THE SOUTHERN ROOTS OF POPULIST RHETORIC AND THE GROWTH OF FUNDAMENTALISM

Author

• Ethan Teems, University of North AlabamaFollow

Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

History

First Advisor

Dr. Blake S. Ball

Second Advisor

Dr. Taylor H. Desloge

Third Advisor

Dr. Ansley L. Quiros

Abstract

The religious fundamentalism of the 1920s was a direct evolution of the Southern Populist movement of the 1890s. While populism began as a political crusade against economic exploitation, industrialization, and urbanization, it evolved into a movement that attacked modernity. The southern United States was rooted in a predominantly religiously homogeneous society. The Protestant religions that encompassed the region were unwilling to adapt to a changing society, allowing religious fundamentalism to expand.

Beginning with the cultural conflicts of the 1920s, such as the Scopes Trial and William Jennings Bryan’s activism, the study explains how fundamentalists framed their struggles against modernism as a battle between good and evil. This sort of biblical rhetoric functioned not only as public theology but as a strong form of persuasion.

By tracing this language back to the 1890s, the paper highlights continuities in rhetorical strategies through figures like Bryan, whose career bridged both populist politics and fundamentalist activism. This continuity is most evident in the rhetoric of Tom Watson, William Jennings Bryan, and fundamentalist preachers, which framed economic and political struggles as a battle between good and evil, drawing on biblical imagery and explicitly religious themes.

This paper compares populist and fundamentalist rhetoric and demonstrates that fundamentalism adopted populist language throughout the early twentieth century. It shows that fundamentalism was not an isolated event but a continuation of longer southern traditions that deeply intertwined religion and politics.

Recommended Citation

Teems, Ethan, "THE SOUTHERN ROOTS OF POPULIST RHETORIC AND THE GROWTH OF FUNDAMENTALISM" (2026). Theses. 52.
https://roar.una.edu/theses/52