Ethnicity and Populism
(Including Anglophobia, Antisemitism, and Nativism)
(See separate section for African-Americans) 

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Atkins, Leah R. "Populism in Alabama: Reuben F. Kolb and the Appeals to Minority Groups." Alabama Historical Quarterly. 32(3-4): 167-80. Fall/Winter 1970.  Jews and Catholics were ignored in Alabama.  Although the African-American vote was important, there was no indication they would have been included at higher levels of the had Populists won in 1894.  Even though Kolb appealed for black votes, he believed in white supremacy. America: History and Life, 10:2463

Baum, Dale and Miller, Worth Robert. "Ethnic Conflict and Machine Politics in San Antonio, 1892-1899." Journal of Urban History. 19:63-84. August, 1993.  Machine leader Bryan Callaghan lost control of local politics by supporting state Democratic party leaders as they moved to the left to undercut Populism. 

Berkove, Lawrence I. "Free Silver and Jews: The Change in Dan de Quille." American Jewish Archives 1989 41(1): 43-51.  Dan De Quille (the pen name of William Wright) used anti-Semitic rhetoric in denouncing the gold standard and supporting Populism.  Yet, at the same time, he wrote an account of the Jewish experience in which he welcomed their presence in America.  Denouncing Populism anti-Semitic is simplistic. American History and Life, 27:8607

Blegen, Theodore C. "The Scandinavian Element and Agrarian Discontent." American Historical Association, Annual Report for 1921. 219 p. Washington D.C., 1926.  Scandinavians left Republican Party for Alliance and Populists because of agrarian discontent.

Crapol, Edward P. America for Americans: Economic Nationalism and Anglophobia in the Late Nineteenth Century. 227 p. Westport, CN: Greenwood, 1973.  "Anglophobia in the United States reached its zenith with the Populist movement." 

Dobkowski, Michael N. "Populist Antisemitism in U.S. Literature." Patterns of Prejudice [Great Britain] 1976 10(3): 19-27.  Discusses anti-Semitism and racial stereotypes of Jews in US literature during the Populist era, including the influence of the Rothschild image and the theory of Jewish world conspiracy. America: History and Life, 15A:1138

_____. "Where the New World Isn't New: Roots of U.S. Antisemitism." Patterns of Prejudice [Great Britain] 1975 9(4): 21-30.  Discusses the historiography of anti-Semitism in the United States from 1855 to the turn of the century, emphasizing ethnic stereotypes in popular novels and in Populism. America: History and Life, 14A:6710

Emmonds, David M. "Moreton Frewen and the Populist Revolt." Annals of Wyoming 1963 35(2): 155-173.  Although Frewen, an English speculator in Wyoming cattle lands, at first Frewen opposed the settlers in the Johnson County War, economic reverses and an awareness of social problems caused him to adopt many Populist ideas.  He later backed free silver, attacked Wall Street, demanded government controlling corporations, and denounced the Jews. America: History and Life, 1:2948

Handlin, Oscar. "American Views of the Jew at the Opening of the Twentieth Century." Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society. 40:323-44.  Populists "provided materials which anti-Semites would use after 1910."   

_____. "How U.S. Anti-Semitism Really Began: Its Grass Roots Source in the 90's." Commentary. 11:541-48. June 1951. 

_____. "Reconsidering the Populists." Agricultural History. 39(2): 68-74. April 1965.  The anti-Semitism of the Populists was not unique and further discussion of it is pointless. Populists need to be understood rather than attacked or defended.  

Higham, John. "Antisemitism in the Gilded Age: A Reinterpretation." Mississippi Valley Historical Review 1957 43(4): 559-578.  Suggests historians avoid too sharp a categorization between anti-Semite and philo-Semite.  Specifies anti-Semitism among three groups in the United States, 1870-1900: Populists who identified the power of Wall Street with the Jews, some Eastern patrician intellectuals, and the poorest urban classes.  Social and economic strain encouraged the rise of anti-Semitism, as well as nationalism.  Populists were not anti-Semitic.  America: History and Life, 0:2905

_____. "Social Discrimination Against Jews in America." Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society. 47:lff. 1957.  Defends Populists against charges of anti-Semitism.  

 _____. Strangers in the Land: Patterns of American Nativism, 1860-1925. 431 p., illus., bib. New Jersey: Rutgers U P, 1955. Revised edition, New York: Atheneum, 1963.  Good general background, but little on Populists. See p. 346.  

Holmes, William F. "Whitecapping: Anti-Semitism in the Populist Era." American Jewish Historical Quarterly 1974 63(3): 244-261.  Whitecappers were anti-Semitic and anti-Negro.  They succeeded in driving black laborers off lands owned by (mostly Jewish) merchants and lumber companies until local judges restored law and order.  Populists were strong in counties wracked by whitecapping, but were not necessarily whitecappers, although some men may have belonged to both organizations.  America: History and Life, 11A:3083

Kinzer, Donald L. An Episode in Anti-Catholicism: The American Protective Association. 342 p. U of Washington Publications in History. Seattle: U of Washington P, 1964.  Refutes Hofstadter on Populism and nativism.  

Larson, Robert W. "The White Caps of New Mexico: A Study of Ethnic Militancy in the Southwest." Pacific Historical Review 1975 44(2): 171-185.  Juan José Herrera organized the white caps of New Mexico (a hispanic vigilante group) to save the hispanic communal land grant (Las Vegas community grant) from Anglo and corporate ranchers.  Their activities dramatized the issue sufficiently that legislative and court action preserved the grant. The white caps were also responsible for the rapid growth of the Knights of Labor in San Miguel County.  Herrera also organized the People's Party, which had some success in 1890 and 1892. America: History and Life, 13A:6859

MacLean, Nancy. "The Leo Frank Case Reconsidered: Gender and Sexual Politics in the Making of Reactionary Populism." Journal of American History. 78:917-948.  December 1991. 

McFarlane, Larry A. "Nativism or Not? Perceptions of British Investment in Kansas, 1882-1901." Great Plains Quarterly 1987 7(4): 232-243.  Both Populists and Republicans promoted anti-alien landholding laws.  They represented regional rather than party issues.  Nativism was not the major element in the campaign against alien ownership in Kansas. Traditional Anglophobia and the fear of foreclosures and farm failures were the crucial factors. America: History and Life, 26:10806

Moseley, Charlton. "Latent Klanism in Georgia, 1890-1915." Georgia Historical Quarterly 1972 56(3): 365-386.  The Ku Klux Klan was involved in a series of racially biased, violent incidents directed against blacks and Jews.  Tom Watson was involved. America: History and Life, S:6818

Moum, Kathleen. "The Social Origins of the Nonpartisan League." North Dakota History 1986 53(2): 18-22.  The North Dakota Nonpartisan League had its roots in the Populist movement.  It was strongest in the north-central and northwestern parts of the state where immigrant farmers, particularly Norwegian Americans, dominated.  America: History and Life, 24A:7846

Nelson, Richard. "The Cultural Contradictions of Populism: Tom Watson's Tragic Vision of Power, Politics, and History." Georgia Historical Quarterly 1988 72(1): 1-29.  Watson's views did not change, as some historians have suggested, but were responses to situations caused by conflict between his republican ideology and his ambition. America: History and Life, 26:10271

Ostler, Jeffrey. "The Rhetoric of Conspiracy and the Formation of Kansas Populism." Agricultural History 1995 69(1): 1-27.  Kansas Populism of the late 1880's and early 1890's, while generally progressive, was nonetheless partly inspired and animated by the rhetoric of conspiracy. Sarah E. Van De Vort Emery's popular pamphlet Seven Financial Conspiracies Which Have Enslaved the American People (1887), widely distributed by the Union Labor Party and the People's Party, spread the belief that a cabal of British and Eastern bankers was responsible for the post-Civil War contraction of the currency. America: History and Life, 33:6296

Peterson, John M. "The People's Party of Kansas: Campaigning in 1898."
           Kansas History 1990-91 13(4): 235-258. Kansas Populist campaign
           in 1898.  They appealed particularly to blacks and Germans. The
           Kansas People's Party in 1898 was "an orderly political
           organization which conducted well-organized campaigns at all
           levels down to the township or precinct." America: History and
           Life, 29:3388

Pollack, Norman. "Handlin on Anti-Semitism: A Critique of 'American Views of the Jew'." Journal of American History. 51(3):391-403. December 1964. Defends Populists' place in reform tradition of America.   

_____. "Ignatius Donnelly on Human Rights: A Study of Two Novels." Mid-America 1965 47(2): 99-112.  Donnelly's novels, Doctor Huguet (1891) and The Golden Bottle (1892) were affirmations of man irregardless of race, religion, or ethnicity. 

_____. "The Myth of Populist Anti-Semitism." American Historical Review 1962 68(1): 76-80.  "The incidence of Populist anti-Semitism was infinitesimal." America: History and Life, 2:2377

Pruett, Katharine M. and Fair, John D. "Promoting a New South: Immigration, Racism, and 'Alabama on Wheels'" Agricultural History 1992 66(1): 19-41.  The brainchild of Reuben F. Kolb, the exhibit's goal was to bring in hard-working white immigrants who would displace the "decadent Negroes."  Xenophobia thwarted the immigration.  America: History and Life, 30:10120