Understanding the Black Patch Tobacco War of West Kentucky and Tennessee

 

(WKMS) As the 20th Century dawned, big business came to the dark tobacco growing region of Kentucky and Tennessee, eliminating competition, manipulating prices and undermining local control. A struggled called The Black Patch War began and lasted nearly until the outbreak of World War I. Commemorations start Friday when the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County offer the 3rd Annual Tobacco War Pilgrimage including a raid re-enactment, a tobacco bus tour, a re-enactment of a Trial of the Nightriders and more. Kate Lochte asked Murray State Professor of History Dr. Bill Mulligan to give an overview of the conflict that embroiled this region, starting in 1904. Continued