Black Patch Tobacco Wars

Black Patch Tobacco Wars

The Black Patch or dark fired tobacco area included counties in southwestern Kentucky and adjoining districts in Tennessee. On September 24, 1904, American tobacco planters formed the protectionist Dark Tobacco District Planters' Protective Association of Kentucky and Tennessee (usually called the Association or PPA) to oppose the corporate monopoly of the American Tobacco Company (ATC) (or "Trust") owned and operated by James B. Duke. What followed was the most violent civil uprising since the American Civil War. The New York Times declared, “There now exists in the State of Kentucky a condition of affairs without parallel in the history of the world.”

Read more about Black Patch Tobacco Wars:  Formation of The Silent Brigade, The Night Riders, The Wars Come To An End, Resolution, Cultural References

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