WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.339 Welcome to the Deep Dive. We are so glad you're 00:00:03.339 --> 00:00:05.580 here with us today. Absolutely. For this Deep 00:00:05.580 --> 00:00:08.060 Dive, we've gathered a really fascinating stack 00:00:08.060 --> 00:00:11.140 of source material detailing the life and career 00:00:11.140 --> 00:00:14.699 of a, well, a truly polarizing figure in American 00:00:14.699 --> 00:00:17.839 history. Highly polarizing, yeah. Right. Benjamin 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:21.379 Pitchfork Ben Tillman. He lived from 1847 to 00:00:21.379 --> 00:00:24.539 1918, served as a Democratic politician, the 00:00:24.539 --> 00:00:26.719 governor of South Carolina, and eventually a 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:28.660 United States senator. And our mission today 00:00:28.660 --> 00:00:31.660 for you listening is to explore exactly how this 00:00:31.660 --> 00:00:35.000 one politician utilized a highly potent mix of 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:37.939 populist rhetoric, systemic institutional changes, 00:00:38.039 --> 00:00:42.039 and frankly, open violence to drastically reshape 00:00:42.039 --> 00:00:44.219 Southern politics. Yeah, he left behind a legacy 00:00:44.219 --> 00:00:46.700 that is incredibly complex and still actively 00:00:46.700 --> 00:00:49.899 debated today. But before we dive in, a quick 00:00:49.899 --> 00:00:52.350 heads up for you. We are dealing with some intense, 00:00:52.490 --> 00:00:55.369 heavily charged history today, specifically regarding 00:00:55.369 --> 00:00:57.969 race, political violence and systematic voter 00:00:57.969 --> 00:01:00.590 suppression. And our goal today isn't to endorse 00:01:00.590 --> 00:01:03.170 or condemn any of the historical figures or actions 00:01:03.170 --> 00:01:05.049 we're discussing. We're just looking at the documents. 00:01:05.719 --> 00:01:07.379 Exactly. We're going to lay out the historical 00:01:07.379 --> 00:01:10.200 facts, the events and the perspectives exactly 00:01:10.200 --> 00:01:13.500 as history recorded them impartially. That way 00:01:13.500 --> 00:01:16.000 you can fully understand how these massive shifts 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:18.879 in power actually happened. OK, let's unpack 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:22.710 this, because to understand how this guy. Essentially 00:01:22.710 --> 00:01:25.670 rewired an entire state's political system. We 00:01:25.670 --> 00:01:27.810 have to start at the beginning. I mean, where 00:01:27.810 --> 00:01:30.090 does a figure like Tillman actually come from? 00:01:30.349 --> 00:01:32.849 Well, he was born in 1847 in the Edgefield District 00:01:32.849 --> 00:01:35.670 of South Carolina. This was a very wealthy slaveholding 00:01:35.670 --> 00:01:37.969 family. And you really have to understand the 00:01:37.969 --> 00:01:41.069 culture of the Edgefield District. It was famously 00:01:41.069 --> 00:01:44.030 brutal. It was notoriously violent, even by the 00:01:44.030 --> 00:01:46.310 standards of Antebellum, South Carolina. I mean, 00:01:46.329 --> 00:01:48.750 this was a place where matters of personal honor 00:01:48.750 --> 00:01:51.930 were frequently and legally settled. with duels 00:01:51.930 --> 00:01:53.909 or outright killing. Right. Violence wasn't just 00:01:53.909 --> 00:01:55.769 common there. It was practically a family tradition 00:01:55.769 --> 00:01:58.469 for him. Oh, completely. Before Tillman's father 00:01:58.469 --> 00:02:01.250 died, he had already killed a man and been convicted 00:02:01.250 --> 00:02:03.810 of rioting. And Tillman's brothers followed that 00:02:03.810 --> 00:02:08.050 exact same path. One died in a domestic dispute 00:02:08.050 --> 00:02:11.090 and a third killed a man over a gambling accusation. 00:02:11.270 --> 00:02:13.729 It was just an environment drenched in bloodshed. 00:02:13.849 --> 00:02:16.669 But Tillman himself actually suffered some severe 00:02:16.669 --> 00:02:18.909 personal tragedies early on that sort of set 00:02:18.909 --> 00:02:21.229 him apart from his brothers, right? He did. He 00:02:21.229 --> 00:02:24.250 developed a cranial tumor that required the removal 00:02:24.250 --> 00:02:26.889 of his left eye. And because of that medical 00:02:26.889 --> 00:02:29.530 issue, he was actually kept from fighting in 00:02:29.530 --> 00:02:32.409 the Civil War. So think about this. He grows 00:02:32.409 --> 00:02:35.680 up in this hyper -violent culture. watching his 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:38.620 family members fight and die. But he sits out 00:02:38.620 --> 00:02:40.680 the defining conflict of his generation because 00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:43.560 of his eye. How does that shape what he does 00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:46.000 after the war? That background is absolutely 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:48.000 crucial for understanding the post -Civil War 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:51.020 landscape he enters. Following the war and emancipation, 00:02:51.159 --> 00:02:53.120 South Carolina had a black majority population. 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:55.840 And during Reconstruction, that majority largely 00:02:55.840 --> 00:02:58.199 voted for the Republican Party. Which resulted 00:02:58.199 --> 00:03:01.840 in a biracial state legislature. Exactly. And 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:04.419 white elites in the state who had obviously lost 00:03:04.419 --> 00:03:07.719 their pre -war power were terrified and enraged 00:03:07.719 --> 00:03:10.680 by this new reality. So in response, they formed 00:03:10.680 --> 00:03:13.599 these clandestine paramilitary groups. They called 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:17.259 themselves rifle clubs or red shirts. And their 00:03:17.259 --> 00:03:19.659 entire purpose was essentially organized terrorism. 00:03:19.719 --> 00:03:23.759 Yes. Their explicit goal was to use force, economic 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:27.240 coercion and intimidation to drive African -Americans 00:03:27.240 --> 00:03:29.780 from power. They wanted to restore white men. 00:03:29.800 --> 00:03:32.379 to complete political dominance. Tillman, having 00:03:32.379 --> 00:03:34.479 missed out on the actual war, was right there 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:37.199 for this. He became an early and incredibly enthusiastic 00:03:37.199 --> 00:03:39.439 recruit for his local redshirt organization, 00:03:39.979 --> 00:03:42.379 the Sweetwater Sabre Club. Which brings us to 00:03:42.379 --> 00:03:45.629 a massive turning point in 1876. The Hamburg 00:03:45.629 --> 00:03:48.110 Massacre. From the sources we're looking at, 00:03:48.169 --> 00:03:50.210 this wasn't just some skirmish. It was a calculated 00:03:50.210 --> 00:03:52.710 slaughter. It was. Hamburg was a mostly black 00:03:52.710 --> 00:03:54.849 town in South Carolina. And in the heat of the 00:03:54.849 --> 00:03:58.210 summer of 1876, there was a minor, almost trivial 00:03:58.210 --> 00:04:00.949 dispute over a local black militia marching in 00:04:00.949 --> 00:04:03.389 the street. They temporarily blocked the path 00:04:03.389 --> 00:04:05.990 of two white farmers. And the response was wildly 00:04:05.990 --> 00:04:08.930 disproportionate. An armed white mob, which included 00:04:08.930 --> 00:04:11.650 Tillman, traveled to the town and demanded the 00:04:11.650 --> 00:04:14.169 militiamen surrender their arms. Which they refused 00:04:14.169 --> 00:04:17.189 to do, obviously. Right. They were vastly outnumbered, 00:04:17.189 --> 00:04:19.829 so they barricaded themselves inside a brick 00:04:19.829 --> 00:04:23.069 building they used as a drill room. The white 00:04:23.069 --> 00:04:25.709 mob brought in a cannon. A literal cannon. Fired 00:04:25.709 --> 00:04:28.170 on the building and eventually stormed it. At 00:04:28.170 --> 00:04:31.750 least seven black militiamen were murdered. But 00:04:31.750 --> 00:04:34.230 what is truly horrific is that after the initial 00:04:34.230 --> 00:04:36.970 shootout, five of those men were specifically 00:04:36.970 --> 00:04:39.949 picked out of a lineup of captives and executed 00:04:39.949 --> 00:04:42.750 in cold blood. And the detail that really sticks 00:04:42.750 --> 00:04:45.410 with you from the historical record is what happened 00:04:45.410 --> 00:04:48.430 after the executions. Tillman and the other members 00:04:48.430 --> 00:04:51.069 of the mob actually sat down and shared a celebratory 00:04:51.069 --> 00:04:54.949 meal at the home of the very man who had pointed 00:04:54.949 --> 00:04:57.529 out which individuals should be shot. Yeah. They 00:04:57.529 --> 00:04:59.689 treated it like a victory banquet. Which tells 00:04:59.689 --> 00:05:01.769 you everything you need to know about how normalized 00:05:01.769 --> 00:05:04.610 this was for them. And what's fascinating here 00:05:04.610 --> 00:05:07.069 is the underlying political calculation of this 00:05:07.069 --> 00:05:09.889 violence. It wasn't just random racial hatred. 00:05:10.129 --> 00:05:13.529 It was a deliberate, organized political strategy 00:05:13.529 --> 00:05:16.050 that whites referred to as redemption. Right. 00:05:16.110 --> 00:05:18.350 The violence was designed to suppress the Republican 00:05:18.350 --> 00:05:20.790 vote and secure Democratic victories through 00:05:20.790 --> 00:05:23.970 fraud and terror. Exactly. And Tillman didn't 00:05:23.970 --> 00:05:26.029 hide from this at all later in his career. In 00:05:26.029 --> 00:05:29.029 1909, he gave a speech to a reunion of red shirts 00:05:29.029 --> 00:05:31.829 where he openly admitted their motives. It's 00:05:31.829 --> 00:05:34.000 a really chill. piece of history to read. He 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:36.519 bragged about it. He stated point blank that 00:05:36.519 --> 00:05:39.319 their purpose at Hamburg was to strike terror 00:05:39.319 --> 00:05:42.279 and that those lives were offered up as a sacrifice 00:05:42.279 --> 00:05:44.879 to stop those who sought to, and this is a quote, 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:47.379 substitute the rule of the African for that of 00:05:47.379 --> 00:05:49.740 the Caucasian in South Carolina. By bragging 00:05:49.740 --> 00:05:52.040 about this violence, he basically cemented his 00:05:52.040 --> 00:05:54.759 rock star status among the white elites who wanted 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:57.060 their power back. He absolutely did. Here's where 00:05:57.060 --> 00:05:59.170 it gets really interesting, though. He builds 00:05:59.170 --> 00:06:01.810 his early reputation as a violent paramilitary 00:06:01.810 --> 00:06:05.629 enforcer. But then in the 1880s, he executes 00:06:05.629 --> 00:06:09.009 this massive political pivot. How does he go 00:06:09.009 --> 00:06:11.110 from a redshirt militant to running for office? 00:06:11.350 --> 00:06:13.970 He recognizes a massive shift in the economic 00:06:13.970 --> 00:06:17.490 winds. In the 1880s, the South was facing really 00:06:17.490 --> 00:06:20.970 hard economic times, a severe agricultural depression. 00:06:21.029 --> 00:06:24.529 Yeah. Tillman realizes that the wealthy old money 00:06:24.529 --> 00:06:27.069 establishment, often called the bourbon or conservative 00:06:27.069 --> 00:06:30.290 planter elites who are running the state, have 00:06:30.290 --> 00:06:32.689 absolutely nothing to offer the struggling poor 00:06:32.689 --> 00:06:35.129 white farmers. Just to clarify for you listening, 00:06:35.250 --> 00:06:36.790 when we say bourbon elites, we're talking about 00:06:36.790 --> 00:06:40.269 the wealthy conservative Southern Democrats who 00:06:40.269 --> 00:06:42.310 essentially wanted to return society to the pre 00:06:42.310 --> 00:06:45.269 -war social hierarchies, the aristocrats of the 00:06:45.269 --> 00:06:47.689 South. Right. And Tillman, despite coming from 00:06:47.689 --> 00:06:50.029 a wealthy plantation family himself, brilliantly 00:06:50.029 --> 00:06:53.079 rebrands. positions himself as the fierce champion 00:06:53.079 --> 00:06:55.899 of the dirt farmer. The agricultural Moses they 00:06:55.899 --> 00:06:58.759 called him. Yes. He starts traveling the state, 00:06:58.860 --> 00:07:01.759 demanding reforms, primary elections, and pushing 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:04.540 for state colleges focused on agricultural education. 00:07:05.019 --> 00:07:08.819 He was an incredibly talented, fiery, and honestly 00:07:08.819 --> 00:07:11.939 highly insulting stump speaker. That's how he 00:07:11.939 --> 00:07:13.939 gets the nickname Pitchfork Ben, right? Yeah, 00:07:13.959 --> 00:07:16.500 that came a bit later during a campaign. He literally 00:07:16.500 --> 00:07:18.560 threatened to take a pitchfork to Washington 00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:22.220 and prod President Grover Cleveland in the ribs. 00:07:22.420 --> 00:07:25.800 He publicly called the president an old bag of 00:07:25.870 --> 00:07:28.649 beef. He knew exactly how to play to the anger 00:07:28.649 --> 00:07:31.730 of the rural crowds. He was a master of it. And 00:07:31.730 --> 00:07:33.930 if we connect this to the bigger picture, his 00:07:33.930 --> 00:07:36.470 time as governor of South Carolina from 1890 00:07:36.470 --> 00:07:40.769 to 1894 is totally defined by these deep paradoxes. 00:07:40.790 --> 00:07:42.449 Because on the one hand, he actually delivers 00:07:42.449 --> 00:07:44.980 for the poor white farmers who elected him. He 00:07:44.980 --> 00:07:46.839 fulfills his promises regarding higher education. 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:48.879 He's instrumental in founding the agricultural 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:51.480 college that is now Clemson University. Winthrop 00:07:51.480 --> 00:07:54.060 University, too. An industrial college for women. 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:56.579 Right. But on the other hand, look at his stance 00:07:56.579 --> 00:07:59.209 on the Populist Party's sub -treasury idea. Yes. 00:07:59.449 --> 00:08:02.709 To give some context, poor farmers at this time 00:08:02.709 --> 00:08:05.069 were drowning in debt under the crop lien system. 00:08:05.689 --> 00:08:08.269 Local merchants basically owned their future 00:08:08.269 --> 00:08:11.050 harvests at exorbitant interest rates. It was 00:08:11.050 --> 00:08:13.870 a trap. A total trap. So the populace proposed 00:08:13.870 --> 00:08:17.610 a sub -treasury plan. Create federal warehouses 00:08:17.610 --> 00:08:20.149 for crops and provide farmers with low -interest 00:08:20.149 --> 00:08:23.230 federal loans. It was exactly what his base needed. 00:08:23.509 --> 00:08:26.790 But Tillman opposes it. Which makes no sense 00:08:26.790 --> 00:08:28.790 until you look at his reasoning. He opposed it 00:08:28.790 --> 00:08:31.290 purely because the loans would be federal. He 00:08:31.290 --> 00:08:32.950 didn't want federal office holders operating 00:08:32.950 --> 00:08:36.009 in South Carolina. He was terrified that a Republican 00:08:36.009 --> 00:08:39.149 administration in Washington might appoint African 00:08:39.149 --> 00:08:41.549 -Americans to oversee those federal warehouses 00:08:41.549 --> 00:08:43.870 in his state. So he was willing to block economic 00:08:43.870 --> 00:08:46.289 relief for his own supporters just to maintain 00:08:46.289 --> 00:08:49.269 absolute racial segregation in state power. Exactly. 00:08:49.269 --> 00:08:51.330 And his policies at the state level were just 00:08:51.330 --> 00:08:54.049 as chaotic. He created this highly controversial 00:08:54.049 --> 00:08:56.570 state alcohol dispensary system. Right, where 00:08:56.570 --> 00:08:58.809 he banned private alcohol sales and made the 00:08:58.809 --> 00:09:01.629 state government the sole vendor of liquor. Which 00:09:01.629 --> 00:09:04.629 predictably led to massive bootlegging operations. 00:09:05.190 --> 00:09:08.230 When he sent state constables to crack down on 00:09:08.230 --> 00:09:11.029 the town of Darlington, it sparked a deadly riot. 00:09:11.370 --> 00:09:13.950 It got so bad he actually had to call out the 00:09:13.950 --> 00:09:16.509 state militia to restore order. But the most 00:09:16.509 --> 00:09:19.129 glaring and frankly tragic contradictions of 00:09:19.129 --> 00:09:21.730 his governorship revolved around his stance on 00:09:21.730 --> 00:09:24.909 lynching. Yes, this is where his rhetoric had 00:09:24.909 --> 00:09:28.269 fatal real world consequences. On the surface, 00:09:28.350 --> 00:09:30.529 when he first took office, he made a show of 00:09:30.529 --> 00:09:33.159 trying to prevent lynchings. He called out the 00:09:33.159 --> 00:09:35.840 militia to stop mobs and corresponded with local 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:38.600 sheriffs. Trying to prevent extrajudicial violence. 00:09:38.919 --> 00:09:41.159 But simultaneously, he pandered heavily to the 00:09:41.159 --> 00:09:43.759 mob mentality. He publicly declared that he would 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:46.080 willingly lead a lynch mob himself if a white 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:48.639 woman were ever assaulted. You just can't tell 00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:50.960 an angry populace that mob justice is occasionally 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:53.340 justified and expect them not to take you up 00:09:53.340 --> 00:09:57.149 on it. Precisely. And that dual stance led to 00:09:57.149 --> 00:10:00.230 horrific consequences, specifically the tragic 00:10:00.230 --> 00:10:02.850 case of John Peterson in Denmark, South Carolina. 00:10:03.169 --> 00:10:06.649 The story is harrowing. A 14 -year -old girl 00:10:06.649 --> 00:10:09.889 alleged she had been attacked. A white mob immediately 00:10:09.889 --> 00:10:12.429 formed, and they nearly lynched a completely 00:10:12.429 --> 00:10:15.370 different man until he managed to prove an airtight 00:10:15.370 --> 00:10:18.080 alibi. And then the mob's attention turned to 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:21.159 John Peterson. Yes. And Peterson, knowing he's 00:10:21.159 --> 00:10:23.600 a target, actually appeals directly to Governor 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:26.340 Tillman for protection. He contacts the governor 00:10:26.340 --> 00:10:28.659 saying he can prove his innocence. He just needs 00:10:28.659 --> 00:10:31.220 to be kept safe from the mob. And Tillman's response 00:10:31.220 --> 00:10:34.139 was essentially a death sentence. Instead of 00:10:34.139 --> 00:10:36.419 ensuring Peterson's safety or keeping him in 00:10:36.419 --> 00:10:39.080 a secure state facility, the governor sent him 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:41.580 back to Denmark with only a single guard. You 00:10:41.580 --> 00:10:43.159 have to imagine he knew exactly what was going 00:10:43.159 --> 00:10:45.539 to happen. The mob immediately overpowered the 00:10:45.539 --> 00:10:48.120 guard, took Peterson, put him on a sham trial, 00:10:48.379 --> 00:10:51.019 found him guilty, and murdered him. And despite 00:10:51.019 --> 00:10:53.419 widespread national outrage, Tillman defended 00:10:53.419 --> 00:10:55.799 his actions. He claimed he assumed the mob would 00:10:55.799 --> 00:10:58.100 listen to Peterson's alibi just as they had for 00:10:58.100 --> 00:11:01.139 the previous suspect. Which is absurd. After 00:11:01.139 --> 00:11:03.379 that incident, he largely ignored the lynching 00:11:03.379 --> 00:11:06.100 issue entirely. During his second term as governor, 00:11:06.360 --> 00:11:08.860 lynchings in the state more than doubled. So 00:11:08.860 --> 00:11:11.470 what does this all mean? He rides this wave of 00:11:11.470 --> 00:11:15.370 populism, racial division, and mob violence through 00:11:15.370 --> 00:11:19.450 two terms as governor. By 1894, he sets his sights 00:11:19.450 --> 00:11:21.690 on the U .S. Senate. But before he leaves the 00:11:21.690 --> 00:11:24.210 governor's mansion, he orchestrates what he considered 00:11:24.210 --> 00:11:27.830 his crowning achievement. The 1895 South Carolina 00:11:27.830 --> 00:11:30.789 Constitutional Convention. And this is the core 00:11:30.789 --> 00:11:33.470 insight into Tillman's legacy. He didn't just 00:11:33.470 --> 00:11:36.190 use violence. He transitioned that violence into 00:11:36.190 --> 00:11:38.899 permanent administrative law. His explicitly 00:11:38.899 --> 00:11:41.440 stated goal for this convention was the complete 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:44.139 legal disenfranchisement of African -American 00:11:44.139 --> 00:11:46.379 voters. But how do you actually do that legally? 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:48.360 Because the 15th Amendment of the U .S. Constitution 00:11:48.360 --> 00:11:50.980 already existed, and it's strictly prohibited 00:11:50.980 --> 00:11:53.519 denying the vote based on race. That is where 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:55.240 the terrifying brilliance of this convention 00:11:55.240 --> 00:11:57.820 comes in. They had to bypass the 15th Amendment 00:11:57.820 --> 00:12:00.960 without explicitly mentioning race. So they constructed 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:04.100 a deliberate maze of legal and bureaucratic obstacles. 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:06.679 Starting with the residency requirements. Right. 00:12:06.860 --> 00:12:10.019 They implemented strict rolling residency requirements. 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:13.299 This disproportionately affected African -Americans 00:12:13.299 --> 00:12:16.139 who are often itinerant tenant farmers moving 00:12:16.139 --> 00:12:18.600 from place to place looking for work. OK, so 00:12:18.600 --> 00:12:20.799 if you move to find work, you couldn't vote. 00:12:20.980 --> 00:12:23.259 What was the next hurdle? Then came the poll 00:12:23.259 --> 00:12:26.200 tax. And they didn't just implement a tax. They 00:12:26.200 --> 00:12:29.100 structured the timing of it perfectly. The tax 00:12:29.100 --> 00:12:31.460 had to be paid six months in advance in May. 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:34.730 Why May? Because May is exactly the time of year 00:12:34.730 --> 00:12:37.750 when farm laborers had the absolute least amount 00:12:37.750 --> 00:12:40.590 of cash on hand. Their crops hadn't been harvested 00:12:40.590 --> 00:12:43.009 yet. It was designed to hit them when they were 00:12:43.009 --> 00:12:45.970 poorest. That is so deeply cynical. But let's 00:12:45.970 --> 00:12:48.370 say someone didn't move and they somehow managed 00:12:48.370 --> 00:12:51.169 to save the money to pay the tax in May. What 00:12:51.169 --> 00:12:53.820 then? Then they faced the literacy and comprehension 00:12:53.820 --> 00:12:56.740 tests. Registrants had to read or write a section 00:12:56.740 --> 00:12:59.080 of the Constitution. But the critical part is 00:12:59.080 --> 00:13:01.580 that the tests were graded entirely at the discretion 00:13:01.580 --> 00:13:04.480 of local white registrars. So it was completely 00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:07.419 subjective. Completely. A black man with a college 00:13:07.419 --> 00:13:09.639 degree could be told he failed, while a white 00:13:09.639 --> 00:13:11.940 man who could barely sign his name would be passed. 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:15.679 Wait, but didn't that threaten poor, illiterate 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:18.539 white farmers? The very people who voted for 00:13:18.539 --> 00:13:20.940 Tillman? It absolutely did. And Tillman knew 00:13:20.940 --> 00:13:23.820 that. So his committee created the infamous understanding 00:13:23.820 --> 00:13:27.100 clause. Which is just wild to read about. They 00:13:27.100 --> 00:13:29.340 literally just said, if you're white, you can 00:13:29.340 --> 00:13:30.720 just tell us you understand the Constitution 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:34.279 and we'll let you vote. That's absurdly blatant. 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:37.370 It was essentially that blatant. It allowed permanent 00:13:37.370 --> 00:13:40.330 registration for citizens who could simply understand 00:13:40.330 --> 00:13:42.409 the Constitution when an official read it to 00:13:42.409 --> 00:13:45.690 them. It gave the registrars massive leeway to 00:13:45.690 --> 00:13:48.529 legally protect white voters while rejecting 00:13:48.529 --> 00:13:50.889 black voters. And they didn't stop at the registrars. 00:13:50.950 --> 00:13:52.970 They also manipulated the criminal code, right? 00:13:53.110 --> 00:13:56.049 Yes. They weaponized the courts. The convention 00:13:56.049 --> 00:13:58.230 decreed that conviction of certain crimes would 00:13:58.230 --> 00:14:01.169 result in permanent disenfranchisement. But they 00:14:01.169 --> 00:14:03.230 specifically chose crimes that the white delegates 00:14:03.230 --> 00:14:05.529 believed were prevalent among African -Americans. 00:14:05.769 --> 00:14:09.509 Crimes like bigamy, adultery, burglary or arson. 00:14:09.669 --> 00:14:12.149 Right. But the loophole they left for violent 00:14:12.149 --> 00:14:15.730 crime is staggering. Staggering. A man convicted 00:14:15.730 --> 00:14:19.190 of burglary could never vote again. But a convicted 00:14:19.190 --> 00:14:21.610 murderer, as long as he wasn't currently sitting 00:14:21.610 --> 00:14:23.830 in a prison cell, would have his voting rights 00:14:23.830 --> 00:14:26.740 completely undisturbed. Because they associated 00:14:26.740 --> 00:14:29.100 violence with the white elite's dueling culture. 00:14:29.299 --> 00:14:32.600 Exactly. The system was rigged at every single 00:14:32.600 --> 00:14:35.399 bureaucratic level, right down to the polling 00:14:35.399 --> 00:14:38.059 place manager having the right to demand paper 00:14:38.059 --> 00:14:41.120 proof that all past taxes were paid. This raises 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:43.759 an important question about how legal frameworks 00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:47.059 can be weaponized. The impact of doing this is 00:14:47.059 --> 00:14:49.480 just profound. It practically eliminated the 00:14:49.480 --> 00:14:51.960 black vote in the state overnight. Tillman himself 00:14:51.960 --> 00:14:54.460 later boasted openly on the Senate floor about 00:14:54.460 --> 00:14:56.240 how they deliberately adopted the educational 00:14:56.240 --> 00:14:59.519 qualification specifically to bypass the federal 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:01.899 amendments. He wasn't hiding it. Not at all. 00:15:01.960 --> 00:15:04.960 This single constitution ensured absolute white 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:07.179 Democratic Party rule in South Carolina for more 00:15:07.179 --> 00:15:10.299 than six decades. To put it in perspective, it 00:15:10.299 --> 00:15:12.379 prevented any African -American from being elected 00:15:12.379 --> 00:15:14.039 to Congress from the state of South Carolina 00:15:14.039 --> 00:15:17.080 until the civil rights movement in the 1960s. 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:19.799 That is generational impact. And it perfectly 00:15:19.799 --> 00:15:22.399 tees up his transition to Washington as the so 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:25.539 -called wild man of the Senate. He takes this 00:15:25.539 --> 00:15:28.659 exact same aggressive, unapologetic energy to 00:15:28.659 --> 00:15:32.600 the national stage. In 1896, he actually attempts 00:15:32.600 --> 00:15:35.019 a run for president. Yes. The country at this 00:15:35.019 --> 00:15:37.460 time was in a deep recession, and the Democratic 00:15:37.460 --> 00:15:40.500 Party was fiercely divided over monetary policy, 00:15:40.759 --> 00:15:44.220 specifically the gold standard versus free silver. 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:46.139 And for those listening who might not be economists, 00:15:46.440 --> 00:15:49.460 free silver essentially meant printing more money 00:15:49.460 --> 00:15:52.440 back by silver to create inflation. Inflation 00:15:52.440 --> 00:15:54.440 helps poor farmers because it makes their massive 00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:57.299 debts easier to pay off. Right. The wealthy eastern 00:15:57.299 --> 00:15:59.620 establishment, on the other hand, wanted the 00:15:59.620 --> 00:16:01.799 gold standard to protect the value of their wealth 00:16:01.799 --> 00:16:04.759 and prevent inflation. Exactly. Tillman was a 00:16:04.759 --> 00:16:07.500 massive free silver advocate and saw this as 00:16:07.500 --> 00:16:09.980 a golden opportunity to unite the South and the 00:16:09.980 --> 00:16:12.379 West against the wealthy east. He was selected 00:16:12.379 --> 00:16:14.500 to be the opening speaker for the platform debate 00:16:14.500 --> 00:16:17.899 at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in 00:16:17.899 --> 00:16:20.299 Chicago. You would think this is his moment to 00:16:20.299 --> 00:16:22.970 look presidential. to unite the factions you 00:16:22.970 --> 00:16:26.049 would think but instead of delivering a unifying 00:16:26.049 --> 00:16:29.169 address he delivered a speech that was entirely 00:16:29.169 --> 00:16:32.070 divisive sectional and relentlessly aggressive 00:16:32.070 --> 00:16:35.629 pitchfork ben comes out oh yeah he cursed he 00:16:35.629 --> 00:16:38.210 harangued his enemies and he framed the silver 00:16:38.210 --> 00:16:41.029 issue not as an economic debate but as a literal 00:16:41.029 --> 00:16:43.950 war between the wealthy east and the oppressed 00:16:43.950 --> 00:16:47.169 south and west the scene described in the sources 00:16:47.169 --> 00:16:51.080 is absolute chaos. He completely alienated the 00:16:51.080 --> 00:16:53.659 national audience. Delegates from other states 00:16:53.659 --> 00:16:55.539 were literally standing on their chairs shouting 00:16:55.539 --> 00:16:58.779 for him to stop. At one point a brass band actually 00:16:58.779 --> 00:17:00.799 started playing in the hall just to drown out 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:03.740 his voice. And Tillman being Tillman stubbornly 00:17:03.740 --> 00:17:05.440 yelled that he would have his say if he had to 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:07.960 stand there until sundown. By the time he finally 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:09.960 finished his presidential chances were completely 00:17:09.960 --> 00:17:13.259 destroyed. But ironically his disastrous angry 00:17:13.259 --> 00:17:16.039 performance perfectly paved the way for the very 00:17:16.039 --> 00:17:19.079 next speaker. William Jennings, Brian. Yes. Brian 00:17:19.079 --> 00:17:21.880 stepped up to the podium, perfectly contrasted 00:17:21.880 --> 00:17:24.559 Tillman's rage with soaring, unifying rhetoric, 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:27.920 delivered his famous cross of gold speech, and 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:29.480 walked away with the presidential nomination. 00:17:30.019 --> 00:17:32.240 So Tillman loses his shot at the White House, 00:17:32.339 --> 00:17:34.940 but he returns to the Senate, where he continues 00:17:34.940 --> 00:17:37.680 to shock the nation. He accuses colleagues of 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:40.099 corruption, he openly defends his violent past 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:42.559 in the red shirts, and he even brings physical 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:45.019 violence directly directly onto the Senate floor. 00:17:45.579 --> 00:17:48.440 1902. He was giving a speech and accused his 00:17:48.440 --> 00:17:50.359 own junior colleague from South Carolina, John 00:17:50.359 --> 00:17:53.000 McLaurin, of corruption and essentially selling 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:56.000 his vote. McLaurin, sitting right there, stood 00:17:56.000 --> 00:17:59.500 up and called Tillman a liar. And Tillman doesn't 00:17:59.500 --> 00:18:02.720 just argue back. He physically snaps. He immediately 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:05.579 rushes across the Senate floor, climbs over desks 00:18:05.579 --> 00:18:08.859 and punches McLaurin squarely in the face. McLaurin 00:18:08.859 --> 00:18:11.079 punched him back in the nose before the sergeant 00:18:11.079 --> 00:18:13.000 at arms and other senators could physically pry 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:15.900 them apart. Both men were held in contempt and 00:18:15.900 --> 00:18:18.259 censured by the Senate. It was such a scandal 00:18:18.259 --> 00:18:20.339 that it caused President Theodore Roosevelt to 00:18:20.339 --> 00:18:22.599 withdraw a White House dinner invitation he had 00:18:22.599 --> 00:18:25.359 extended to Tillman. Which made Roosevelt a lifelong 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:28.839 enemy of Tillman. But here is the massive twist 00:18:28.839 --> 00:18:31.720 in his story. Despite being known for fistfights 00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:34.480 and extreme rhetoric, he was surprisingly effective 00:18:34.480 --> 00:18:37.500 as a legislator. He managed the passage of the 00:18:37.500 --> 00:18:40.079 Hepburn Bill regulating railroads, much to the 00:18:40.079 --> 00:18:42.700 surprise of Republican leaders who hoped he would 00:18:42.700 --> 00:18:45.839 sabotage it. But his most significant legislative 00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:50.059 achievement is the Tillman Act of 1907. This 00:18:50.059 --> 00:18:52.099 is a phenomenal piece of history to connect to 00:18:52.099 --> 00:18:54.920 today. The Tillman Act was the very first federal 00:18:54.920 --> 00:18:58.059 campaign finance law in American history, and 00:18:58.059 --> 00:19:00.339 it completely banned corporate contributions 00:19:00.339 --> 00:19:03.180 to federal political campaigns. Think about every 00:19:03.180 --> 00:19:05.119 time you hear about super PACs and corporate 00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:07.819 campaign donations in modern politics. This guy 00:19:07.819 --> 00:19:10.930 pitchforks, brawls and all. is the author of 00:19:10.930 --> 00:19:13.230 the very first major campaign, Finance Reform. 00:19:13.549 --> 00:19:16.029 It seems so entirely out of character. It does 00:19:16.029 --> 00:19:18.109 seem contradictory at first glance, but when 00:19:18.109 --> 00:19:20.230 you dig into the motives, it aligns perfectly 00:19:20.230 --> 00:19:22.910 with his worldview. Supreme Court Justice Clarence 00:19:22.910 --> 00:19:25.190 Thomas actually highlighted a fascinating detail 00:19:25.190 --> 00:19:27.470 regarding this act years later. What did he say? 00:19:27.589 --> 00:19:30.190 Thomas suggested that Tillman's actual motive 00:19:30.190 --> 00:19:32.849 was not necessarily pure democratic reform or 00:19:32.849 --> 00:19:35.990 cleaning up corruption. Instead, Tillman wanted 00:19:35.990 --> 00:19:38.529 to reduce the power of corporations specifically 00:19:38.529 --> 00:19:42.009 because at that time, major corporations tended 00:19:42.009 --> 00:19:44.369 to financially favor the Republican Party. And 00:19:44.369 --> 00:19:46.450 the Republican Party favored African -American 00:19:46.450 --> 00:19:49.730 political participation. Exactly. That is a staggering 00:19:49.730 --> 00:19:53.089 realization. Even his progressive anti -corporate 00:19:53.089 --> 00:19:56.130 economic reforms were inextricably linked to 00:19:56.130 --> 00:19:58.890 his overarching goals of racial suppression and 00:19:58.890 --> 00:20:01.349 political dominance for his faction. It was all 00:20:01.349 --> 00:20:04.529 part of the exact same strategy. the Senate until 00:20:04.529 --> 00:20:07.329 he died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1918. As 00:20:07.329 --> 00:20:09.750 we zoom out and look at his life, the legacy 00:20:09.750 --> 00:20:12.589 he leaves behind is intensely divided. On one 00:20:12.589 --> 00:20:15.009 hand, he is remembered by some historians and 00:20:15.009 --> 00:20:17.750 politicians as a populist hero. Senator James 00:20:17.750 --> 00:20:20.349 F. Burns, who later sat on the Supreme Court, 00:20:20.529 --> 00:20:23.289 actually dedicated a statue to Tillman in 1940 00:20:23.289 --> 00:20:25.529 on the statehouse grounds. He literally called 00:20:25.529 --> 00:20:27.809 him South Carolina's first new dealer for his 00:20:27.809 --> 00:20:30.710 focus on agricultural colleges and railroad regulation. 00:20:31.049 --> 00:20:34.230 Right. But on the other hand, for African -Americans 00:20:34.230 --> 00:20:37.089 and civil rights historians, he is viewed as 00:20:37.089 --> 00:20:40.750 the devil incarnate, a man who proudly championed 00:20:40.750 --> 00:20:42.990 white supremacy, boasted on the Senate floor 00:20:42.990 --> 00:20:46.390 about stuffing ballot boxes, and openly advocated 00:20:46.390 --> 00:20:49.259 for terror. This deep dive illustrates the profound, 00:20:49.500 --> 00:20:52.059 lasting mechanics of populism and institutional 00:20:52.059 --> 00:20:55.039 power. For you listening, it shows exactly how 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:57.700 one individual's ability to tap into rural anger 00:20:57.700 --> 00:21:00.779 and economic anxiety can result in massive generational 00:21:00.779 --> 00:21:03.640 shifts in the law. Tolman didn't just give angry 00:21:03.640 --> 00:21:06.740 speeches. He systematically rewired the bureaucratic 00:21:06.740 --> 00:21:09.819 DNA of an entire state. He created legal barriers 00:21:09.819 --> 00:21:12.440 that lasted well over half a century. It really 00:21:12.440 --> 00:21:14.259 makes you think about how the ghosts of history 00:21:14.259 --> 00:21:16.140 are permanently cemented into our present day. 00:21:16.259 --> 00:21:18.480 Very much so. Which brings us to a final thought 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:21.440 for you to mull over as we wrap up. When a highly 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:24.740 controversial historical figure's legacy is legally 00:21:24.740 --> 00:21:27.000 and physically bound to modern institutions, 00:21:27.400 --> 00:21:29.900 such as Tillman's name being tied to the foundational 00:21:29.900 --> 00:21:33.359 trust of Clemson University, or physical buildings 00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:35.819 named Tillman Hall still standing on multiple 00:21:35.819 --> 00:21:38.640 college campuses, how does a society navigate 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:41.539 the tension between preserving an uncomfortable 00:21:41.539 --> 00:21:44.460 historical record and reflecting its contemporary 00:21:44.460 --> 00:21:46.660 values? It's a question that our institutions 00:21:46.660 --> 00:21:48.680 are still fiercely grappling with right now. 00:21:48.759 --> 00:21:50.960 It really is. Thank you so much for joining us 00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:52.779 on this deep dive, and we'll catch you next time.