THE SOUTHERN TIMES

Bourbon Triumvirate (1872-1890)

In the late 1800’s three political allies had a huge influence over Georgia’s government. The three leaders, John Gordon (1832-1904), Alfred Colquitt (1824-1894), and Joseph Brown (1821-1894), were called the Bourbon Triumvirate after a group of French Kings that had been famous for dominating France for hundreds of years. Each member of the group shared a goal to industrialize the south and improve northern trade. One member of the trio, John Gordon, won a seat in the senate over his opposer Alexander Stephens in 1872 as one of his first, major political victories. Later he was elected governor of Georgia in 1886, and and assisted in rebuilding post-war Georgia.

 

Another member of the Bourbon Triumvirate, Alfred Colquitt was a Georgian senator and governor that succeeded in overseeing the emplacement of a new state constitution that was unchanged until 1945, and like the other two members, he had lowered state war debts. During his political campaign, he promised jobs to over one thousand people, and when no jobs were available, the people accused him of stealing money from the state for his railroad company. To avoid further trouble, he called for authorities to analyze the situation, and he was later found innocent.

 

Joseph Brown was the only member of the three that was governor for more than three terms. He differed greatly from most southern politicians because worked with northern republicans to shorten reconstruction in the south. Against the beliefs of everyone else, these strategies benefited the South’s economy.

 

While the Bourbon Triumvirate helped Georgia recover from the civil war, it not not assist the numerous members of the lower class according to its critics like Rebecca Felton. Also, toward the end of their reign, Georgian leaders began to notice more and more how the convict lease system benefited the state’s budget and a few select companies, but stole job opportunities from the unemployed. This powerful trio of leaders lost their foothold in politics toward the end of the nineteenth century.