The Wool-Hat Boys: Georgia's Populist Party
by Barton C. Shaw

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Book Reviews of The Wool-Hat Boys: Georgia's Populist Party

Book Review: A Nice Look at the Georgia Version of Populism
Summary: 4 Stars

The wool-hat boys were hard-working farmers increasingly under economic duress due to economic forces out of their control, including poor soil conditions, depressed prices for their cash crops, and the crop-lien system that kept them in virtual servitude. They are contrasted with the "silk-hat boys," or city slickers who lived by exploiting the wool-hat boys. They were not primarily sharecroppers or tenants.

A new party in the South had to contend with the strength of the Democratic Party which had led the South into the Civil War and had led the resurgence against Reconstruction. A majority of farmers could never desert the party of their fathers. They were willing to remain with the Democrats even when looking for economic reforms. Nonetheless in the early 1890s, Populism was a significant political force.

The Tenth Congressional District in northeast Georgia was the center of Populism in Georgia. The author shows that the district had a long history of alternative politics, often supporting the Whig Party before the War. The district had been home to Alexander Stephens and Robert Toombs, two distinguished politicians who often took independent stances. The leader of the Populist Party in the Tenth District and the entire state was Tom Watson, himself a well-to-do farmer and lawyer.

The book focuses on the various personalities and factions of the Georgian Populist Party as they tried to gain ascendancy over each other and over the state government. One is struck by the crudeness and violence in the political campaigns of the late 1900s in Georgia. In addition, the issue of race played a prominent role in those campaigns in Georgia. Both the Democrats and the Populists used intimidation in controlling voting among blacks. As the Populist Party declined at the turn of the century the era of Jim Crow was advancing.

This book does not attempt a general overview of agrarianism and Populism, but it does add to the general understanding of Populism. The book is easy to read. A map is provided of the counties and districts of the 1890s showing populist strongholds. The book largely focuses on personalities, especially Tom Watson. One gets a sense from this book that Populism was not the profound democratic movement claimed by others, especially Goodwyn. The party was mildly reformist at best.

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