Tobacco War Pilgrimage Remembers Decade-Long Battle Between Farmers and a Monopoly [audio]

 

(WKMS) A 35-county area in western Kentucky and Tennessee grew tobacco that was so dark it was known as 'the black patch.' The American Tobacco Company bought up smaller companies and established a monopoly over the purchase of tobacco crop, driving the price down to the point where it cost the farmers more to grow tobacco than they could sell it for.
Farmers came together and formed the Dark Tobacco District Planters' Protective Association of Kentucky and Tennessee, colloquially called "The Association" to create a holding agency. Continued