Learning Goals

1. Learning Goals • The students will have a broad understanding of the political structure of Oklahoma when it became a state and the concept of the “Better Element”.

2. Chapter 16 Section 2 • When Oklahoma became the forty-sixth state in 1907. I • ts 1,414,177 inhabitants comprised a population larger than any other state's upon admission to the Union. • Despite Oklahoma Territory's history of voting Republican, the new state began life solidly in the Democratic column. • Its citizens shared in the national prosperity that accompanied the new century. • Oil gushing from thousands of wells made Oklahoma the nation's leading petroleum-producing state and created a facade of prosperity that concealed a growing disparity in income.

3. Chapter 16 Section 2 • In 1910 successful completion of a literacy test was made a requirement for voters whose ancestors did not have the franchise before 1866. • This "grandfather clause" virtually ended black voting in Oklahoma and meant that Democratic leaders from the state's towns and cities no longer needed the support of poor farmers and workers. • Turning their backs on the reforms that had attracted the "have nots," they chose to represent the interests of citizens whom future governor William H. "Alfalfa Bill" Murray would call "the better element." • The poor farmers' loss of political influence was accompanied by declining economic fortune. Between 1900 and 1910 farm tenancy in Oklahoma increased 120 percent. • By 1914 Socialists claimed that three farmers out of four did not own the land they worked

4. Chapter 16 Section 2 • As impoverished farmers and workers watched as the Democratic party went back on its promises, they turned to the burgeoning Socialist movement. • By 1914 more than twenty percent of Oklahomans had cast their votes for the party's candidate for governor. An improbable alliance between the Socialists and Republicans in support of a constitutional amendment to restructure the state's election machinery posed a threat to the Democrats' monopoly in state government when the U.S. Supreme Court declared Oklahoma's "grandfather clause" unconstitutional in 1915. • The prospects for genuine two- or even three-party government in Oklahoma were undermined by Democratic manipulation of election results and by Democratic legislators' establishment of a short registration period designed to limit black voting. • The hope that Oklahoma's "have nots" harbored for help from the Socialist Party was dashed by America's entry into World War I and by the subsequent superpatriotic zeal that destroyed the Socialist movement in Oklahoma. • The demise of Oklahoma socialism left many urban and rural poor without a party.

5. 1.) What type of State was Oklahoma when it was entered into the Union? a.) Republican b.) Democrat c.) Independent 2.) What type of State was Oklahoma when it was entered into the Union? a.) Segregated b.) Slave State c.) Non-Segregated State 3.) What did Oklahoma become the leading producer of? a.) Corn b.) Petroleum c.) Cotton 4.) Name one voting requirement that indirectly was aimed at keeping African Americans from voting. a.) You had to pass a literacy test b.) You had to be a prominent business owner c.) You had to be a land owner 5.) What movement did the poor farmers turn to when the Democratic party started going back on its promises to give help? a.) Socialist b.) Independent c.) Republican 6.) When did the Republicans start to take over the Oklahoma Government? a.) During the depression b.) Right about the time Oklahoma became a state c.) At the turn of the Century 7.) Name one interesting fact about Oklahoma when it was entered as a state. a.) It had the smallest population of any state at the time of its entrance b.) It was the only state that entered as a segregated state c.) It had the largest population of any state at the time of its entrance 8.) Which former Governor supported the “Better element” during this period? a.) Alfalfa Bill Murray b.) Stand Waite c.) Will Rogers 9.) What major event essentially ended the “have not’s” hope that the socialist movement was going to give them help? a.) America’s involvement in the Spanish American War b.) America’s involvement in World War I c.) America’s involvement in World War II 10.) How many farmers did the Socialists claim did not own their farm by 1914? a.) about 1 out of every 2 b.) about 1 out of every 4 c.) about 3 out of every 4 Chapter 16 Section 2

6. 1.) What type of State politically was Oklahoma when it was entered into the Union? 2.) What type of State in terms of the Jim Crow Laws was Oklahoma when it was entered into the Union? 3.) Describe the Jim Crow Laws. 4.) Name one voting requirement that indirectly was aimed at keeping African Americans from voting. 5.) What clause was aimed at helping white people vote while still keeping the African Americans from voting? 6.) Why did the Republicans start to take over the Oklahoma Government? 7.) How many people did Oklahoma have in it when it was entered as a state, and how did this compare to the other states when they were entered as a state? 8.) Describe the “Better Element” and which governor believed in this? 9.) Who were the “Haves” and who were the “Have Nots”? 10.) By 1914, how many farmers did the Socialists claim did not own the farm they worked and lived on? Chapter 16 Section 2