Download
1 / 87
870 likes | 874 Views
Explore the challenges and developments faced by Mississippi in the 20th century, including poverty, the sharecropping system, the rise of the lumber industry, early 20th-century politics, Mississippi's involvement in World War I, the Great Migration, and the devastating flood of 1927.
E N D
Mississippi in the 20th Century Chapters 7 and 8
The dawn of the 20th century • Mississippi became one of the poorest states in the Union after the Civil War. • Very little industry existed (except lumber) • Agriculture dominated the region. • Segregation led to poverty and misery for most people – black and white.
Sharecropping • Sharecroppers - tenants who had a contract to work a piece of land for a landowner. The sharecropper and his family worked and lived on the land. • “Furnish” – a line of credit issued to the sharecropper • Landowner received half of the crop and the sharecropper sold the other half for his own profit. However, the sharecropper had to pay back the “furnishes” with interest and support his family for one year.
Sharecropper’s life • Lived in board shacks • Had poor diets (cornbread, salt, and molasses) • Were in deep debt to their landowner • Sharecropping was much like slavery. Planters often cheated the sharecroppers. • Sharecroppers usually could not repay their furnishes and became forever tied to the Planter through debt • During 1890’s most sharecroppers were black, but by the 1930’s most were white and former small landowners.
Sharecropper’s Kitchen Chp 7 and 8 (The Dawn of the 20th Century)
Early Lumber Industry • Giant pine trees covered Mississippi at the turn of the century. • Between 1880 and 1930, lumber companies clear-cut the entire state. • By the end of WWI the lumber boom had ended and all the valuable trees were gone. • Fast growing, yellow pines eventually became profitable and people started to replant. • Many cities in Mississippi got their start from the lumber industry. (Hattiesburg, Laurel, D’Lo)
Eastman, Gardiner & Company crew and log loader in the woods northwest of Laurel, Mississippi, in the 1890s. Chp 7 and 8 (The Dawn of the 20th Century)
Rosa Lumber Co. mill at Picayune in the 1920's. Chp 7 and 8 (The Dawn of the 20th Century)
Early 20th century Politics • By 1902, the new Democratic Party had approved a “whites only” primary. • James K. Vardaman emerged as the premier politician of early 20th century Mississippi. • Vardaman is known today for helping the poor farmer and his racism of the time. • Believed black children should not be educated • Convict lease system (state hired out prisoner to individuals for work) • Believed in breaking up plantations and distributing the land to small farmers.
James K. Vardaman Chp 7 and 8 (The Dawn of the 20th Century)
Convict lease system Chp 7 and 8 (The Dawn of the 20th Century)
Convict lease system Chp 7 and 8 (The Dawn of the 20th Century)
MS in WWI • In 1917, America enters WWI, on the side of Great Britain and France against Germany and Austria. • Most of MS supported the US entering WWI. • Vardaman loses popularity in MS after WWI, because he opposed the war. • Almost 6,000 men (black and white) served in the armed forces during the war.
World War I July 28, 1914 to November 11, 1918 Allied Powers – France, Russia, Great Britain Central Powers – Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgary U.S. declared war on Germany in April 1917 90 million troops total 9 million soldiers and 7 million civilians died
Camp Shelby 1917 Chp 7 and 8 (The Dawn of the 20th Century)
Men with Company L, 1st Mississippi Infantry Chp 7 and 8 (The Dawn of the 20th Century)
The Great Migration (the Black Exodus) • During WWI, blacks began fleeing MS in large numbers looking for a better life • This alarmed white leaders in MS because the labor force was leaving. • Northern Labor recruiters promised black Mississippians a better life away from the oppression and economic problems of MS • This migration continued through the Great Depression and WWII • When it was all over, MS had lost ¼ of its black population • Today, African Americans make up 33% of MS pop. The highest in the U.S.
The Flood of 1927 • The flood of 1927 was the worst flood in Mississippi history. • 185,000 people had to evacuate different areas of the state. • The National Guard was sent to help flood victims. • Whites were evacuated; blacks were set up in camps. • The camps were set up more like prisons than help camps, eventually the problem was fixed. • The flood water did not recede until late summer.
The train carrying U.S. Vice-President Charles G. Dawes and Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover wrecked near Heads, Miss., on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley railroad. The engine went into 40 feet of water, killing the engineer, during the flooding in the Mississippi Delta on July 29, 1927. Chp 7 and 8 (The Dawn of the 20th Century)
A tent city after the flood Chp 7 and 8 (The Dawn of the 20th Century)
Prohibition in MS • In 1920, the United States added the18th amendment to the constitution which made alcohol illegal to make and drink in America. • This was known as Prohibition, • During Prohibition, the MS Gulf Coast (particularly the Kiln) became famous for supplying Chicago gangsters with moonshine. • This became known as “Kiln lightning.” • Moonshine is illegally distilled liquor. • MS Gulf coast became a major port of illegal port of entry for alcohol. • The depression era ended this boom.
New York City 1930 Chp 7 and 8 (The Dawn of the 20th Century)
Captured moonshiner Chp 7 and 8 (The Dawn of the 20th Century)
The Great Depression in MS • The Great Depression of the 1930’s was the worst economic disaster in modern history. • MS farmers were greatly affected because they could not pay back their loans. • In April of 1932, 25% of all MS land was auctioned off because of unpaid taxes. • Unemployment rate was 25% and tenant farmers were being kicked off land by the landowners. • People went hungry amidst rich farmland. • Though both black and white suffered, segregation and inequality were prevalent in the state.
