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Reconstruction and the Rise of the New South

Reconstruction and the Rise of the New South. 1865-1917. Civil War. Profoundly and permanently altered social, cultural, political, economic landscape Raised important questions Labor relations? Civil rights? Power of federal government? Relationship between President and Congress

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Reconstruction and the Rise of the New South

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  1. Reconstruction and the Rise of the New South 1865-1917

  2. Civil War • Profoundly and permanently altered social, cultural, political, economic landscape • Raised important questions • Labor relations? • Civil rights? • Power of federal government? • Relationship between President and Congress • 623,000 dead; 500,000 wounded; 30,000 amputees

  3. Civil War and Race Relations • Freed 4 million enslaved persons • 180,000-200,000 African American men fought on the side of the Union • African Americans became more mobile; demanded land, education, access to polls, and public accommodations • Backed by Freedman’s Bureau and Republicans in Congress • Thaddeus Stevens (House) • Charles Sumner (Senate) • One Senator joked that the only rights confederates should have were “funeral rites.”

  4. African Americans and Reconstruction • Despite their increased mobility, African Americans remained overwhelming a southern, rural population • Most worked as sharecroppers or tenant farmers • By 1894 24 million acres devoted to cotton production up from 9.35 million in 1873 • Increased production meant steadily declining prices -- made life very difficult • Race made things more difficult for black farmers • Debt peonage

  5. African Americans and Reconstruction • When Reconstruction ended in 1877 so to did the civil rights protected by the 14th and 15th amendments • In 1883 the Supreme Court struck down the civil rights act of 1875 and said that private citizens did not have to recognize the civil rights granted by the 14th amendment • By 1887 southern railroads became the first segregated public accommodation • By the end of the 1870s all southern states except MS, SC, LA, FL reverted to Democratic rule

  6. Rise of the New South • South depended on cotton, but prices were falling at home and abroad • Southern (white) boosters dreamed of a New South • Modeled after an idealized notion of the northern industrial revolution (explain) • Especially sought to lure the textile industry from NE to the south • Reality was a mix between extraction of raw materials and growing urban industrial centers

  7. Rise of the New South • Growing industry in the north increased demand for timber, coal, and turpentine, which southerners provided • There was also a growing manufacturing base in the south that consisted primarily of textiles and iron • By 1900, south employed 1/3 of all textile workers and places like Birmingham, AL were turning out more iron than all of the southern states combined • But most southerners continued to work in “extractive industries”

  8. New South Cities • Although much of the south remained rural and “extractive,” cities were vital to the formation of the New South • both practically and symbolically or ideologically (explain) • Atlanta, Nashville, Charleston, Mobile, and Birmingham • manufacturing firms rose from 21k in 1860 to 70k by 1900 -- mostly in textiles, tobacco, iron, and steal • Urban population also grew from about 9% in 1880 to 20% by 1910 • By 1910 there were 396 towns and cities in the 11 southerner states -- about 20% of national total

  9. New South Cities • Unlike northern cities, urban growth in the south was fueled almost entirely by internal regional migration • Foreign born comprised only 4.7% of the south’s urban population in 1910 • Part of the population growth was fueled by black migration • About 8% of black population lived in cities in 1880; rose to about 19% in 1910 • Overall about 35% of urban population was black • This meant that about 65% of city dwellers were white in 1910

  10. A New South City • Atlanta • Population • 37k in 1880 • 200k by 1920 • Residents of its overcrowded neighborhoods adopted the “Atlanta Spirit” -- a commitment to continued growth and a faith that they would overcome the challenges and hardships presented by that growth

  11. Atlanta

  12. Race Relations • Despite their progressive rhetoric, southern whites were unable to answer what they called “the Negro question.” • What evolved in most southern cities was a new form of paternalism (define) • White supremacy was maintained by new measures of segregation and discrimination often enforced by violence (Jim Crow) • At the same time, blacks were accorded limited public support to improve their health, education, and welfare

  13. New Paternalism • Most whites adopted a policy of providing blacks with (substandard) education, health care, and industrial training, and then “allowing” them to succeed or fail “on their own.” • Can you see any problems with this philosophy?

  14. Group Work / Discussion • Analyze: • LA and MS Black Codes • Sharecroppers contracts • “A Georgia Sharecropper’s Story…” • Questions: • What was life like for blacks in the south, 1865-1917? • Why? • Provide examples from reading/lecture • Why is this important? • How would YOU teach this stuff?

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