A new South rebellion : the battle against convict labor in the Tennessee coalfields, 1871-1896 / Karin A. Shapiro.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Shapiro, Karin A.

Series:

Fred W. Morrison series in Southern studies.

The Fred W. Morrison series in Southern studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Labor disputes--Tennessee--History--19th century.

Labor disputes.

Coal miners--Tennessee--History--19th century.

Coal miners.

Convict labor--Tennessee--History--19th century.

Convict labor.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (338 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Battle against convict labor in the Tennessee coalfields, 1871-1896

Place of Publication:

Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, c1998.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In 1891, thousands of Tennessee miners rose up against the use of convict labor by the state's coal companies, eventually engulfing five mountain communities in a rebellion against government authority. Propelled by the insurgent sensibilities of Populism and Gilded Age unionism, the miners initially sought to abolish the convict lease system through legal challenges and legislative lobbying. When nonviolent tactics failed to achieve reform, the predominantly white miners repeatedly seized control of the stockades and expelled the mostly black convicts from the mining districts. Insurrection hastened the demise of convict leasing in Tennessee, though at the cost of greatly weakening organized labor in the state's coal regions. Exhaustively researched and vividly written, A New South Rebellion brings to life the hopes that rural southerners invested in industrialization and the political tensions that could result when their aspirations were not met. Karin Shapiro skillfully analyzes the place of convict labor in southern economic development, the contested meanings of citizenship in late-nineteenth-century America, the weaknesses of Populist-era reform politics, and the fluidity of race relations during the early years of Jim Crow.

Contents:

Intro

CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

MAPS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Convict Wars and the New South

Schemes and Dreams in the Coalfields

Measures of Southern Justice

Kindling Insurrection

An Uneasy Armistice

Dilemmas of Militance

The Spread of Rebellion

Aftermath

The Boundaries of Dissent

APPENDIXES

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 301-320) and index.

ISBN:

9798890869647

9780807867051

0807867055

OCLC:

45843911