Reading 65 The New South

By 1900, nearly 40% of Westerners lived in the cities. During this time, many workers who worked in mines, forests, and fields provided a flexible workforce that attempted to support economic growth in the South. How do you think these factors affected the Southern Economy at this time? The Agricultural labor force was becoming extinct in the South. Were they now dependent on the North?

POSTWAR SOUTHERNERS FACE THE FUTURE (574)
In this section, we look into the South’s economic struggle after the war; making an attempt to create a “New South” by relaying railroads and adjusting rolling stock to fit the northern gauges. Birmingham, Alabama was known to “symbolize” the “New South”. Do you think the text provides enough info to support that this is true?

THE OTHER SIDE OF PROGRESS (574)
This section highlights the growth of Industrialization in the South. One writer had in fact boasted that the South was “throbbing with Industrial and Railroad activity” Based on the text, do you believe this quote to be true? At this point, share cropping was now being pushed aside. And many now said hello to factory life-low skilled jobs; low wage jobs. What classes of people were taking these jobs? Did gender, race, and age determine and/or affect ones hours and pay in factory jobs?

COTTON STILL KING (575)
The South dreamed of an agricultural revolution! What factors made that “dream” nonexistent? After the war, cotton prices rose, and then plummeted, then rose again etc. Farmers struggled to keep up with the changes in cotton prices. They were constantly caught in a cycle of debt and poverty! How did this factor affect the South’s food production?

THE NADIR OF BLACK LIFE (576)
The Race Issue. Had slavery really become nonexistent after the war? Think about how large of an impact the end of slavery must have had on the South’s economy. Therefore, blacks had agreed that racial cooperation was crucial in order to help the South. Based on the text, do you find that if blacks had not found themselves inferior to whites, that the informal system of segregation would have been introduced? Railroads, schools, libraries, restaurants, etc. were segregated- “Jim Crow” law. In this section, really think about the approach in Plessey vs. Ferguson, on how “separate but equal” facilities did NOT violate the 14th amendment. What were these different types of discrimination going on in this period?

DIVIDING BLACK RESPONSES (578)
Blacks were calling were separation! Black Nationalism! They were now fighting for equality and social justice! Looking at society today, can you see how Fredrick Douglas was right in how for generations blacks would have to fight for their equal rights in this country?