The term "Bourbon Democrats" was never used by the Bourbon Democrats themselves. It was not the name of any specific or formal group and no one running for office ever ran on a Bourbon Democrat ticket. The term "Bourbon" was mostly used disparagingly by critics complaining of viewpoints they saw as old-fashioned.[4] A number of splinter Democratic parties, such as the Straight-Out Democratic Party (1872) and the National Democratic Party (1896), that actually ran candidates, fall under the more general label of Bourbon Democrats.
Answer:
a trade route that connected Rome in the west to China in the east
The obvious answer would be business leaders. The reason why this is true is becaus business leaders were often the ones who were touting the ideas of social darwinism and how their company is better and will stomp out the smaller one in proper sociodarwinistic fashion.