Race, Class, and Populism: Thomas Watson and the Fall of the Agrarian Ideal

Abstract

This article reconsiders the politics and political transformation of the Georgia Populist Thomas E. Watson (1856-1922), focusing specifically on the years from 1894 to 1896. Watson began his political career committed to a multiracial agrarian democracy in the epoch of Jim Crow and the New Departure Democrats. While historians have considered his shift from multiracial organizer to self-proclaimed white supremacist, many have failed to correctly point to the defining years precipitating this shift, which coincided with an abandonment of his radical agrarian policies as well. Through a historical contextualization of his life and career, this article provides a new framework for understanding the complexities and contradictions in Watson’s political career. This reading clarifies both the powers and limits of Populism in the South, specifically the conflicting narratives and politics of class solidarity and white supremacy.