1. Southern trees bear strange fruit Blood on the leaves Blood at the root Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees Pastoral scene of the gallant south The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth The scent of magnolia sweet and fresh Then the sudden smell of burning flesh Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck for the rain to gather for the wind to suck for the sun to rot for the tree to drop Here is a strange and bitter crop

12. “This is the barbecue we had last night
“This is the barbecue we had last night. My picture is to the left with a cross over it. Your son, Joe”

13. This is the only branch of the dogwood tree;
An emblem of WHITE SUPREMACY.
A lesson once taught in the pioneer’s school,
That this is a land of WHITE MAN’S RULE.
The Red Man once in an early day,
Was told by the White’s to mend his way.
The negro, now, by eternal grace,
Must learnt to stay in the negro’s place.
In the Sunny South, the Land of the free,
Let the WHITE SUPREME, forever be.
Let this a warning to all negroes be,
Or they’ll suffer the fate of the DOGWOOD TREE.

17. The Citadel’s yearbook, 1977

18. Lynching Not strictly a Southern phenomenon.
: lynchings; 2552 African Americans.
Lynching does not mean just hanging – it included burning, torture, and castration.
Railroads frequently ran excursions.

19. More on lynching
Apologists claimed lynching was punishment for crime – in less than 1/3 of cases was there even an accusation. Most lynchings involved sharecroppers and disputes over interest rates.

20. Sam Hose
Disputed wages, accused of killing his employers. Killed in front of a crowd of witnesses. Hanged, dismembered, and his knuckles displayed as a warning.
Many of the onlookers came from out of town – specifically to view the lynching.

21. Jesse Washington
1897 – immersed in oil, hoisted onto a tree, and lowered onto a fire.

22. Ed Johnson 1906 – Chattanooga TN
Convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to death.
Mobs tried to lynch him twice and failed.
Appealed case to the US Supreme Court.
A mob abducted him and lynched him.

23. Aftermath of the Ed Johnson lynching
Supreme Court held that the lynching was obstruction of justice.
Convened a criminal trial for the only time in its history.
United States v Schipp
Sheriff, Hamilton County TN and two deputies found guilty of contempt of court, sentenced to 60 days in jail.
The first time any whites were punished for participation in a lynching.

24. Ida B. Wells Johnson case inspired her to investigate lynchings.
Used newspaper accounts and found 70% involved no accusation of a crime.
1909 co-founds the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (N.A.A.C.P.) to fight for anti-lynching legislation.

25. Why do lynchings occur?
A new financial order, especially in the South.
High tariffs.
Corporate trusts.

26. Farmers hit the hardest by the new order.
Massive deflation following the Civil War.
Civil War financed with paper money not backed by gold.
Government removed “greenbacks” by taxing them.
Deflation makes money worth more as a commodity and results in lowered prices for goods. FARMERS DO NOT LIKE DEFLATION.

27. Railroads are a problem.
Railroads cost the farmers money – they took products to new markets for farmers, but this did NOT result in more money for farmers.
Isolation
Farmers lived in relative isolation
A relatively independent lifestyle – different than industrial workers.

28. Patrons of Husbandry – The Grange
Primary function initially was social.
Recognized through these gatherings that farmers all faced similar issues and began mobilizing politically.
Began forming cooperative banks and purchasing farm equipment cooperatively.
Lobbied states to create railroad commissions.
1874 – 800,000 Grangers.

29. Panic of 1873 leads to a temporary decline in the Granger movement but NOT their ideas.
Southern Farmers Alliance (1875) and Northwestern Farmers Alliance (1880) form.
Carry on ideas of cooperative economy
Lobby against absentee land ownership
Lobby for railroad commissions.

30. Charles W. Macune and Mary Lease
Moved to Texas 1870
After his ideas became ascendant the Alliance movement grew to 3 million.
1 million also joined the Colored Farmers Alliance, making “the Alliance” the largest mass movement in American history.
,000 organizers in the field.
Mary Lease – “raise less corn and more hell.”

31. Sub-treasury Plan Federal examiner will evaluate a farmer’s crop
Farmer can borrow 4/5 of the value at 1% interest.
Government will store the crop, but farmer retains ownership.
The farmer can now wait to sell their crop until prices are more favorable.
The Sub-treasury plan revitalizes the Alliance movement.

32. Alliance transformed into a political party.
1886 begins running political candidates
Set up cooperative banks, stores, tanneries.
calls for a cooperative (rather than corporate) economy.
Atlanta Constitution: “the threat of anarchy and communism extend to the entire South because of the direful teachings” of Alliance supporters.
In the South they attempt to work through the Democrats; in the North decide there is no party that is not corrupt.
1892 – the Alliances form The Peoples Party, or the Populist Party.

33. The Omaha Platform
Populists realized they had to have a broader appeal so they sought union with ALL labor, rural and industrial.
For Farmers:
currency and fiscal reform.
graduated income tax.
sub-treasury plan.
increased taxes on land speculation.
For All:
Veterans pensions.
Political Reform
initiative
referendum
political primaries
direct election of senators.
Civil service reform.
For Industrial Labor:
8 hour workday
Immigration restrictions.
Abolition of strike breaking hiring practices.

34. 1892 Election Populist Party
1,041,028 popular votes
22 Electoral Votes
By FAR the most successful third party effort to that point.
Populist success in 1892 made the 1896 election the most pivotal in US history.

35. 1896 Election The central question:
Will the US conform to the Populist vision of society? Would the US have a co-operative or corporate economy?
The US would be forced to make this choice –
The level of violence would force the US into a choice.

36. Homestead, PA Home of one of the largest steel mills in US.
Run by Henry Clay Frick
Priority at Homestead was elimination of union.
Built a wall around the mill with “observation holes.”
Hired the Pinkerton Security Agency.
Cut wages.
After the wage cut the union went on strike.

37. Frick hired scab workers.
Strikers managed to obtain a cannon.
Strikers and Pinkerton’s clash.
Frick calls the governor of Pennsylvania – governor orders out the militia to put down the strike.
It was so effective there was essentially no union in the steel industry for the next 50 years.

38. Pullman Strike George Pullman Invented Pullman Sleeping Car
Created Pullman, IL

39. The only catch to all of this is no unionization.
Pullman’s town
Schools
Homes
Stores
The only catch to all of this is no unionization.
Panic of 1893 – yet another depression
Pullman cuts wages literally every week, eventually cuts reach 25%.
Does NOT lower rents or prices in company-owned stores.

40. The strike
Workers strike over the cuts, and the American Railway Union, in sympathy boycotts all trains with Pullman cars

41. Pullman’s friends include the President of the United States, Grover Cleveland.
Cleveland orders the US Army to put down the strike.
Trains delivered the mail, thus the strikers were interfering with federal business.

42. Panic of 1893 Started in Europe
Gold purchases from Europe dwindled US reserves, leading to restrictions.
Unemployment skyrocketed above 20% after massive layoffs.
Workers responded with violence.
1894 – labor strikes.

43. Coxey’s Army Marched on Washington, DC Demanded public works program.
Government responded with mass jailing.

44. Election of 1896 Populists called president “a Judas.”
Democrats refused to nominate the president.
Populists nominate William Jennings Bryan – as do the Democrats.
“Free Silver”
Creates mining jobs.
Increases the money supply – stimulates inflation, so it helps farmers.

45. “Cross of Gold”
“Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold”

46. “Cross of Gold” vs. “A full dinner pail.”
Bryan gave over 900 stump speeches.
Republicans nominate William McKinley – who literally stayed home.
Promised “an honest dollar and a full dinner pail” for all Americans.
In the election McKinley won overwhelmingly – the largest challenge to American corporate capitalism had been beaten soundly.

47. The Populist epitaph