Description
The book, "The Roots of Southern Populism: Yeoman Farmers and the Transformation of the Georgia Upcountry, 1850-1890" by Steven Hahn, discusses the transformation of the Georgia upcountry during the late 1800s, which was a time of great change for the yeoman farmers who lived there. The farmers were buffeted by forces such as the unraveling of antebellum household economies, the development of market forces, the growth of a new class of merchants-landlords, and rising tensions between town and countryside. This resentment fueled the Populist movement, which ended in 1890. Since its publication, the book has been well-received and has had a significant impact on scholarship. However, interest in Populism and the yeoman farmers has waned in recent years, likely due to changing social and political climates.
Despite the vast changes in plantation agriculture following the Civil War and Reconstruction, the lot of small farmers was little improved. Examining the nonplantation region of upcountry Georgia as a microcosm of the South, Steven Hahn showed how farmers were buffeted by such forces as the
unravelling of antebellum household economy, the development of market forces, the growth of a new class of merchants-landlords, and rising tensions between town and countryside--and how their resentments fueld the Populist movement at the end of the 19th century. For this updated edition, Hahn
will add new material to discuss how the book has stood up since it was published over twenty years ago, how the arguments and questions were received, and what influence they may have had on scholarship. He will also consider what has happened to historical interest in Populism, poor white people
and populist politics, as well as why he thinks it likely that interest may revive and what sort of questions and arguments may drive it.
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