Black Patch Tobacco Wars
The Black Patch Tobacco Wars refer to events that affected counties in southwest Kentucky and neighboring counties in Tennessee in the early 20th century . On September 24, 1904 founded American tobacco growers the Dark Tobacco District Planters' Protective Association of Kentucky and Tennessee (DTDPPA) (German: Protection of planters in the Dark Tobacco District of Kentucky and Tennessee ) against the monopoly of the American Tobacco Company (ATC), in Owned and operated by James Buchanan Duke . What followed was the most violent civil uprising since the civil war . Even the New York Times wrote: "The US state of Kentucky is now in scandalous conditions that are unparalleled in the history of the world."
Foundation of the Silent Brigade
The American Tobacco Company (ATC) was formed through the amalgamation of many smaller tobacco companies and formed a single market in which all tobacco produced was bought up at a fixed price. Sales to ATC's competitors were not allowed. Many growers found that they could no longer sell their tobacco for a profit at the prices offered by the ATC. Despite the establishment of a protective community that combated monopoly by boycotting the sale of tobacco, some more militant planters formed the Silent Brigade . Under the leadership of Dr. David A. Amoss (1857–1915) tried to terrorize Planzer in order to get them to join the protection community and participate in the boycott, ie not to grow tobacco or to sell it to the ATC. In 1906, ATC's Silent Brigade burned barns in Trenton, Kentucky and blew up ATC warehouses in Elkton, Kentucky.
The Night Riders
On December 1, 1906, the Silent Brigade (now called the Night Riders in the press ) raided Princeton , Kentucky, and burned the largest tobacco factory in the world. On December 7, 1907, the Night Riders took control of the city of Hopkinsville and burned the Latham warehouse and the Tandy & Fairleigh tobacco warehouse. The New York Times reported, "Whole cities were ruled by the mob and others were besieged by them. Terror ruled and the Night Riders were active from one end of the state to the other."
The end of the wars
Finally, in April 1908, the Kentucky National Guard, under the command of Captain Newton Jasper Wilburn (then Lieutenant), carried out a series of raids on the leaders of the Night Riders . Even if most of the Night Riders escaped justice, Wilbert's actions brought law and order back to the besieged region.
The court ruling
On May 9, 1911, the US Supreme Court ruled that Dukes Trust ATC was a monopoly, violating the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890. Dr. Amoss then accompanied his son, also a doctor, to New York, where he took a job in a renowned medical institution.
Processing in literature and music
- Night Rider (novel), by American writer Robert Penn Warren, is a fictional representation of the Black Patch Tobacco Wars
- the Seattle hip-hop band Common Market released the album Black Patch War in 2008
literature
- Adams, James Truslow . Dictionary of American History . New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940.
- Cunningham, William. "On Bended Knees." 1983.
- “Secretary's Books to be Turned over by Night Rider Leader,” Hopkinsville Kentuceian, April 18, 1908
- Vivian, HA "How Crime Is Breeding Crime in Kentucky." New York Times, JUL 26, 1908