Benjamin Ryan Tillman (1847-1918), an American statesman for the South and a demagogue, was known as "Pitchfork Ben." His political campaigns on behalf of poor whites gave direction to a new generation of Southern activists who reorganized post-Reconstruction politics and society.

Benjamin Ryan Tillman was born in Edgefield Country, S.C., on Aug. 11, 1847, of an old Southern family. He was raised on a plantation which boasted numerous slaves. A bright student, Tillman was prevented from serving with the Confederate forces during the Civil War because of the loss of his left eye. After the war he began farming, experiencing the frustrations of Southerners under Reconstruction policies and Federal troops.

Despite his many acres Tillman identified himself more with poor white farmers than with the aristocrats of his state who sought to return to what they recalled as a gracious and chivalrous era. The fear poor white farmers felt...