New South

1. New South

2. SocialHenry Grady’s vision of the New South • Grady-editor of the Atlanta Constitution • South must liberate itself from nostalgia and create a modern society of small farms, thriving industries and bustling cities • Old South was rested upon agriculture and slavery, New South presents a perfect democracy of small farms and diversifying industries

3. SocialSegregation Laws • Jim Crow-segregation (saloons, drinking fountains, restrooms, park benches, etc.) • From 1875-1883-any racial segregation violated a federal Civil Rights Act, which forbade discrimination in places of public accommodation • Civil Rights cases in 1883, the SC ruled on 7 civil rights cases involving discrimination vs. blacks by corporations or individuals-court held that the force of federal law could not extend to individual action (14thamendment says ‘no state’ could deny citizens equal protection of the law)…court ruled that Congress could not legislate vs. the racial discrimination practiced by private citizens, which included railroads, hotels and other businesses used by the public

6. SocialPlessy v. Ferguson • Left open the validity of state laws requiring separate but equal facilities • Plessy vs. Ferguson- 1896-originated in New Orleans; Homer Plessy (1/8 African ancestry) refused to leave a white-only railroad car when told to do so • “separate but equal” upheld

7. SocialLynchings • 1890-1899 averaged 188/year, 82% in the south; 1900-1909 averaged 93/year with 92% in the south (whites were 32% of the victims in former period but only 11% in the latter)

8. SocialIda B. Wells • Outspoken African-American activist • 1883-was denied a seat in a railroad car because she was black…became the first African-American to file suit vs. discrimination…initially courts decided in her favor, but ruling later overturned • Wells discovered her love of journalism; lived in TN • Editor of Memphis free speech, a newspaper focused on African-American issues-lynching, Jim Crow; wrote under pen name Iola • Led crusade vs. lynching after 3 friends were lynched-whites threatened her; moved to New York-criticized Jim Crow, demanded black voting rights be restored; helped found NAACP in 1909

9. SocialBooker T. Washington • Born in VA to slave mother and white father • Founded Tuskegee-an industrial and agricultural school (he built it into the largest and best known industrial/trade school in the nation) • Argued blacks should establish an economic base before striving for social equality • Gave speech at Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition (Atlanta Compromise) in 1895-propelled him to fame • “cast down your bucket where you are-cast it down in making friends…of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded. Cast it down in agriculture, mechanics, in commerce, in domestic service and in the professions.”-omits politics from the list and somewhat offers an endorsement of segregation…also noted “the agitation of the question of social equality is the extremist folly” • Teach skilled trades, the virtues of hard work, moderation and economic self-help

10. SocialW.E.B. DuBois • From MA, experienced segregation in college in TN., earns a doctorate from Harvard • Active career of racial protest, a scholar, author • Maintained that the education of blacks should not be merely vocational but should nurture bold leaders willing to challenge segregation and discrimination through political action • Demanded the disenfranchisement (stopping of voting) and legalized segregation cease immediately • One of the original founders of the NAACP • Dispute between the two (himself/Booker T) defined the tensions that would define the civil rights movement

11. Economic • Chief accomplishment of New South was the expansion of textile production; cotton mills • Other economic growth areas: coal mining (W. VA.), lumbering, steel • Railroads-gave a boost to the emergence of the New South…by 1890, an integrated rail network was established throughout the South…South’s rate of postwar growth from 1865-1900 equaled or surpassed that of the other regions in terms of population, industry and railroads

13. EconomicContinued Poverty • Still largely agricultural and poorest region in the country • Northern financing dominated the southern economy; investors controlled railroads, steel industry, etc. • But, poverty of majority of southerners was not caused by northern capitalists, but rather 1) south’s late start at industrialization and 2) a poorly educated workforce • Failed to invest in technical and engineering schools and political leadership provided little support for the uneducated

14. EconomicContinued Poverty/Crop Lien System • Increased productivity in cotton only added to the cotton farmer’s problems-cotton prices declined more than 50%; per capita income declined and many farmers lost their farms • By 1900, over ½ white farmers and ¾ black farmers were tenants or sharecroppers • Shortage of credit forced farmers to borrow supplies from local merchants in the spring with a lien, or mortgage, on their crops to be paid at harvest • Sharecropping and liens forced many poor farmers to remain tenants/serfs tied to the land by debt-perennial debt + interest=land slavery

16. EconomicAgriculture • George Washington Carver-some farmers were trying to escape trap of cotton dependency, Carver, an African-American scientist at Tuskegee in Alabama, promoted the growing of such crops as peanuts, sweet potatoes and soybeans • played a role in shifting agriculture toward a more diversified base

17. EconomicAgriculture • Most small farmers remained in a cycle of debt and poverty • Farmers’ Southern Alliance-over 1 million members by 1890 (organized agrarian economic movement)…Populist Party will grow out of this • Colored Farmers’ Alliance-about 250,000 by 1890 • Both rallied behind reforms to solve farmers’ economic problems…could have been a potent force if united, but upper class interests/power and racial attitudes stood in the way

18. PoliticalSolid South • Support from the Southern states for the Democratic Party • From end of Reconstruction to 1964 (modern Civil Rights Movement) • Democratic support of the Civil Rights Movement significantly reduced support for the party

19. PoliticalDisenfranchisement • Negrophobia-AL. newspaper editor proclaimed “our blood boils when the educated Negro asserts himself politically. We regard each assertion as an unfriendly encroachment upon our native superior rights, and a dare-devil menace to our control of the affairs of the state.” • By the end of the 19th century, much of the new south was resembling old south • Jim Crow-laws mandating public segregation of the races

20. Political Disenfranchisement • Affluent and well-educated Democrats in counties with large African-American populations led the way…wanted to eliminate voting of poor whites as well as blacks • MS-led the way, in 1890 met to change the constitution…7 more states would follow same plan over next 20 years • Residency requirement-2 years in the state, 1 in election district (aimed at African-American tenant farmers who moved yearly for better opportunities) • Disqualified if convicted of certain crimes • All taxes, including a poll tax, had to be paid before a person could vote • All voters had to be literate (alternative…designed for whites…an “understanding” clause-if unable to read the Constitution, could qualify by being able to understand it to the satisfaction of the registrar) • Other states added variations, such as SC who said owning property assessed at $300 would qualify an illiterate voter • From 1898-1910, LA, GA, NC, VA, AL, OK-enacted grandfather clause-illiterates could vote if their fathers or grandfathers were eligible to vote on Jan., 1, 1867 (15th=1870) • 1898-Supreme Court gave its approval to literacy tests-upheld a state’s right to use literacy tests to determine citizens’ qualifications for voting