Overview

The first book-length study of Tennessee's agricultural history in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.

Full Product Details

Author:   Connie L. Lester
Publisher:   University of Georgia Press
Imprint:   University of Georgia Press
Edition:   Annotated edition
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 2.60cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.624kg
ISBN:  

9780820327624

ISBN 10:   082032762
Pages:   384
Publication Date:   30 March 2006
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Reviews

This book demonstrates the complexities of this important aspect of Tennessee's political history. Lester does an excellent job of explaining the political challenges of Tennessee's geography as well as the significance of lingering feelings within the state about the Lost Cause. . . . This book is a welcome addition to the body of scholarship of agricultural and political history. It is also an excellent interpretation of the place of the farm movement in Tennessee history.-- Journal of East Tennessee History

Connie L. Lester provides a penetrating analysis of the possibilities and pitfalls of agrarian movements in this study of Tennessee farming that covers farmer organizations from 1870 to the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. . . . Her exhaustive research pays off with some remarkable observations from the farmers themselves. . . . Lester's book is one of the best available at analyzing the profound differences between large landowners and small farmers in building cooperative networks, as well as underscoring how Tennessee farmers crossed some significant racial and gender lines in organizing. This is a careful and nuanced analysis that should serve as a model for other scholars studying the disparate movements of farmers at the turn of the twentieth century. --Journal of Southern History Connie Lester's Up from the Mudsills of Hell combines political and social history to explore the history of agrarian activism in Tennessee at the turn of the last century. Lester explains why Tennessee farmers organized on a 'class' basis to combat economic injustice, and describes how traditional community and religious ties both strengthened and limited farm-based reform movements. Lester makes it clear that farmers attempting to organize marketing and purchasing co-ops faced opposition at every level from the county seat to the state legislature. Her description of the forces rallied against agrarian reform in Tennessee is the best I have seen, bringing home to the reader the personal risks to life and property faced by would-be reformers. She documents the continuation of agrarian reform under different guises long after the Populist debacle of 1896, tracing continuities between the 19th century Wheel and Alliance and early 20th century Progressivism. This book will be essential for those seeking to understand the state's tumultuous history from 1870 to 1915. --Jeanette Keith author of Rich Man's War, Poor Man's Fight: Race, Class, and Power in the Rural South during the First World War Interesting, informative, and original. Lester's work is impressively researched, well written, and carries an authoritative tone grounded in true expertise on its topic. Up from the Mudsills of Hell will undoubtedly join the short list of classic Southern state studies on the agrarian revolt of the Gilded Age, and should represent the last word on the subject in Tennessee for a long time. --Appalachian Journal There is much to admire in this book. The research . . . is impressive indeed, and the extended chronological and organizational focus is welcome and valuable . . . this book effectively demonstrates the perseverance, complexity, and periodic effectiveness of farm protest movements. It is a significant contribution to a new crop of scholarship on rural history generally, and readers of this journal will particularly appreciate its bridging the sometimes artificial boundary between the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era. --Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era This book demonstrates the complexities of this important aspect of Tennessee's political history. Lester does an excellent job of explaining the political challenges of Tennessee's geography as well as the significance of lingering feelings within the state about the Lost Cause. . . . This book is a welcome addition to the body of scholarship of agricultural and political history. It is also an excellent interpretation of the place of the farm movement in Tennessee history. --Journal of East Tennessee History This is a well-written, carefully researched, solidly documented, intellectually sophisticated study of Tennessee's agrarian communities. . . . This is an excellent and welcome study of Tennessee agrarianism, which no doubt will earn for itself a prominent place on our list of sources. --American Historical Review

This book demonstrates the complexities of this important aspect of Tennessee's political history. Lester does an excellent job of explaining the political challenges of Tennessee's geography as well as the significance of lingering feelings within the state about the Lost Cause. . . . This book is a welcome addition to the body of scholarship of agricultural and political history. It is also an excellent interpretation of the place of the farm movement in Tennessee history. --Journal of East Tennessee History Connie L. Lester provides a penetrating analysis of the possibilities and pitfalls of agrarian movements in this study of Tennessee farming that covers farmer organizations from 1870 to the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. . . . Her exhaustive research pays off with some remarkable observations from the farmers themselves. . . . Lester's book is one of the best available at analyzing the profound differences between large landowners and small farmers in building cooperative networks, as well as underscoring how Tennessee farmers crossed some significant racial and gender lines in organizing. This is a careful and nuanced analysis that should serve as a model for other scholars studying the disparate movements of farmers at the turn of the twentieth century. --Journal of Southern History There is much to admire in this book. The research . . . is impressive indeed, and the extended chronological and organizational focus is welcome and valuable . . . this book effectively demonstrates the perseverance, complexity, and periodic effectiveness of farm protest movements. It is a significant contribution to a new crop of scholarship on rural history generally, and readers of this journal will particularly appreciate its bridging the sometimes artificial boundary between the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era. --Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era This is a well-written, carefully researched, solidly documented, intellectually sophisticated study of Tennessee's agrarian communities. . . . This is an excellent and welcome study of Tennessee agrarianism, which no doubt will earn for itself a prominent place on our list of sources. --American Historical Review Interesting, informative, and original. Lester's work is impressively researched, well written, and carries an authoritative tone grounded in true expertise on its topic. Up from the Mudsills of Hell will undoubtedly join the short list of classic Southern state studies on the agrarian revolt of the Gilded Age, and should represent the last word on the subject in Tennessee for a long time. --Appalachian Journal Connie Lester's Up from the Mudsills of Hell combines political and social history to explore the history of agrarian activism in Tennessee at the turn of the last century. Lester explains why Tennessee farmers organized on a 'class' basis to combat economic injustice, and describes how traditional community and religious ties both strengthened and limited farm-based reform movements. Lester makes it clear that farmers attempting to organize marketing and purchasing co-ops faced opposition at every level from the county seat to the state legislature. Her description of the forces rallied against agrarian reform in Tennessee is the best I have seen, bringing home to the reader the personal risks to life and property faced by would-be reformers. She documents the continuation of agrarian reform under different guises long after the Populist debacle of 1896, tracing continuities between the 19th century Wheel and Alliance and early 20th century Progressivism. This book will be essential for those seeking to understand the state's tumultuous history from 1870 to 1915. --Jeanette Keith author of Rich Man's War, Poor Man's Fight: Race, Class, and Power in the Rural South during the First World War

Connie Lester's Up from the Mudsills of Hell combines political and social history to explore the history of agrarian activism in Tennessee at the turn of the last century. Lester explains why Tennessee farmers organized on a 'class' basis to combat economic injustice, and describes how traditional community and religious ties both strengthened and limited farm-based reform movements. Lester makes it clear that farmers attempting to organize marketing and purchasing co-ops faced opposition at every level from the county seat to the state legislature. Her description of the forces rallied against agrarian reform in Tennessee is the best I have seen, bringing home to the reader the personal risks to life and property faced by would-be reformers. She documents the continuation of agrarian reform under different guises long after the Populist debacle of 1896, tracing continuities between the 19th century Wheel and Alliance and early 20th century Progressivism. This book will be essential for those seeking to understand the state's tumultuous history from 1870 to 1915. --Jeanette Keith, author of Rich Man's War, Poor Man's Fight: Race, Class, and Power in the Rural South during the First World War

Connie Lester's Up from the Mudsills of Hell combines political and social history to explore the history of agrarian activism in Tennessee at the turn of the last century. Lester explains why Tennessee farmers organized on a 'class' basis to combat economic injustice, and describes how traditional community and religious ties both strengthened and limited farm-based reform movements. Lester makes it clear that farmers attempting to organize marketing and purchasing co-ops faced opposition at every level from the county seat to the state legislature. Her description of the forces rallied against agrarian reform in Tennessee is the best I have seen, bringing home to the reader the personal risks to life and property faced by would-be reformers. She documents the continuation of agrarian reform under different guises long after the Populist debacle of 1896, tracing continuities between the 19th century Wheel and Alliance and early 20th century Progressivism. This book will be essentia

Author Information

Connie L. Lester is an assistant professor of history at Mississippi State University.

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