Weaver 1892, Montana and Alabama

[Hash]

Why did Weaver do so poorly in Montana while doing so well in most of the neighboring states? On a side note, why was he so strong in Alabama and some other Deep South states?

[platypeanArchcow]

I seem to remember the Populists preached racial equality and therefore got votes in places where Blacks could still vote.

[RI]

Well, you can't really directly compare Montana with the surrounding states. Cleveland wasn't on the ballot in Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, or North Dakota, so he was essentially the only competition to Harrison in those states, naturally increasing his vote shares in those states. Yes, Weaver did worse in Montana than in some other western states with Cleveland on the ballot such as Oregon, South Dakota, and Nebraska, but he did not actually do that much worse in Montana than in Washington, and he performed better in Montana than in California and Minnesota.

Another part of the problem is that eastern Montana was so sparsely populated that his weak performance out there barely affected his statewide totals, but to the eye it looks like he did poorly in a lot of land. In fact that area was comprised of only three or four counties at the time.

As for the exact reasons, that is for someone else to answer.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

There's a funny, almost semi-socialist in a way, current to Southern politics and culture (that is; the politics and culture of that part of the Southern population that is white and not part of one of the various castes which ran (run, whatever) the place) which usually runs beneath the ground but which surfaces from time to time. Debs, it's worth noting, did rather well in some white Southern counties. It is in no way an opposing force to racism or segregation; look at Long, Faubus and Wallace. Hey, even Ben Tillman exploited it.

[Sam Spade]

As mentioned earlier, Weaver got black votes (those who did and could vote), but Al is, quite frankly, more on the money with this one.

What they don't teach you nowadays is that the Populist threat of the 1892 election, in large part, is what led to the establishment of Jim Crow laws throughout the South.  And it was that, along with various other oppressive behavior, including the worst period of lynchings throughout the post-Reconstruction history (specifically 1895-1915, after 1930, lynchings weren't very common) which drove many, many blacks up north.

WJB helped matters along by taking the Democratic nod, btw.  That destroyed the Populists for good.

[minionofmidas]

They don't teach that? I've certainly been taught that.

Oh, and Al, when you talk of Ben Tillman and the Populist Party in the same post, it might make sense to mention that the Tillman-controlled South Carolina state Democratic Party endorsed Weaver's platform (minus two planks. One of which, of course, being the Civil Rights plank) in 1892.

[The Mikado]

As mentioned earlier, Weaver got black votes (those who did and could vote), but Al is, quite frankly, more on the money with this one.

What they don't teach you nowadays is that the Populist threat of the 1892 election, in large part, is what led to the establishment of Jim Crow laws throughout the South.  And it was that, along with various other oppressive behavior, including the worst period of lynchings throughout the post-Reconstruction history (specifically 1895-1915, after 1930, lynchings weren't very common) which drove many, many blacks up north.

WJB helped matters along by taking the Democratic nod, btw.  That destroyed the Populists for good.

Quite true.  The Populists had hoped to put together a coalition of blacks and poor whites in Dixie to defeat the Southern Democratic feudal oligarchs machine.  The Democrats responded in their typical manner: stirring up white/black hatred and preventing the blacks from voting for decades.  Thus, Populists like Tom Watson went from advocating racial harmony to being a vicious, outspoken racist.

[Sam Spade]

They don't teach that? I've certainly been taught that.

Oh, and Al, when you talk of Ben Tillman and the Populist Party in the same post, it might make sense to mention that the Tillman-controlled South Carolina state Democratic Party endorsed Weaver's platform (minus two planks. One of which, of course, being the Civil Rights plank) in 1892.

Yes, but you're German.  I'd expect that you'd know this.