Bourbon Democracy in Alabama, 1874–1890
Bourbon Democracy in Alabama, 1874–1890
Analyzes and describes the state government of Alabama during the Bourbon Period as it operated under the Democratic and Conservative party
Hailed as the definitive study of the subject when it appeared in 1951, Bourbon Democracy in Alabama analyzes and describes the state government of Alabama during the Bourbon Period as it operated under the Democratic and Conservative party. For this edition, the author has prepared a new foreword in which he surveys recent scholarship. The term Bourbon originated during the Reconstruction Era and was used by the Radicals to label their Democratic opponents as anti-progressive and ultraconservative. The term has been adopted generally to describe the period following the overthrow of Radical Reconstruction.
‘The gap between Reconstruction and the Populist Revolt has been neatly plugged in the case of Alabama by Going…. He has informative chapters on social and economic subjects, such as railroads, industry, state debt adjustment, and the penal system. On each of these topics he brings to light fresh and interesting facts.’
—Mississippi Valley Historical Review
Going’s treatise is a splendid model fro similar studies in other southern states. The style is clear, facile, cogent, and comprehensive.’
—The Journal of Southern History
‘An intensive study of the government of Alabama during the years between the end of Reconstruction and the agrarian uprising of the nineties. It fills a gap left by other scholars; it is a sober and thoughtful examination with no polemics and with conclusions that tend to be implicit rater that explicit.’
—South Atlantic Quarterly
