SOUTH AFTER RECONSTRUCTION

THE NEW SOUTH The South industrialized more slowly than the North Until 1900 lagged far behind North Reasons why: The destruction of the South’s credit system by the Civil War Shortage of capital Federal govt. policies that hurt the South economically High protective tariffs South’s poor educational facilities High rate of illiteracy

THE NEW SOUTH CREED AND SOUTHERN INDUSTRIALIZATION In the 1870’s, southern newspaper editors, planters, and businessmen began to preach the “New South Creed” The region must industrialize Eager to attract northern capital: southern states offered tax exemptions for new businesses that located there Held industrial fairs Leased convicts from state prisons as cheap labor Practically gave away land, forests, and mineral rights to northern corporations Iron and steel production expanded dramatically Birmingham and Chattanooga The iron and steel mills hired many unskilled African Americans

THE SOUTHERN MILL ECONOMY Unlike the iron and steel industry, where factories were usually in or near urban areas, southern textile mills opened in the countryside Towns and villages were created around the mills Most of the textile mills were located in the Piedmont region of VA, the Carolinas, GA, and AL The southern mills combined northern technical expertise with southern rural paternalism They recruited workers from the poor white farm population Hired many women and children, and even whole families The owners paid the laborers 30-50% less than New England mills

THE SOUTHERN MILL ECONOMY The textile companies dominated life in the mill towns they started They provided their employees with housing, stores, schools, and churches The mills underpaid their workers and overcharged for rent and supplies the employees often fell into debt to companies Just as sharecroppers were indebted to their landlords and creditor-merchants

SOUTHERN INDUSTRIAL LAG Despite impressive advances, southern industrialization occurred on a small scale and at a slower pace then in the North The southern economy remained essentially in a colonial status Industry was owned largely by northern firms Example=U.S. Steel controlled the foundries in Birmingham

AFRICAN-AMERICANS AFTER RECONSTRUCTION After Reconstruction, white Democrats in the South increasingly deprived black southerners of the right to vote At first the whites used intimidation and terror After 1890 they used more effective means: Poll taxes Literacy tests Grandfather clauses

AFRICAN-AMERICANS AFTER RECONSTRUCTION (CONT.)  Southern blacks also were victimized by:  segregation laws  the convict-lease system  Lynching  Some southern Populists attempted to combat prejudice  Encouraged white and black farmers to unite against their exploiters  The Southern Democratic elite purposely inflamed racial antagonism to keep poor farmers divided

AFRICAN-AMERICANS AFTER RECONSTRUCTION (CONT.) The federal govt. did nothing to protect black rights The Supreme Court gave it stamp of approval to segregated but equal facilities in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) Plessy summary It also upheld poll taxes and literacy tests in 1898

AFRICAN-AMERICANS AFTER RECONSTRUCTION (CONT.)  Blacks responded to these abuses in several ways  Some fled the South only to find de facto segregation in the North  Exodusters  Booker T. Washington advised fellow blacks to accept their second-class status for a time and concentrate on getting ahead economically and educationally

AFRICAN-AMERICANS AFTER RECONSTRUCTION (CONT.) Abolitionist Frederick Douglass still called on blacks to demand full equality The South became a one-party region always controlled by the Democrats With the disenfranchisement of blacks The defeat of southern populism