Stanley K. Schultz, Professor of History
William P. Tishler, Producer
Lecture 02
The "New South"
By the late 1860s, some Southerners were already calling for a more diversified economy -- cotton was no longer "king." Increasingly there was a move from farm to factory, and many people encouraged industrialization in the South and an increased capital investment in the Southern economy from outside sources. This lecture explores the economic transformation and the racial politics of the "New" South after the Civil War.
Some questions to keep in mind:
- How did the Civil War transform the South? Was it really a "New" South? Why or why not?
- Were freed slaves better off in the South after the Civil War? Why or why not?
- What were the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments? Did they transform American society? If so, how?
General observations about the South
1. The South was never monolithic - it has never had a monopoly on racism, violence, or one-party-politics. These have been more overtly evident in the South, however, than elsewhere in the nation.
2. Only white Southerners have been defeated in war and had their territory occupied by the enemy. That experience has fueled tensions within Southerners between their regional and their national loyalties.
3. Until 1950, a majority of blacks in America lived in the South. Until then, racial intermingling was more common in the South than elsewhere, although white Southerners have tried to escape that intermingling.
4. The term "Solid South" refers to the fact that no Republican presidential candidate carried a Southern state in the elections between 1877-1920. This is no longer true - Richard Nixon carried every Southern state in 1972.
The "New South"
In the 1870s, Southerners recognized the need to present a new image of themselves to the world and to stimulate economic development. Henry Grady, editor of the Atlanta Constitution, was a strong proponent of this "New South." In 1886 he spoke before the New England Society on the "New South." The major points of his speech were:
- The United States was no longer two separate nations -- Southerners had erased the Mason-Dixon Line
- The Southern economy had changed -- industrialization had replaced plantation agriculture
- Race relations had changed -- blacks were now partners in the "New South"
| Henry W. Grady Born in 1840. Henry W. Grady, a native of Atlanta, Georgia, received a thorough education. After engaging for some years successfully in business, his ambition turned to journalism. He was the leading writer of several popular newspapers, and became the Georgia correspondent of the New York Herald. His writings through a series of letters under the title of "Sheep, Gold, and Oranges," aroused the interest of many Southerners in industrial development. Subsequently he became the editor and part-owner of the Atlanta Constitution which became (and remains) one of the most influential organs of the South. He contributed numerous articles on Southern subjects to both Harper's and the Century Magazine that attracted national attention. The influence of the Atlanta Constitution in political affairs was widely felt throughout the Southern states. Its doctrines advocated closer ties between North and South in all things that promoted the prosperity of the nation. Two ways to examine Grady's claims of a "New South"1. Economically 1. EconomicallyAfter the Civil War a major undertaking was the reconstruction of Southern railroads, ports, roads, and communication systems. Federal grant money supported this reconstruction. Between 1865 and the early 1870s, over 8,000 miles of new railroad track were laid. By the end of the 1880s, the South had one of the best railroad systems not just in the United States, but in the world. However, in rebuilding their own economy and infrastructure, Southerners had became dependent on aid from the federal government. Once the new infrastructure was firmly in place, Southerners began arguing for the need to industrialize. After the war, many southerners could no longer depend solely on cotton plantations, especially while the rest of the country was investing in industry." Leaders called for a move from the farm to the factory. Businessmen, such as Richard H. Edmond, did everything possible to encourage Northerners and foreigners to invest in Southern industry. Richard H. Edmonds was an important leader of the "farm to factory" movement. As editor of The Manufacturers' Record, the leading business journal of the South, Edmonds had two goals: (1) to encourage outside capital investment in the South's economy and (2) to promote every possible form of industrial development. Three major industries emerged in the South after the Civil War
Iron and Steel: Southerners tapped rich coal and iron ore reserves so effectively that by 1900, the South led the world in coal production. At the same time, they fostered (1880-1900) tremendous growth in iron and steel mills. Initial financing of the steel and iron industries came from Southern sources, but by 1900, foreign investors and Northerners such as Andrew Carnegie largely controlled these industries. Tobacco: Traditionally tobacco was grown but seldom processed in the South. In the late 1870s and early 1880s, however, Southern capitalists established prosperous tobacco factories. By 1900, tobacco processing was a major industry. As was the case with cotton and iron/steel, outside capitalists controlled the industry. In sum, Northerners had indeed reconstructed the Southern economy, one they now controlled, but they did little to change the South itself (and particularly traditional racial and social relations).
2. Race RelationsFor most of America's history the majority of African Americans have lived in the South. No other section in the United States has experienced such an intermingling of African and European, master and slave. However, a major theme of southern history prior to 1863 was the prevention of intermingling between the different races, cultures and classes.
Amendment XIII Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. In the wake of the Thirteenth Amendment, many southern states began passing "Black Codes" which took property ownership and the franchise away from blacks. Mississippi and South Carolina passed the first and toughest measures late in 1865, and other southern states soon followed. In response, Congress next enacted (and enough states ratified) the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868. The first clause of that Amendment was clearly directed at clearing up the status of African-Americans as citizens. When Southerners claimed that blacks weren't citizens, Congress and the states adopted, in 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment that dictated that no state shall deny any citizen the right to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Amendment XV Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. Many Southerners did everything they could to avoid compliance with the spirit and letter of these three major amendments.
Ku Klux Klan Redeemers (also called Bourbons) "Mississippi Plan" - In 1890, Mississippi's new state constitution banned blacks from voting and office holding in order to "purify" Mississippi politics. "Grandfather Clause" - Many Southerners and Northerners alike had made challenges against property and literacy tests, claiming that states were using them as a way to prevent blacks (and many poor whites) from voting. In 1898, Louisiana responded to these challenges by legislating the so-called "Grandfather Clause" which stated that voting tests would not apply to voters whose fathers or grandfathers were registered voters on January 1, 1867, when no black man in the state was registered to vote. "Jim Crow" laws - a system of laws ensuring social segregation in transportation, accommodations, schools, courts, etc. which arose in every Southern state. Plessy v. Ferguson - In 1896, the United States Supreme Court ruled, in a 7-1 vote, that "separate but equal" accommodations on railroad cars conformed to the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection. That decision was used to justify segregating all public facilities, including schools. Most school districts, ignoring Plessy's "equal" requirement, neglected their black schools. This ruling held until 1954 when in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the Supreme Court ruled that separate institutions are inherently unequal. The case came from Louisiana, which, in 1890, passed the Separate Car Law, providing that separate cars be provided for whites and blacks. In 1892, passenger Homer Plessy refused to sit in a Jim Crow car. He was brought before Judge John H. Ferguson of the Criminal Court for New Orleans. In the original trial, Plessy is found guilty, and this decision was upheld by the Louisiana Supreme Court. The law was later challenged in the U. S. Supreme Court on grounds that it conflicted with the 13th and 14th Amendments.
When pressed to define exactly what "South" or "East" or "Midwest" means, we run into difficulties, as regions of the country are culturally, economically, and historically complex. One case that highlights this difficulty is especially interesting: the American attempt to define (and often redefine) the "American West." Of course, the story of this attempt to understand the American West is a fascinating aspect of American history; so fascinating, in fact, that it is the subject of Lecture 03: Which "Old West" and Whose?.
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