The Tillman movement in South Carolina

This study seeks to tell of the most significant transformation that has affected the political life of South Carolina since Reconstruction; namely, the passing of the control of the state from the hands of Wade Hampton and the men who surrounded him into the hands of Ben Tillman and his farmer friends. While there is danger of over-emphasizing the social significance of this transfer of power, for in fact Hampton and Tillman both were ever loyal Democrats believing the whites should rule to the exclusion of the Negro; nevertheless, there was a fundamental social difference which made the rivalry of these men something more than personal. Hampton believed in the rule of the white democracy through a leadership derived from the social system which existed before the Civil War; whereas Tillman believed in the rule of the white democracy through the leadership of a new generation, which had arisen as the result of social changes after 1865. I have found it convenient to approach the study of this topic through the personality of Tillman, as I feel that Tillman, in his life and work, embodied the spirit of this transference of leadership. Yet no attempt has been made to produce a biography of Tillman, for biographical matter is subordinated to the general narrative of the so-called Tillman Movement. With this purpose as a guide, the work begins with a description of politics in South Carolina after Reconstruction and with an attempt to show why the overthrow of the regime established in 1877 was inevitable; then follows a description of the early life and influences of Tillman, his advent into the politics of the state, his ideas of reform; later comes the story of his attempts at reform through others, followed by his own successful candidacy for governor, his administrative methods, and the constructive reforms which he accomplished. The study closes with an attempt to estimate the influence of Tillman upon South Carolina after he became United States senator and after his death. - Preface.