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| Bicha, Karel D. Western Populism:
Studies in an Ambivalent Conservatism. 163 p. Lawrence, Ks: Coronado
P, 1976. A compilation of
previously published articles, with some new materials.
Western Populists were essentially conservative, favoring the free
market, limited government, and state sovereignty. Includes biographies of Jerry Simpson, William V. Allen,
Lorenzo Lewelling, and Davis Waite, although none are presented as a
representative Populist. Analysis
of legislative activity concludes Populists were no more likely to
introduce reform legislation than others, and the scope of their reform
interests was more limited than others.
Reviewers found analysis less than persuasive. Dubofsky, Melvyn. "The Origins of
Western Working Class Radicalism, 1890-1905." Labor History
1966 7(2): 131-154. Rapid
economic and social change in the American West resulted in a "social
polarization" and the development of a class ideology which followed
the Marxian pattern of development. The shift from unionism to radicalism
by the Western Federation of Miners, is traced, and the shift is related
to the historical trends of Populism, trade unionism, the growth of modern
technology and corporate capitalism, and the alliance between corporate
capitalism and government. Griffiths, David B.
"Far‑western Populist Thought: A Comparative Study of John R.
Rogers and Davis H. Waite." Pacific Northwest Quarterly.
60(4):183-192. October 1969. Political thought of Populist governors of Washington and
Colorado. Includes stands on
the single tax, the natural right to free land, imperialism, and the
farmer-labor alliance. _____. Populism in the Western
United States, 1890-1900. 2
Vols. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1992. 783 pp.
Derived from Griffiths' 1967 University of Washington dissertation,
"Populism in the Far West, 1890-1900." Refutes idea of Populism's detractors that the movement was
nativistic, bigoted, and retrograde.
The third party movement was significantly more diverse than
earlier scholars believed. Hurt, R. Douglas.
"Populist-Endorsed Judges and the Protection of Western Labor." Journal
of the West 1978 17(1): 19-26. Though
commonly associated with agrarianism, the Populist movement also supported
urban laborers (both out of philosophy and necessity) as shown by the
pro-labor rulings of populist-endorsed judges of state supreme courts in
Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Washington, and Montana, 1893-1902. Kepfield, Sam S. "'They Were in Far Too Great Want': Federal Drought Relief to the Great Plains, 1887-1895." South Dakota History 1998 28(4): 244-270. Great Plains farmers, beset by droughts in the 1880s and 1890s, received no federal assistance. Despite enticing settlers to the area, the government in those years believed farmers should use new technology and data on crop futures to overcome climatic problems and sagging prices. America: History and Life, 36:11417 Koch, William E. "Campaign and
Protest Singing During the Populist Era." Journal of the West
1983 22(3): 47-57. Singing
added drama and emotional appeal to political gatherings staged by such
groups as the Grangers, the Farmers' Alliance, and the Populist Party.
Community glee clubs often supplied the music for such events. Samples of
campaign and protest songs. Larson, Robert W. Populism in the
Mountain West. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1986.
Populism was a reaction against the remotely wielded corporate power of
mine owners, railroads, irrigation companies, and large cattle combines. _____. "Populism in the Mountain
West: A Mainstream Movement." Western Historical Quarterly
1982 13(2): 143-164. Mountain
West Populists were interested in such issues as railroads, irrigation,
cattle, mining, and alien landownership in addition to free silver.
Anti-monopolism was the thread that held them together.
Populism in the Mountain West was in the mainstream of the national
movement. Merrill, Horace Samuel. Bourbon
Democracy of the Middle West, 1865-1869. 316 p. Seattle: U of
Washington P, 1969. Murray, Keith. "Issues and
Personalities of Pacific Northwest Politics." Pacific Northwest
Quarterly. 41:213-33. July 1950.
Mention made of the Farmers' Alliance, Populists, etc. Ostler, Jeffrey. Prairie Populism:
The Fate of Agrarian Radicalism in Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa, 1880-1892.
Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1993.
Derived from, "The Fate of Populism: Agrarian Radicalism and
State Politics in Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa, 1880-1892." PhD
dissertation, University of Iowa, 1990.
487 pages. DAI, v.
51-12A, p. 4287. Agricultural
crisis caused a political crisis in Kansas and Nebraska, but not in Iowa. In Kansas and Nebraska, the GOP overwhelmingly dominated
politics. Rejection by those
who governed the Kansas and Nebraska political systems explains the higher
level of farmer radicalism in those states.
The competitiveness of Iowa politics caused each major party to
accommodate farmer complaints for fear the other might engross the farmer
vote and leave their own party as a permanent minority.
The success of the Iowa Farmers Alliance in securing an elective
railroad commission in 1888, committed Alliance leaders to a web of
political obligations that bound them to the major parties. Working within the contemporary political system likewise
explains Iowa Alliancemen's failure to adopt a comprehensive economic
program or a substantial critique of the existing political order.
_____. "Why the Populist Party Was
Strong in Kansas and Nebraska But Weak in Iowa." Western
Historical Quarterly 1992 23(4): 451-474.
Economic hardship is inadequate to explain why the People's Party
was successful in the election of 1892 in Nebraska and Kansas but not in
neighboring Iowa. A third party developed in Nebraska and Kansas but not
in Iowa because there the Iowa Farmers' Alliance-led reform movement
achieved some influence within the two-party system. In Kansas and
Nebraska, the Democratic Party remained weak and irrelevant.
Unable to gain the support of the Republicans, the reformists
turned to the People's Party for help, sweeping the 1892 elections. Pratt, William C. "Radicals,
Farmers, and Historians: Some Recent Scholarship About Agrarian Radicalism
in the Upper Midwest." North Dakota History 1985 52(4): 12-25.
Historiography on farm movements and agrarian radicalism in the
upper Midwest, including Populism, the Farmers Alliance, the Nonpartisan
League, and the Communist Party. Farmers were co-opted from their
radicalism by many factors, particularly the New Deal. Reinhart, Cornel J. "Populist
Ideology: Mirror or Prism of the Gilded Age?" North Dakota
Quarterly 1975 43(3): 5-15. Discusses
the ideology and rhetoric of prominent Populists during the 1870's and
80's and their appeal to northwestern farmers. |