CHAPTER 12LOUISIANA’S TRANSITION ERA: POPULISM AND POWER1860- 1920

POLITICAL CONTROLSection 1

BOURBON DEMOCRATS In 1877, after the Civil War and Reconstruction, the U.S. Army departed Louisiana and the

president and Congress no longer interfered with Louisiana’s government. (Ulysses S. Grant ended his presidency in 1877 and Rutherford B. Hayes began his.)

This caused the Democrats to take over the government since the Republicans no longer had Washington’s support.

Redeemer Democrats saw themselves as southern gentlemen while others called them Bourbons which is a name meant to refer to Louis XIV, the most powerful Bourbon king who said “I am the state.”

Louisiana Bourbons felt their background, education, and success meant they should lead the government. There was no acceptance for change which included superiority to the former slaves. They looked at the past but didn’t learn from it.

There were two types of Bourbons: those that believed those with wealth and power should help those that don’t and others who wanted to keep their wealth with no concern for the needy, AKA reactionary (strongly opposed progress). Reactionary Bourbons did not want to pay taxes that would improve schools or other programs that might improve the quality of life for other citizens.

DEMOCRATS IN POWER Since the Louisiana Bourbons simply built their power

within the already existing Democratic Party, the Democratic Party became the party of whites in the South.

Blacks were threatened economically and physically so their votes could be controlled. Sometimes votes were actually ignored so Democrats would win elections. When the Republicans lost power, the Returning Board was no longer around to check the votes.

Shown left, Francis T. Nicholls was the first Democratic governor elected after Reconstruction in 1877. He was a former Confederate officer and believed those in power should work for the good of all and this caused others to think he was too generous to the blacks. He challenged the Bourbons for not paying taxes and believed the corrupt Louisiana Lottery Company should be shut down, but it was too powerful.

LOUISIANA LOTTERY In 1868, the state granted a 25-year charter (permission to operate) to the Louisiana Lottery Company.

Private company set up to make money for the company instead of the state which only received a small payment of about $40,000 (less than 1% of the company’s income) a year for the charity hospitals. (It usually brought in more than $20 million a year and kept at least half as profit. At that period, the average worker made $2 a day.)

Two old Confederate generals supervised the drawings; however, advertisements announced that honest “orphan boys” drew the winners.

During Reconstruction, the company became very powerful and gained political influence over the Republicans and later the Democrats by contributing large sums of money to elected officials. Others called this money “bribes” rather than campaign contributions.

The political control of the company became so powerful that a top lottery official, E. A. Burke, became the state treasurer. He claimed to have been a former Confederate army major; however, critics claim he was a Yankee spy, and he was sometimes called the “ultimate carpetbagger.” Burke used his political position to further influence the state as the editor of the New Orleans Times which later merged with another paper, increasing its political strength. He was later accused of stealing state funds and fled.

Despite the company’s efforts to continue operating after the scandal, Governor Nicholls (who had returned as governor in 1888), refused to budge on his negative feelings towards the company. The 1892 campaign for governor centered around the lottery and oppose Murphy J. Foster was elected.

In 1893, the Louisiana Lottery ceased its operations in the state.

THE POPULISTS With changes in the economy, the farmers’ place in

the economy also changed. Rather than independent, self-sufficient farms that had always been, cotton became the farmers’ main crop, and their economic future depended on the crop lien system. The farmers would borrow against next year’s crop to pay this year’s expenses and this resulted in the farmers getting caught in a credit cycle.

In 1867, an organization called the National Grange was founded to help farmers. (See the poster, “Gift for the Grangers,” on the right depicting the contributions farmers made to the nation’s welfare.) This organization was never really strong in Louisiana, but other farm organizations soon developed. The Farmer’s Alliances, which started in Texas in 1876, gained members in Louisiana. The Farmers’ Union was then set up in 1888. In Caddo Parish alone, there were six chapters of the Farmers’ Union.

THE POPULISTS (CONT’D) In 1891, a new political party formed as a result of the organizations of

American farmers. This was known as the People’s Party, whose members were called Populists.

“We believe that the powers of government should be expanded…to the end that oppression, in justice, and poverty shall eventually cease in the land.” ---People’s Party statement of beliefs

Believed middlemen and manufacturers were taking too much of the farmers’ profit

Wanted government to help the small farmers

Promoted government ownership of the railroads so that transporting goods to market would not be so expensive

Wanted changes in money and banking

POLITICAL CARTOONS

FUSION With the formation of the Populists, political strength in

the state shifted.

Since President Cleveland (Democrat, shown right) did not support a protective tariff on sugar, Populists began supporting the Republicans.

John Pharr, a wealthy, Republican sugar planter, was supported in the 1896 election for governor.

Republicans and Populists realized that they would become stronger than Democratic Party if they joined together (fusionists). This was called the fusion movement. The goal was to end Democratic control in the state.

The Democrats wants to re-elect Murphy J. Foster. Threats and violence ensued throughout the campaign and accusations of fraud followed the Democratic victory.

THE CONSTITUTION OF 1898 Feeling threatened, the Bourbon Democrats wrote another new constitution to use

to maintain their control of the state, without bringing down federal disapproval.

Though the new constitution was much like the previous one, the major addition was the requirement that voters own property, be literate (able to read and write), and pay a poll tax. These restrictions disfranchised (took the right to vote away from) the freedmen.

With these new restrictions, the Democrats didn’t want to lose white voters, so they included a special section called the grandfather clause which stated, “No male person who was on January 1, 1867, or at any date prior thereto entitled to vote…shall be denied the right to register and vote in this state by reason of his failing to possess the educational or property qualification prescribed by this constitution.” (White males wouldn’t have to pass a literacy test or own property.)

Freedmen didn’t receive the right to vote until 1868. There were over 130,000 African Americans registered to vote in LA in 1896, but by 1900, that number decreased to 5,300. In 1904, there were only 1,300 registered black voters in the state.

SEGREGATION, DISCRIMINATION, AND CONFLICTSSection 2

LOUISIANA BLACKS AT THE TURN OF THE 19TH CENTURY

SEGREGATION Segregation – public and social separation of whites and blacks

Even after taking away blacks’ right to vote, Bourbon Democrats continued to strip away their personal freedom

Jim Crow laws – laws that restricted the personal freedom of blacks and demanded segregation: separate restrooms, water fountains, railroad cars, waiting rooms, dining areas, and schools.

Jim Crow laws found in every southern state and many other parts of the U.S.

Facilities for blacks were separate by rarely equal to those for whites. Life remained this way until the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Comite des Citoyens (French for “Committee of Citizens”) – Educated French Creole civil rights organization – Member Homer Plessy challenged the law requiring blacks to ride in a separate car on trains because he was arrested for riding in a white car (he was so light-skinned, the conductor was none the wiser until Plessy told him)- Plessy sued as a result of violation of his 13th and 14th Amendment rights – U.S. Supreme Court reviewed case and in 1896, favored LA law (Plessy vs. Ferguson) – established the separate-but-equal concept in the U.S. from 1896-1954

VIOLENCE The attitude that created Jim Crow laws also generated violence.

Vigilante – member of a self-appointed group that takes the law into their own hands

Lynching – mob murder, usually by hanging; lynch mob

Elections brought violence

Communities began to think they had the right to carry out their own justice Plans for some lynchings were reported in newspapers in advance White violence on blacks Black violence on whites Black violence on blacks Black and white violence on immigrants

CONVICT LEASE SYSTEM A state would lease (rent)

convicts from the state penitentiary for work outside the prison

Convicts were doing the dirtiest, most dangerous work in the state – building levees, roads, and railroads.

Working and living conditions were brutal for them. For example, a man sentenced to life in prison was usually dead within 7 years.

LABOR PROBLEMS Though slaves were freed after the war, once the army left, they were no longer protected.

By 1879, thousands of black farm workers, called Exodusters, took part in an exodus to Kansas based on rumors that a black man could start his own farm there.

Planters were upset about losing their workers and threatened or even stopped the workers at the steamboat landings to keep them from leaving.

Kansas was not what those that made it imagined. Some even came back with the planters paying the return fare.

Knights of Labor – early labor union – black sugar plantation workers joined

Planters wanted to control workers and make more money, so they proposed lowering wages for the 1887 season after a poor crop in 1886. Workers threatened to strike (refuse to work). This threat could’ve been bad since sugar cane crop must be harvested in a timely manner or it would be lost.

Many workers left for Thibodaux and when planters tried to bring them back, a riot started – shooting killed more than 30 workers and others wounded. The workers forced to return.

Organizations were created to try to control workers (Lousiana Sugar Planter’s Alliance (1870s)/The Southern Lumber Operators’ Association (1906))

Worker organizations were formed also. For the timber workers, The Brotherhood of Timber Workers was formed in LA in 1910. Two years later, it merged with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members were known as “wobblies.”

Two violent labor conflicts took place in 1911 and 1912 in the lumber towns of Graybow and Merryville in Beauregard Parish. Workers were arrested and charged with conspiracy, but they were acquitted (found not guilty).

ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL PROGRESSSection 3

AGRICULTURE Because of the many resources Louisiana had to offer, industry made its

way to the state.

After the railroad was built, southwest Louisiana became the rice center of the state.

Millions of acres of land were purchased by land companies such as the Watkins Syndicate in Midwest. The company hired the head of Iowa’s Agricultural College to bring farmers to Louisiana’s prairies. They were experienced wheat farmers and applied those skills to growing rice. New scientific farming methods and new machinery helped establish profitable farms.

Economic growth led to 1884 Cotton Centennial in N.O. – exhibits from all over the world came to Audubon Park

Louisiana attempted to become part of the “New South” in its progress

LUMBER With its huge forests, LA attracted outside investors – RR ensured easier transport of lumber

Lumber industry grew rapidly, especially between 1880 and 1920

Yellow pine and cypress (cypress lumbermen called “swampers”) were harvested

Some pine logs were 7 feet in diameter and some cypress were larger

One of 1st major sawmills – Pharr and William’s Sawmill at Patterson in St. Mary Parish

Great Southern Lumber Company (one of the largest mills in the world) was established around Bogalusa in Washington Parish

Wood used for RR ties and telephone poles

Lumber workers made anywhere from $2.50 to $10.00 per week and were paid in scrip which were paper certificates that were used in place of money and usually only good at the commissary store run by the company.

Dangerous work – missing fingers, arms, or feet – death by tree fall or slip of axe

At the beginning of the lumber boom, 75% of LA was forrested; by the 1920s, much of those forests were no more than stumps and the sawmill towns became ghost towns as workers moved on

LUMBER WORKERS

OIL AND GAS In 1901, the first successful oil well in the state

was drilled in Acadia Parish, and the first offshore oil well was drilled in Caddo Lake in 1911.

Boomtowns – Oil City – filled with oil workers – reputed to be rough and wild – Oil City Hotel was a tent but had good meals – general store served as post office, billiard parlor, and meeting place – RR and telegraph offices operated from freight cars

Land owners made money off the oil and others sold supplies to companies

1910 – Standard Oil Corporation completed (8-inch) pipeline to Baton Rouge carried crude oil from northwest to the refinery which produced more than 7,000 barrels of oil a day

Natural gas was found while drilling for oil and after its worth was discovered, they began sending it through pipelines to use as fuel for lighting – one of largest natural gas fields near Monroe in 1916

SULPHUR AND SALT Sulphur deposits – mineral mined

before oil – 1st sulphur deposits found in 1869 in Calcasieu Parish but commercial mining didn’t begin until a technique to mine the sulphur was developed (see image)

By 1914, Calcasieu was providing 75% of nation’s sulphur – town of Sulphur grew around this mine but was exhausted by 1920

Salt had been discovered and used before Civil War but commercial mining at Avery Island in Iberia Parish didn’t begin until 1879. By early 20th century, LA produced much of the salt used in the U.S.

TRANSPORTATION Roads were difficult to navigate at times which would effect the agricultural and industrial progress

Shed Road – a covered road built from Bossier Parish to Webster Parish – less than 10 miles long – built of heart pine planks – 18 ft wide and high enough for a wagon with three bales of cotton to pass under – was profitable (by charging toll) until RR came through

RR construction in LA took place between 1880 and 1910 (Kansas City Southern RR – 1890s) Other RR were constructed all over the state.

1873 – engineer James Eads created a system of jetties to deepen the mouth of the Mississippi River

N.O. showcased the automobile – there was a race in 1909 and world record of 60 mph was set – By 1916, more than 9,000 automobiles were in LA thanks to Henry Ford’s mass production that reduced the price of cars (Model T - $300-$500) Many people used a new credit method which included making monthly payments (installment plan)

N.O. had horse-drawn street cars at the beginning of this era; Shreveport had electric streetcars (trolley cars) by 1889

By 1893, the N.O. and Carrollton RR operated electric streetcars which later became St. Charles Streetcar and is still operating today.

TRANSPORTATION

NEW TOWNS Growth in industry means growth in towns (lumber towns) Fisher in DeSoto

Parish is preserved like a museum while others disappeared completely

RR expansion also brought new towns (Ruston)

If RR bypassed a town, the town did not typically live much longer

NEW CONVENIENCES 1880s – 1st telephones to LA – one resident though they were a fad that would die

out yet in 20 years, there were “talking telegraphs” (telephones) throughout the state

It was in N.O. that kerosene lamps were replaced by gaslights. Kerosene burned with a smoky light and had to be cleaned regularly whereas gaslights were clean and bright. Electric lights came to N.O. in 1887 and by 1900 the entire city was lighted by electricity. By 1916, electric lights had replaced gaslights in the state’s cities and towns. In small towns, electricity was only turned on at night. Rural LA didn’t receive electricity until the late 1930s.

RR made mail service more dependable. Special delivery was added in 1885. Mail was delivered to homes on the rural free delivery (RFD) routes rather than rural residents having to go to town to get their mail. The first mail delivery vehicles were horses and wagons. The Montgomery Ward and Sears catalogs were important deliveries since they offered almost any needed item at a price working people could afford.

MAIL SERVICE

THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENTSection 4

THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENTThe goal of improving the quality of life for all Americans was part of this movement.

Progressive thinkers had faith in the idea of progress, the belief that humans keep improving their society to make it better and better.

3 ways to reform society: 1) wanted government to fight poverty and improve living conditions of its citizens, 2) break up large corporations and regulate business, and 3) wanted voters to have more influence in government

1886- laws were passed regulating the hours that women and children could work and more child labor laws were passed as concern increased.

W.W. Heard, the first governor of the new century, ended the convict lease system. And the next governor, Newton Blanchard, separated juvenile lawbreakers from adult criminals by building a reform school in Monroe.

Blanchard also supported a new law allowing local school boards to borrow money by selling investment bonds. This allowed over 200 new schools to be built. The number of high schools increased from 26 to 53. He improved the overall quality of education.

When Luther Hall was governor, the state started a worker’s compensation program (a government insurance program for those killed or injured on the job).