1. The "New South"

2. The South was never monolithic - it has never had a monopoly on racism, violence, or one- party-politics. These have been more overtly evident in the South, however, than elsewhere in the nation. Only white Southerners have been defeated in war and had their territory occupied by the “enemy”. Fueled tensions within Southerners between their regional and their national loyalties.

3. The "New South" Until 1950, a majority of blacks in America lived in the South. Racial intermingling was more common in the South than elsewhere. The term "Solid South" refers to the fact that no Republican presidential candidate carried a Southern state in the elections between 1877-1920.

4. Henry Grady In the 1870s, Southerners recognized the need to present a new image of themselves to the world and to stimulate economic development. Henry Grady, editor of the Atlanta Constitution, was a strong proponent of this "New South." In 1886 he spoke before the New England Society on the "New South." The major points of his speech were: The United States was no longer two separate nations -- Southerners had erased the Mason-Dixon Line The Southern economy had changed -- industrialization had replaced plantation agriculture Race relations had changed -- blacks were now partners in the "New South"

5. Grady's claims of a "New South" Economically Major undertaking was the reconstruction of Southern railroads, ports, roads, and communication systems. Federal grant money supported this reconstruction. Between 1865 and the early 1870s, over 8,000 miles of new railroad track were laid. By the end of the 1880s, the South had one of the best railroad systems not just in the United States, but in the world.

6. Richard H. Edmonds "farm to factory" movement” to encourage outside capital investment in the South's economy to promote every possible form of industrial development. Three major industries emerged in the South after the Civil War Cotton Iron Tobacco

7. Cotton Mills Southern finance capital gave way to a mill industry (1880 - 160 mills; 1900 - 400+mills) Largely controlled by outside (Northeastern United States and foreign) capitalists. Racist hiring practices dominated employment in the new industry. Mill owners also used racial tensions to quell white labor organizing by threatening to hire black workers if white workers did not cooperate.

8. Iron and Steel By 1900, the South led the world in coal production. They fostered (1880-1900) tremendous growth in iron and steel mills. Initial financing of the steel and iron industries came from Southern sources, but by 1900, foreign investors and Northerners such as Andrew Carnegie largely controlled these industries.

9. Tobacco Traditionally tobacco was grown but seldom processed in the South. In the late 1870s and early 1880s, however, Southern capitalists established prosperous tobacco factories. By 1900, tobacco processing was a major industry. As was the case with cotton and iron/steel, outside capitalists controlled the industry.

11. Summation Northerners had indeed reconstructed the Southern economy, one they now controlled, They did little to change the South itself (and particularly traditional racial and social relations). Some call this a period of colonialization

12. Race Relations The KKK was a white fraternal organization that used fear, violence, and intimidation to persecute blacks and to prevent black men from voting. Redeemers or Bourbons, began to take control of state governments In 1890, Mississippi's new state constitution banned blacks from voting and office holding in order to "purify" Mississippi politics

13. "Grandfather Clause" Many Southerners and Northerners alike had made challenges against property and literacy tests, claiming that states were using them as a way to prevent blacks (and many poor whites) from voting. In 1898, Louisiana responded to these challenges by legislating the so-called "Grandfather Clause" which stated that voting tests would not apply to voters whose fathers or grandfathers were registered voters on January 1, 1867, when no black man in the state was registered to vote.

14. "Jim Crow" laws a system of laws ensuring social segregation in transportation, accommodations, schools, courts, etc. which arose in every Southern state

15. Plessy v. Ferguson 1896 In 1896, the United States Supreme Court ruled, in a 7-1 vote, that "separate but equal" accommodations on railroad cars conformed to the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection. That decision was used to justify segregating all public facilities, including schools. Most school districts, ignoring Plessy's "equal" requirement, neglected their black schools. This ruling held until 1954 when in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the Supreme Court ruled that separate institutions are inherently unequal.