A discussion of the roots of Ozark rural resistance to federalist authority.
Join us as we interview historian J. Blake Perkins about the history of populist defiance in Arkansas.
Though quite different from the current conservative popularism of today's rural Arkansas sects, the historic tradition of anti-government sentiment in this region is explored in Perkins' book
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, conflicts arose over issues such as illegal stills, conscription to military service, and agricultural regulations regarding compulsory cattle dipping. As a micro-historian, Perkins takes listeners on a deep dive into these poor, working class rural communities and settlements to illuminate their ideas, beliefs and actions as they attempted to level the playing field with regional wealthy elites and federal policies and practices that favored the "ruling" class.