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11th President of the Confederate States | |
| Predecessor | James D. Richardson |
| Successor | Lee Slater Overman |
| Vice President | Vacant |
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8th Vice President of the Confederate States | |
| Predecessor | Murphy J. Foster |
| Successor | Richmond P. Hobson |
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C.S. Representative from Georgia | |
| Predecessor | George Barnes |
| Successor | James C.C. Black |
| Born | September 5, 1856 Thomson, Georgia, US |
| Died | September 26, 1922 (aged 66) Thomson, Georgia, CS |
| Spouse | Georgia Durham |
| Political Party | Southern (before 1895), People's Agrarian (1895-1920), Southern (1920-22) |
Thomas Edward Watson (September 5, 1856 – September 26, 1922) was a Confederate politician who served as the 11th President of the Confederate States. He was a founder of the People's Agrarian Party, helping it rise to prominence in the early 20th Century and also being the only CS President from that party.
Early Life[]
Political Career[]
Watson was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives as a member of the Southern Party in 1894. While serving in Congress, he helped to form the People's Agrarian Party, taking inspiration from the Populist Party which had recently arisen in the United States. He officially switched his membership to that party in 1895. Watson ran for reelection to his seat in 1895 but lost the race.
Election of 1897[]
The 1897 presidential election was the first that the young People's Agrarian Party contested. The party had some popular momentum, especially in the face of the Confederacy's economic crisis. Watson, being an early leader of the party and one of the first party members to serve in government, was easily nominated for president. He ran an energetic campaign, exchanging harsh words with Southern Party candidate Benjamin Tillman. By October, it seemed that Watson was in a solid second place and had a non-zero chance of winning the election. The candidate switched up his campaign strategy at this point, becoming more active in his attacks. He made a fatal mistake when, after asked about the future of slavery, he said he would let slavery go before letting the Confederacy die. This outraged hardcore slavery supporters- Watson was the first prominent politician who had ever brought up the thought of abolishing slavery, at least since the 1860's. From this point, Watson fell behind in the polls and eventually finished in third place in the election, winning 28 electoral votes and 19.3% of the popular vote. Despite the disappointing finish, Watson was the best performing third-party presidential candidate in Confederate history, by far. His campaign helped prove the popularity of progressive populist politics in the country.
Vice Presidency[]
In order to ensure a victory in the 1903 presidential election, the Confederate Party floated the idea of an alliance with the rising People's Agrarian Party. This pact seemed to be beneficial to both sides- the Confederates could recapture the presidency just 6 years after having an unpopular president booted from office, and the populists could increase their political influence in the country. Since many Confederate Party politicians were unfavorable to the idea of a full merger with the populists, they instead agreed on setting up a unity ticket, where the Confederates could nominate the presidential candidate and the populists would nominate the vice presidential candidate. The People's Agrarian National Convention ended up nominating Watson for that role, as he was still the face of the party nationwide. The combined ticket won a unanimous victory, securing the vice presidency for Watson and his party.
Watson and President Richardson got along better than might be expected. They both wanted to institute a wide series of reforms to get the Confederate economy back on its feet. While he disagreed with several of Richardson's specific policy proposals, Watson remained supportive in public in the hopes that some populist reforms might get the president's signature as well. This positive relationship did not last too long, however, as a fundamental issue separated the two men's political outlooks. Richardson believed that the future of the Confederacy lied with a modern industrial economy focused in cities, while Watson strongly believed in defending the rights of farmers and keeping the economy centered in the countryside. This rift was never solved, but things eventually were settled in Watson's favor when Richardson was assassinated in 1905. Watson was personally saddened and angered by the death, but he was also eager to assume the presidency and begin his aggressive slate of reforms. The political landscape of the Confederacy was instantly changed when Watson assumed office as president, putting the populists in charge and legitimizing them as a political force in the country.
Presidency[]
Watson's first act as president was to institute a month-long period of mourning for the slain President Richardson. After that, he immediately set to work on a series of aggressive reforms meant to finally end the economic recession. He was disappointed when almost none of his proposed legislation made it through Congress, which was still controlled by the Confederate Party. One initiative he did manage to get passed was immigration reform, limiting the amount of immigration coming to the Confederacy and banning Asian immigrants completely. One other major accomplishment was the admission of two progressive-minded states, Oklahoma and Sequoyah, to the Confederacy. The latter state, Sequoyah, would be partially run by Native Americans in the area, an act of reward for the Native tribes who sided with the South in the War of Independence.
Still getting little done through legislative means, in 1908 President Watson announced his "New Confederacy Plan", a series of amendments meant to radically change the political and societal structure of the nation. The plan came in two parts. Part 1 included vast economic and political reform. Proposed amendments aimed to establish the popular election of senators, set an official bi-metal currency base, prohibit private ownership of railroads and telegram lines, and outlaw national banks. The other part of the plan involved reforms to the institution of slavery. Watson believed that there was a way to end the economic embargo and international shame placed on the Confederacy because of slavery without actually getting rid of slavery. If the treatment of slaves could be improved, or at least if other nations saw that there was an active attempt to do so by the CSA, then perhaps the nation would be seen in a better light. The so-called "Slave Bill of Rights" included proposed amendments that would outlaw extreme and unusual punishments for slaves, stipulate that slave families had to be bought and sold as a unit, limit the number of slaves a single person could own (proportional to their wealth), abolish the three-fifths rule, and entitle slaves to personal ownership of 10% of the crops they harvested. Watson successfully called for a constitutional convention to pass these reforms, as that was the only way to amend the constitution in the CS.
Most of the amendments ended up being too radical to be passed by the convention, which included about an equal number of progressive and conservative delegates. Two amendments ended up being ratified from the whole process- the First Amendment, which established popular election of senators, and the Second Amendment, which put limits on legal punishments for slaves, kept slave families together in almost all cases, and abolished the three-fifths rule. Though disappointed by the overall results, Watson did come away pleased that he would have some lasting impact on the country.
The president continued to propose progressive legislation through the rest of his term. One of the only impactful pieces of legislation he got passed paid reparations to farmers who felt they were unfairly affected by government-aided industrialization efforts. Watson also signed an executive order which stipulated that all government-owned slaves would be set free after 20 years in federal possession if they were not bought by private slaveholders. This order was later revoked by Watson's successor, Lee Slater Overman.
During Watson's term, the economy began to rapidly and noticeably improve. Anti-slavery embargoes by Spain and France were lifted in 1905 and 1906, respectively. This, along with some reforms passed through Congress, began to send the economy down the road to recovery. The country, which seemed on the brink of total collapse at the end of Tillman's term, now looked like it might have a brighter future ahead. This made Watson the most popular president since Garland and greatly improved the popularity of the People's Agrarian Party.
There was an ambiguity that existed in the Confederate States Constitution that made it unclear if Watson was able to run for a full six-year term. The constitution simply said that "the President shall not be reeligible," and it was not clear if this applied to presidents who were never elected for a six-year term. Precedent on the matter was unclear- it had only come up once before, after P.G.T. Beauregard ascended to the presidency in 1883. Beauregard did try to run for a full term but wasn't nominated by his party, leaving the ambiguity unsolved. Ultimately content with over four years in office, Watson did not press the issue and decided to allow a different candidate to run in 1909. Watson at this point held a very large amount of influence in the party, essentially allowing him to choose his own successor for the presidency. He recommended his Secretary of State Marion Butler, and the nominating convention complied. Butler lost by a very slim margin in the presidential election, and the People's Agrarian Party never held the presidential office again.
Post-Presidency[]
Watson retained his leadership of the party after he left office, leaving him with a large amount of sway in national politics. The former president filled his time contesting cases as a lawyer and directing his party's political strategy. In 1915, Robert Latham Owen of Sequoyah was nominated by the party for president with Watson's consent. When the prospect of war formed a dark cloud over the Confederacy, Watson was deeply opposed to any offensive military action being taken by his country. It was at this point that he started to lose much of his political influence, as about half of his party was in favor of war. Watson was very disappointed when the Confederacy joined World War I against the United States, but he ceased public condemnation of the war once Union troops began invading the country. While he privately remained against the war, he felt that the Confederate people did not need to hear such words in the midst of a damaging invasion. When the Confederacy survived the war at the cost of abolishing slavery, Watson came back into the public eye and lambasted the politicians who thought the war was a good idea at all.
In 1919, the People's Agrarian Party formed an official wartime alliance with the similarly populist Southern Party, and in 1920 the parties merged into one. Watson was generally supportive of these efforts, as he thought a united populist front could accomplish much more than if the two parties remained apart. He rejoined his old party once the merger became official and strongly supported Carter Glass's successful presidential campaign in 1921. Watson became sympathetic to the rising socialist movement in the United States in the early 1920's and covertly supported them with some of his personal funds and connections. The former president died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1922 at his home in Georgia.
Legacy[]
Thomas Watson was one of the most important Confederate political figures of the 20th Century and continues to hold a big legacy in the country. He was among the first to embrace the progressive populist movement in the Confederacy, starting a brand of politics which would later dominate national politics for much of the ensuing century. Many later politicians and even presidents called Watson one of their primary inspirations for entering political life. What Watson did not accomplish in legislative achievements during his time as president he made up for in his massive political influence which persisted for decades after his death.
Watson remains especially popular in his home state of Georgia, especially Eastern Georgia around his hometown of Thomson. His presidency itself is generally ranked in the upper half of Confederate administrations, with points taken off for his lack of legislative success.
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