After the Civil War, Georgia was changing fast.

Cities were growing, railroads stretched across the state, and new industries were popping up.

With a focus on industrial progress and business, leaders like Henry Grady called this the New South, but not everyone felt included in that progress.

For thousands of Georgia's farmers, black and white, life was still hard.

Cotton prices were low, taxes were high, and railroads charged too much to ship crops.

Many farmers were trapped in debt that they couldn't escape.

That's when Tom Watson decided to speak up for them, using his voice and ideas to champion poor farmers and help fuel the rise of the Populist Party.

(upbeat music) Tom Watson was born in 1856 near Thomson, Georgia.

He grew up on a plantation, but saw his own family lose their land after the Civil War.

He knew firsthand how tough life could be for farmers.

As a lawyer, and later a politician, Watson wanted to help Georgia's poor farmers, no matter their race.

In 1882, he was elected to the Georgia General Assembly.

He fought to end the convict lease system, which forced prisoners, who were mostly black men, to work for private companies in terrible conditions.

He also pushed for public education for everyone.

But Watson soon became frustrated with Georgia's leaders, who were focused on big business instead of helping the common people.

He resigned from office before his term ended.

By the 1890s, farmers across the South were organizing.

They formed the Farmers' Alliance, which grew into a new political force, the People's Party, also known as the Populist Party.

The Populists demanded fairer taxes, government control of railroads, and an end to the convict lease system.

They wanted to give a stronger voice to the working class, especially farmers.

Watson supported these ideas and was elected to the U.S.

House of Representatives in 1890.

In Washington, he made history by helping create Rural Free Delivery, a system that brought mail directly to the people living in the countryside.

For the first time, farmers didn't have to travel miles into town just to get their mail.

It was a small change that made a big difference in daily life of rural Americans.

At first, Watson's message brought poor white and black farmers together.

He spoke out against lynching and even defended a black supporter who was nearly attacked by a mob.

But powerful politicians in Georgia's Democratic Party, sometimes called Bourbons, fought hard to stop the Populists.

They used fear and voter intimidation to divide poor farmers along racial lines.

In 1892, Watson lost his seat in Congress, and the Populist Party soon began to fade, especially in the South.

Sadly, in his later years, Tom Watson's views changed dramatically.

He began publishing newspapers and magazines like the Jeffersonian, where he spread racist, anti-Catholic, and anti-Semitic ideas.

He supported black disenfranchisement, or laws that took away voting rights for African Americans, and his writing helped stir up racial violence, including the Atlanta Race Massacre of 1906.

He also published articles that fueled hatred towards Leo Frank, a Jewish factory manager who was suspected of murder and later lynched by a mob in Georgia.

Once a progressive politician, Watson had adopted white supremacist views and even ran for president on that platform in 1904 and 1908.

In 1920, he was elected to the U.S.

Senate, but his time in office was brief.

He died two years later.

His seat was briefly filled by Rebecca Latimer Felton, who became the first woman to serve in the U.S.

Senate.

In the end, Tom Watson's shift from defending the poor of all races to promoting white supremacy made him one of Georgia's most controversial figures.

His life shows us how one person can both inspire change and cause harm.

Early on, he gave a voice to Georgia's struggling farmers and helped bring important reforms like Rural Free Delivery to the countryside.

But later, his embrace of racism and prejudice divided the state and left a painful mark on Georgia's history.

(logo whooshing)