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Excerpt from Farmer Movements in the South, 1865-1933 <p>Individual personalities should perhaps comprise a weighty portion of this study, but the obscure character of so many of the farm leaders (plus the fact that they did not keep diaries, correspondence, and a running account of their activities and business associations) makes it difficult, if not impossible, to write about them as persons. <p>These organizations waged a multiple offensive on the social, political, and economic front; they cannot be said to have been inspired by a key idea, unless that key idea was to elevate the status of the farmer. But even this brought forth wide differences of Opinion as to the objectives, the tactics, and the general over-all strategy to be employed. <p>By present-day standards the arguments of these organizations and their spokesmen sound commonplace; and judging from the remarks of some, they should be dismissed as insignificant. That these agrarians were erratic, inexperienced dreamers who were carried away by their enthusiasm, and despised by the better-placed members of society, is generally acknowledged. That frauds and impostors found their way into these organizations is likewise granted; but to adjudge all these people as frauds and impostors is a gross distortion of the facts. Society is composed of ephemeral groups with whom many of us are in disagree ment, and for whom many academicians in particular have nothing but contempt. But these people existed, agitated, and proselytized; they constituted a significant part of their times, whether we agree with them or not. The fact that critics consider their thinking shallow and pedestrian is no reason for denying them their place in history. <p>About the Publisher <p>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com <p>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the