Tillman’s Rebellion, South Carolina

This chapter documents the role of the South Carolina white press, including the Charleston News & Courier, in facilitating the rise of Benjamin Ryan Tillman and the spread of his ideology of an all-encompassing white supremacy. Unlike agrarian rebellions in other southern states, South Carolina’s angry farmers dismissed the populist call for biracial democracy and embraced Tillman’s draconian views of race and society. This chapter attributes much of Tillman’s success to his mastery of the press. Tillman developed a symbiotic relationship with the press, injecting injected drama and excitement into the state’s political culture, and the newspapers kept Tillman in the public eye.