A New South?--Chapter 17
North vs. South in 1861:
Wealth: South had 25% of the nation’s wealth.
Farmland: South had 25% of the nation’s farmland.
Railroad Milage: South had 29% of the railroad lines.
Factory Production: South had 9% of the nation’s industrial capacity
Population: South had 29% of the nation’s population.
In 1877, the South is:
Run by Pre-Civil War Elites and Veterans of the Civil War: 90% of Southern
White Men had served in the Civil War (25% died). By 1877, the Southern
Republicans are dead and the South is run by the Democratic Party, which is
dominated by the pre-Civil War land owning and slave owning class.
Not Fully Segregated: Many Blacks have been forced to stop voting, but some
still do and society is not yet fully segregated.
Cotton Dependent: The Southern Economy still depends on cotton, even though
it is no longer very valuable.
Poor: As a result, Southerners are pretty poor, though some are rich.
The New South?: Efforts at Southern Industrialization
1886--Henry Grady, a Southern journalist, called for an industrialized New South,
built on Northern capital and Southern labor. He sought to reconcile the South to
the realities of an industrial future and to bring about national reconciliation
between North and South by this project. (He thus rejected the 'Old South' of
slavery and secession.) Many in both regions found this appealing, though many
Southerners remained sentimental about the pre-Civil War South (especially
while Civil War veterans yet lived and dominated society.)
Southern Pride: Many Southerners had long pointed out that at a Southern
funeral, only the dead body and the hole in the ground came from the South;
everything else used likely was made in the North. Some Southerners wanted to
reduce dependence on Northern goods.
Southern Poverty Provides Workers: Those Southerners who pushed Southern
industrialization were able to do so because many Southerners were poor.
Inefficiency of Sharecropping: Both Whites and Black farmers were
mainly sharecroppers, who paid their land rent in a share of their crop.
This trapped them in a debt cycle. Many of their children were willing to
try industrial work to escape poverty at home.
Industrialization between 1877 to 1900:
Steel Mills and Textiles: In 1861, the South had only one large iron
foundry--the Tredegar company in Richmond, and some smaller
companies in Chatanooga. By 1889, the iron mills of Birmingham
Alabama rivaled those of Pittsburgh. In the Carolina piedmont, southern
textile mills exploited the easy availability of Southern cotton, thus saving
on transportation costs. By 1900, the South produced more textiles than
New England.
Tobacco and Soft Drinks: The development of the cigarette in North
Carolina by James Duke increased the profitability of southern tobacco.
Southern chemists and pharmacists began to develop what are now known
as 'soft drinks', various kinds of carbonated beverages:
Coca-Cola: Atlanta, Dr. John Pemberton, 1885
Dr. Pepper: Waco, Charles Alderton, 1885
Pepsi-Cola: New Bern, North Carolina, Caleb Bradham, Early
1890s
Railroads: Southern rail milage doubled between 1880 and 1890,
outpacing the rest of the country. Railroads strengthened interior cities
and opened new regions to industrial development. Dallas grew from
3000 in 1872 to over 10,000 by 1880, for example. Towns with less than
5,000 people doubled in number 1870-80 and again by 1900. By 1900, 1
in 6 southerners lived in a city.
The Limits of Growth: The South still grew slower industrially than the
rest of the country. Between 1860 and 1900, the South's share of national
manufacturing grew by only .2%. Per Capita income declined from 72%
of the national average in 1860 to 52% in 1880, and by 1920, it had only
reached 62%
Low Wages: A strong birth rate outpaced the ability of the land and
manufacturing to employ people, and most of the industrial work was low-
skill work. The south spent half as much per capita on education,
producing fewer high skilled people.
Capital Problems: The South's native capital was largely wiped out by
the civil war and collapse of cotton prices, and the south struggled to
attract Northern capital. Only the cigarette industry was well funded, due
to its huge profits which let it fund its own growth.
Southern Cities: Nevertheless, Southern cities flourished, growing more
cosmopolitan, larger, and more prosperous. They drew in the young and
ambitious and bright. At the same time, rural folk, more connected to the
cities than ever before, often didn't like what they saw and became
alienated from them.
The Southern Agrarian Revolt
The Cotton Trap: Only cotton could be easily sold to pay off the debts incurred
in order to grow it and to survive the long gap between harvests. But with its
price collapsed, it was hard to impossible to avoid sinking further and further into
debt. By the 1890s, most white and black farmers were debt-trapped
sharecroppers.
The Agrarian Revolt: Southern farmers wanted lower-interest credit, lower rail
shipping rates, lower prices for food and necessity and better prices for their crop.
They turned to forming organizations.
The Grange: By 1875, the Grange had 250,000 members, but was dominated by
large land owners.
The Southern Farmer's Alliance: Founded in Texas in the late 1870s. They
formed farmer's co-ops to gain better credit terms, cheaper prices for necessities,
and to market their crops together to exert more weight on businesses and
railroads. By 1890, it had over a million members. It was an explicitly Christian
organization, preaching good works and good farming, pressing legislatures for
farm reform and public schools. Women played prominent roles, but blacks were
excluded.
The Colored Farmer's Alliance: Founded in Texas in 1886, it was similar to
TSFA, but was a black organization with more sharecroppers and very small
landowners.
The Subtreasury System: Charles Macune, leader of the Farmer's Alliance,
proposed a 'Subtreasury' of Government owned warehouses which would store
crops for later sale and loan up to 80% of the value to farmers until the crops were
sold to repay the loan. This would enable farmers to escape from the debt cycle.
The Fall: Collapsing cotton prices after 1891 destroyed TSFA, which joined
with the Populist Party in 1892.
The Populists: Founded in the North by those disappointed by Republican
failure to address farm problems. The Populists backed major changes to the
political system (referendums, direct election of senators, secret ballot, etc) as
well as economic measures to aid farmers and urban workers (easier credit,
railroad regulation, etc) They were ambivalent about blacks, who remained loyal
to the Republicans. This led to Populist defeat in 1892. More on this later.
Women in the New South
Limits of Feminism: The connection of northern feminism to abolitionism and
the deification of traditional gender roles by defeated Southern men after 1865
meant Southern women had to move carefully if they left their pedestals.
Urban Middle Class Women: The conveniences of the city and the support of
servants gave them the free time to engage in activism.
Church Work: Churches were an ideal arena for women to operate in, as no one
could complain about them doing 'the work of the Lord'. In the south, Settlement
Houses were sponsored by churches to bring a mix of the gospel and practical
advice to working class families.
Women's Christian Temperance Union: First southern locals arose in the
1880s to fight for the abolition of alcohol production and consumption. They
framed it as a family issue--alcohol consumption poisoned families. By the
1890s, some members began pushing for votes for women to better fight alcohol.
The WCTU often clashed with men, who drank more and opposed women's
suffrage.
Memorials: Many Southern women also became involved in commemorating
the Civil War and Southern soldiers and heroes. 1894--United Daughters of the
Confederacy
Women's Clubs: Typically founded as social and literary clubs in the 1880s, by
the 1890s, many became more activist. Child labor, education, and prison reform
became areas for moral crusades.
The Triumph of Jim Crow: The Consolidation of the Southern System of
Segregated Race Relations
1877-1890: An Uncertain System. Reconstruction had broken Black political
power in the south and crippled the Southern Republican party, but there was only
partial segregation in this period. In the 1880s, a new generation of Blacks arose
who wished to get rid of the disabilities they suffered in voting and economic life.
White Backlash: Raised on the myth of the Lost Cause, the new generation of
Southern whites pushed back, seeking to create a system of segregation to put
blacks in their place and to enable themselves to feel superior to someone at a
time when most Southern whites suffered heavy poverty. The deteriorating
economy also heightened competition for jobs as cotton collapsed further after
1891.
Lynch Mobs: A major problem for blacks, especially those who ended up in
confrontations with whites in business or politics, was lynching. 235 lynchings in
1892. 1882-1903, nearly 2000 black southerners were lynched. Most lynchers
were working-class whites. Most lynching was 'justified' by claims of sexual
predation by black men; most lynching victims were male. (Only 25% of
lynchings were actually sparked by any sort of sexuality related issue, however)
Segregation: It spread in the South after the 1870s, while going into decline in
the North. Railroads were a major focus for segregation. Plessy vs. Ferguson
was a challenge to the segregation of Railroads.
Plessy vs. Ferguson: 1890, Henry Plessy refused to leave the first class
car of a train. 1896, the Supreme Court ruled seven to one that
segregation did not violate the 14th amendment, so long as equal facilities
were provided for all, the so called 'separate but equal' doctrine. Only
Justice Harlan voted against it, saying it would spark massive anti-black
discrimination.
Jim Crow Laws: This nickname came from a minstrel stage show
performer, Thomas Rice. A system of laws now methodically
disenfranchised, segregated and discriminated against blacks. Blacks were
driven out of many trades and occupations, such as carpentry and
masonry.
Voting Disenfranchisement: States instituted poll taxes, literacy tests,
and 'understanding tests' to block black voting, then used grandfather
clauses (you could vote if your grandfather could vote) to let poor whites
vote, though some whites got locked out anyway. Overall voter turnout
dropped by 50%.
Racism: Segregation passed with little protest because of white racism.
Even most social progressives subscribed to ideas of racial hierarchy in
this age of 'scientific racism', and 'social darwinism'. The Republican
party was able to rule without the South, so they left it to rot. The position
of Northern blacks also began to decay.
Black Response: Attempts at organized protest were unsuccessful. Some blacks
chose to leave the South. Blacks withdrew into their own communities.
Black Urbanites: Blacks increasingly moved into cities in the South and
the North, trying to escape rural poverty. By 1900, one in three southern
Blacks lived in cities. A black middle class developed in the cities.
Black Fraternal Orders: Blacks created social clubs who helped them
pool their resources. Some paralleled white organizations, such as the
Black Masons. Fraternities served as the garden in which businesses
grew, such as the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company in
Durham North Carolina, founded in 1898. It became the largest black
business in the US by 1918.
Black Education: Education was crucial for Blacks, especially the
middle class. Despite many difficulties, Blacks became more educated
over time. Sixty to seventy percent of Black children were able to attend
public schools in Southern cities; by 1920, Blacks were 77% literate. By
1899, there were 81 black colleges. “Schools such as Fisk University in
Nashville, Talladega, Tougaloo, Paul Quinn, Morris Brown, Claflin,
Bennett, and Rust educated their students in Latin, Greek, mathematics,
literature, history, and the natural sciences.” (“Surviving Jim Crow”,
http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/history/surviving2.htm)
Black Women's roles: Black women's clubs worked against segregation,
protected abused women, and worked for the right to vote. They also used
connections to organizations of white women to push for improved health
and education for blacks. Black women had the advantage of being less
likely to be lynched.
Booker T. Washington--Black leader who emphasized the development of
southern education and industry; urged the Black community to work hard and
improve itself so as to gain a position of better leverage to reclaim its rights. He
also emphasized avoiding confrontation with Whites over Black rights. He was
often criticized as being too accommodating to White people; W.E.B. DuBois and
Booker T. Washington would heavily clash. 1895: Atlanta Compromise.
Booker T. Washington called for accommodation between the races and for
blacks to engage in education and self improvement at the Cotton States and
International Exposition in Atlanta. Many blacks saw this as too submissive.
1881--Tuskegee Institute. BTW (son of a slave and a white man)
becomes the president and founder. He sought to create a school for
agricultural research and to create teachers. “Students attending Tuskegee
learned about soil conservation and crop rotation techniques, the
importance of not borrowing money at usurious rates from merchant
suppliers, personal hygiene, and how to save their money at black-owned
banks (there were 20 black-owned banks in the South in 1911). But,
Washington refused to allow his students to be educated in the liberal arts.
Instead, Tuskegee's male students studied carpentry, printing, brick-
making, and agricultural economics, while females took courses in
domestic skills such as laundry, sewing, and cooking. The Tuskegee
model hoped to send literate and practically-minded teachers into the
black public schools of the South as men and women endowed with the
important goal of uplifting an impoverished black peasantry to the status
of independent, middle-class farmers.” (“Surviving Jim Crow”,
http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/history/surviving2.htm)
George Washington Carver: Director of Agricultural Research at
Tuskugee. Innovator with peanuts, sweet potatos, pecans, and soybeans.
Carver called for the south to abandon the growing of cotton and to grow
new crops which could actually turn a profit. He advised farmers to use
crop rotation; by planting sweet potatoes or legumes (peanuts, soybeans,
cowpeas, etc) which would provide protein and refresh the soil's nitrogen,
they would also improve the yield of other crops. So the farmer would
switch back and forth between growing seasons.