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Join us at the table and explore America's story in the words of those who lived it.

Register for "Tom Watson and the Farmers Alliance"

June 15, 2022, 8:30 AM - 2:30 PM | Hosted by: Watson-Brown Foundation (Thomson, GA) | Discussion Leader: Eric Pullin

The Georgia Encyclopedia calls Tom Watson one of Georgia’s “most perplexing and controversial” politicians in its history. As a state legislator, he opposed lynching and the convict lease system. He supported public education and called for assistance for Black and White sharecroppers. This stance made him a liberal in contemporary terms. He later embraced the Farmer’s Alliance, a political movement foreshadowing the People’s Party. In 1904, Watson changed his stance and began supporting disenfranchisement of Blacks in Georgia. He ran for President in 1908 as a white supremacist. What caused this influential writer and politician to shift his position so dramatically? Join us at the table as we examine and discuss primary source documents illuminating this missed opportunity. This seminar will include a tour of Hickory-Hill, the Watson home.

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Teaching American History
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"It gave me a better understanding of the Founders’ views. They saw that restricting religious liberty is not only wrong; it leads to animosity within society. This year, I will begin both my government class and my class on “Law and Modern Society” with George Washington’s Letter to the Hebrew Congregation at Newport." — Sean B.