative Democrats saw this as an excess of federal gov’t control

The plan was also a direct attack on national banksHowever, this plan fell in line with Greenback ideology

Democrats and members of the Texas Farmers’ Alliance split primarily over this issue

The Subtreasury Plan becomes a symbol for the Populist Party


Populist ConceptsCrusade of rural Americans attempting to raise

awareness of economic failure for the rural class

Believed they were being true to Jacksonian idealsPromoting the “common man”Fit well with Texas republicanismDenounced monopolistic corporations and banksEssentially a reaction to the Gilded Age

Was Populism a liberal or conservative movement?


ConservatismJeffersonian and Jacksonian ideals of democracyDenouncing large banks, railroads, and

corporationsConservative Protestantism used in stump

speeches and organization of camp-style meetingsChanging hymns to fit their political cause

LiberalismBig business grew so fast that the common man

could not fight back by himselfThe federal government was needed to help

Create creditInflate the currencyStave off abuses of big business on the common man


A bi-racial partyFor Populism to succeed in Texas, the party

had to appeal to both whites and blacksJohn B. Rayner was the most prominent black

Texan to support PopulismDemocrats were forced to appeal to black

voters to keep control of the stateThey often used violence and intimidation to

keep blacks from voting for the Populist partyBy 1894, the Texas Farmers’ Alliance had

recruited close to 200,000 members


William Jennings Bryan

The Campaign of 1896Very bitter election on the state level

Democrats readily used violence to intimidate Populist voters

Also charged racial betrayal and attempting to reinstate Reconstruction against the Populists

National levelWilliam Jennings Bryan is selected to run for president

Did not endorse the Subtreasury PlanMore focused on free silver and low tariffs

Populists and Democrats fuse to endorse himTexan Populists did not care for the fusionBryan loses to William McKinley

The Populist movement quickly loses momentum with Bryan’s failed campaign


Populists are temporarily alienated from politics after the Campaign of 1896

Many Populists return to the Democratic party as “reform Democrats” at the turn of the century

Populists on the state level that refused to join the Democratic party later join the Socialist movement

This unique fusion of Populist and reform agendas pave the way for the Progressive era of the early 20th century

Legacy of the Populist Party

White Populists sided with black Populists under an alliance of convenience for the party

After the Campaign of 1896, racial discrimination in Texas politics become more entrenched

Democrats resolve to remove black voters from local and county electionsPopulists had the most success on these levels

Terrell Election LawsThe Democratic party institutes a white primaryBlacks could still vote in the general election though

Meaningless in a one-party state

Poll TaxesAnother means to disenfranchise blacks and poor whitesDemocrats believed this would end future third-party

challenges

The Dark Side of Populism