Mississippi Between the Wars Chapter 8 Mississippi Between the Wars

The Great Migration The years following WW1, thousands of blacks moved from Mississippi to the north The war had created labor shortages in the north, and there was availability of new jobs If they had money for travel they could escape segregation in the south for cities in the north…..like Chicago. Between 1910-1940 almost 600,000 had migrated, called ”Great Migration” to move from one state to settle in another Results of the migration in the South caused labor shortages In some communities were whites used force and threats to keep blacks from leaving In some cities police boarded trains and forced them off trains

The Great Migration Black leaders used the threat of migration as a weapon to better the lives of blacks in the south KKK were defeated in Greenville Classes were changed in colleges Federation of Colored Women’s Club was established Middle class black women’s group Blacks’ economic status declined, blacks owned less land, the last of the blacks banks failed in the 1920s Discriminations displaced skilled black workers from their trades

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Whitfield’s Progressivism Henry Whitfield was a country school teacher to wanted to enter law He was appointed state superintendent of education He used his office to promote education as the state’s salvation He believed that educated citizens would be able to use the states’ resources to better themselves He became president of present t day MS University for Women June 1922 he announced his candidacy for governor

Whitfield’s Progressivism Because women could not vote for the first time in a primary in 1923, he expected to have the edge Bilbo’s successor was involved in a scandalous court case Bilbo had been jailed for content of court, for not testifying in the case Whitfield’s platform was to reverse the party’s hostile attitude toward big business and to encourage the state’s capital investment Spending money to build factories highways, and buildings With support of former students and all the anti-Bilbo groups Whitfield became governor The female vote made the difference

Whitfield and the Legislature Whitfield worked to pass higher income and inheritance taxes With the new money they established a new teachers college, a library commission, a textbook commission, a forestry commission and a new mental hospital Adopted a new school code and a reforestation program He also reversed earlier measures to protect the public from big business Legislation did away with the limits on corporate land holdings, legalized utility holding companies, encouraged railroad mergers, and eased antitrust legislation A holding company controls all or part of other companies A trust is a combination of firms that controls all or nearly all of the business in an industry so there is little competition

The Governor of the People Whitfield said in his inaugural address that he would be governor of all the people He said prosperity was impossible unless they everybody prospered He worked to help train young blacks in both academics and practical farm work He was the first to appoint a black lawyer as a notary public He also worked to increase funding for vocational education in black schools He died in 1927 from bone cancer

The flood of 1927 Dennis Murphree succeeded Whitfield as governor and had to deal with the worse flood in Mississippi history 1927 a levee broke on the Mississippi River flooding 3 million acres of Delta land, CAUSED BTY LARGE AMOUNTS OF RAIN AND FLOODING IN THE MID-WEST, 185,000 people fled the rising waters and gathered at the top of levees and Indian mounds Rescue boats were sent out but they mostly only took white women and children Murphree sent in the National Guard to help flood victims They helped evacuate whites and built camps for blacks Flood waters didn’t go down until late summer, losing a whole cotton crop

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Section 2 Bilbo’s Return In 1927, Bilbo ran for governor again, with a platform of free textbooks, and factories that would built them He called for a massive road program, using Mississippi’s resources to build highways out of brick He was victorious beating Murphree by 16,500 votes In addition to his education reform he also supported political and economic reforms that were designed to improve the quality of life for Mississippi’s poor farmers and workers The Great Depression hit in 1929

Wisconsin report State colleges and universities deeply involved themselves in each governor’s race Because positions at the places were political payoffs Whitfield made an attempt to strengthen the institutions of higher learning He visited the University of Wisconsin where the university and state government worked together to help solve state problems He believed that the University of Mississippi could play a similar role and hired a Wisconsin expert to study Mississippi’s institutions and make recommendations

Wisconsin Report Report was published just as Bilbo defeated Murphree Bilbo wanted to use the report to modernize and improve higher education He tried to consolidate the University of Mississippi and Mississippi A & M and Mississippi Southern, and move all 3 colleges to Jackson where 1 large state university would be built It was rejected so Bilbo dismissed the presidents of all 3 universities The reforms of the Wisconsin Report weren’t put into practice

Wisconsin report However the names changed Mississippi A&M became Mississippi State University (MSU) 1940 Jackson College was established later named Jackson College of Hattiesburg was named to Southern Mississippi The Delta’s Teacher College was named Delta State University Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College became Alcorn State University

The Junior College System With the increased funding during the Vardaman-Bilbo era,the early 20th century education improved slowly in Mississippi More high schools were available,Junior colleges were created, and Bilbo gave out free textbooks to children. Agriculture high schools seemed doomed Were boarding schools that were the only way to complete high school work A bill was introduced in 1922 allowing the agriculture high schools to become junior colleges Junior colleges were schools that offered the first two years of college work Over the next decade 11 schools began to offer college courses, and in 1928 the legislature created the Commission of Junior colleges Mississippi built one of the earliest Junior college systems in the United States

The Junior college system County taxes supported the school Good high school teachers staffed the school, and were encouraged to improve their own education Students who couldn’t afford the opportunity for high education schools now had the opportunity In 1930 books and fees were about $50 a semester, and room and board was $16 a month Discipline was severe and academics limited, but the Junior College system gave Mississippians an opportunity to better themselves

Economic growth The prosperity bought by the high price of cotton during WWI was short-lived Most of the United States enjoyed the “Roaring Twenties” with a soaring stock market and dreams of unlimited wealth Mississippi suffered from its dependence on cotton and the end of its timber boom

King Cotton Cotton was Mississippi’s major crop Cotton price went up dramatically from 1911-1919 In 1940 cotton fell from 40 cents to 9 cents a pound Farmers who borrowed money during the war boom to expand couldn’t repay their loans Dry weather and boll weevils kept the crops down, and cotton prices continued to drop Mississippi farmers found it more difficult to compete with the new cotton farms in the west Farming was still done by hand using mules 1920s a farmer could make about $300, had to pay cost of seed fertilizer, and ginning

King Cotton When the Great Depression hit cotton fell to 6 cents a pound, which was less than it cost to produce it One group of farmers did manage to do well in the 1920s, the Delta planters They raised the money they needed in New York Sharecropping system ensured good profits The Planters invested these profits in the stock market Cotton prices also helped promote football at Mississippi A&M and the other school Also they funded teams in the Cotton States League, a professional baseball league located in the Southern States

New Industries Agricultural helped the economy grow in some areas Increased dairy farming led to more cheese plants and milk processing operations Canneries opened in the state, largest was a pickle factory Farmers grew and shipped tomatoes to markets in the North Mississippi’s lumber industry was gone because the forests had been cut New industries that came from that was Began to use a bleaching process to make paper from yellow pine trees William Mason invented fiberboard L.O. Crosby Sr. used resin(sticky substance from pine trees) could be used to make varnish and other products

New Industries The biggest boom of the 1920s was real estate Florida experienced tremendous growth as wealthy northerners came south to escape the northern winters Some of that growth spilled into the Mississippi Gulf Coast Investors built hotels, and casinos Prohibition(a period when the making and selling of alcoholic beverages was illegal) brought some prosperity to the area Criminals began operating on the coast to oversee the illegal industry Authorities found whole train cars loaded with moonshine(illegally distilled liquor) Fisherman smuggled liquor in from Cuba Mississippi’s Gulf Coast became a major port of entry for booze The Depression cut off the tourists crowds and the end of prohibition in the 1930s ended it

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The great Depression video Crash Course

The Great Depression The Great Depression of the 1930s was the worst economic disaster in modern history…Called “BLACK TUESDAY” A depression is a continued downturn in economic activity Sales of goods slow down and prices fall, manufacturing decreases, businesses close, banks fail, and people lose jobs The beginning of WW2 ended the Depression

TEST Question The collapse of the stock market and bank foreclosures were economic conditions that were a major cause of the great depression

Effect on Mississippi In Mississippi, it caused mass bank foreclosures and tax sales on farms Farmers were losing their land, because they couldn’t repay bank loans April 1932 25% of Mississippi’s land was auctioned off for unpaid taxes Mike Sennet was elected governor Son of a wealthy lumberman, had been groomed for public service Bilbo helped him become the youngest speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1916 When he became governor there was only $1,326 in the state treasury, and almost 6 million in checks written against that balance

Effect on Mississippi Conner’s most important task was to find a way to make the state solvent(able to meet financial obligations) State debt was huge and new land taxes lead to more foreclosures and tax sales To solve financial crisis, Conner recommended reducing state spending by cutting back on government services, and the number of state employees To create additional income he proposed a sales tax At this time sales taxes were new, and their were wide spread protests by merchants who didn’t want to collect the tax for the state

Effect on Mississippi With much protest Conner convinced the legislature to adopt the tax Mississippi became one of the first states in America to impose a sales tax The tax helped restore the state to financial health By the end of his term Conner was able to pay off the debt and leave $3 million surplus at the end of his term

Student Activity Write a letter and pretend that you’re a Mississippian during the Great Depression

The New Deal While Conner balanced the state budget the federal government started the New Deal..pass by FDR A series of laws designed to bring the country out of the depression A variety of programs to improve the economy and society to relieve the suffering of the unemployed Basic idea was to provide federal money to stimulate businesses in the private sector The ones in Mississippi were the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Public Works Administration (PWA), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)

The new deal The PWA and the WPA hired the unemployed to build useful public projects Schools, parks, roads, and bridges The CCC hired men for projects that involved planting trees, preserving the soil, and purifying the water The AAA provided price supports for farmers Guaranteed higher prices Mississippi had never experienced such governmental assistance

The new deal Communities accepted New Deal aid on their own terms Only young white men served in the CCC, white women got the clerical jobs Blacks could only be hired as laborers Sometimes most blacks and poor whites weren’t wanted at all

Depression Era politics Class and race divisions remained somewhat untouched by the New Deal programs, and Mississippi politics reflected these splits in Mississippi society In 1935 Hugh L. White was elected governor He was a wealthy industrialist who had been mayor of Columbia, and ran on a platform supporting economic and industrial development During the Depression he established a program known as Balance Agriculture with Industry (BAWI) Its goal was to develop Mississippi’s industrial base to match it agricultural base, by advertising and offering incentives

Depression Era politics White hoped to attract industry to Mississippi communities Local governments were given authority to issue bonds to construct factory buildings that they leased to companies if they promised to start business, also received tax breaks White also initiated the first long-range highway construction program During his term, the state highway patrol was organized

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World War II In 1940, Mississippi was still 85% rural Cotton was still dominated the economy Segregation still oppressed half of the states’ population A small elite group still ran the government from the legislature Mississippians believed that their state would never change

World War II On December 4, 1941, the Japanese bombed the U.S. Navy fleet at Pearl Harbor IMPERIALISM---A COUNRTY SEEKING TO GAIN NEW TERRITORY FOR ITS OWN INTEREST EVEN IF IT MEANS WAR. Mississippi had military camps scattered around the state Pascagoula, Biloxi, and Hattiesburg The farm populations declined by ¼ as farmers left their land to earn in a living in wartime industries Military pay and benefits and wartime prosperity combined to double the state’s average income between 1941 and 1945

World War II 1 out of 9(over a ¼ of a million) Mississippians served in the armed forces during WWII Many served in Europe and Asia Many Mississippians saw other states for the first time, some came and settled in Mississippi, and some left New ideas were being brought into Mississippi Blacks who migrated to the North were voting in large numbers Democrats edged toward accepting black demands for equality In 1944 Thomas L. Bailey was elected governor He emphasized states rights in his campaign and criticized the federal government for its growing bureaucracy

World War II Bailey established the Agricultural and Industrial Board to promote industrial growth and the Mississippi Marketing Commission to assist Mississippi farmers in the sale and distribution of their goods By 1945, Mississippi had begun to change and the economy was improving, but the majority of white Mississippians were serving notice that there was one thing they would not readily change which was segregation

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Chapter Review Page 204 All terms All facts