WarmUp Question

Was the "New South" more a slogan than reality? What specific facts should be looked at to support either point of view?

The "New South" was more of a slogan than a reality since southern white mentality was just the same as it was prior to the Civil War which was to subject African Americans to a lower quality of life. To really claim the title of the "New South" there can't be this subject of newness in certain areas such as in the economy but more in society as a whole. This attempt in recreating the South failed with the creation of literacy tests that circumvented the progression that the 15th amendment promised. This failure was evident with another slogan "Separate But Equal". Although many of the southern whites would have,no doubt, believed that this slogan actually spoke the truth in reality institutions designed primarily for blacks were less cared for. These places were uncleanly and uncomfortable compared to those designed for whites.The term "New South" was just a lie under the illusion of change. 

The New South

The New South

Outline

Economic Diversification

Prior to the Civil War,the South's major and most prized source of industry came from cotton,but after the war some found that the focus on this one crop had caused the South's downfall. With the helpful hand of Southern leaders and with new means of transportation the "New South" was now filled with a diverse array of industries and an economic boom.

• At a meeting of the New England Society of New York, Henry W. Grady divulged his take on the New South's potential which partly focused on economic diversity and saw a society that would be based on the production of several crops and begin to look towards industrialization.
• Seaman A. Knapp, an agriculturalist, taught farmers how to select crops that would be appropriate for their soil and how to care of them. With this new agricultural education, the production of rice and Louisiana cane sugar became possible.
• The two new varieties of tobacco,bright leaf and burley, saw the resurgence of the crop in southern industry which Union soldiers favored bringing a new market for southern exports.
• Although the New South aimed to diversify its economy it didn't stray from the original King Cotton which saw an increase of cotton mills from 161 to 400 after the Civil War and cotton usage increased from 182,000 to 1,479,000 per year.
• With the addition of railroads in the New South, the North and South could now reap the benefits of each others production endeavors and southern produce would finally be available to northern markets.

Political Changes

The Civil War saw the fall of the Confederate government and the rise of a group of community leaders that would soon be known as "Redeemers" who'd strive to reclaim southern glory.Although not directly,Redeemers sought to regress any form of progression with African Americans after the Civil War and the role of education during this period started to come to the forefront.

• Even though Redeemers weren't actively involved with the acts of violence against blacks caused by the KKK they benefited from them as their goals were to repress blacks and increase their political power.
• Redeemers did place importance upon education and with the help of George Peabody,a London banker, public schools in the south were granted $3 million through Peabody funds.
• J.L.M. Curry was the overseer of the funds and developed programs such as summer schools and teacher's associations that are still present today.
• Literacy increased to 88 percent in the white population and up to 50 percent in the southern black populace.

Race Relations in the New South
The race relations between blacks and whites in the New South was a fine line that could be easily crossed. Southern whites wanted to retain their status of superiority as was pre-Civil War and African Americans wanted a chance to escape from their menial jobs and low wages and wanted equal rights. 

• With the ratification of the 15th amendment, which granted blacks the right to vote, white southerners had to be crafty in circumventing this new law by implementing things such as literacy test that were designed to prevent even the most educated African American from voting.
• W.E.B. Du Bois, an African American, thought that only through "ceaseless agitation" would blacks ever receive equal rights and was a prime figure involved with the "Niagara Movement" which later developed into the NAACP.
• Booker T. Washington ,an African American, encouraged blacks to keep to themselves and focus on their daily survival and he discovered the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama 

Compromise of 1877

The Compromise of 1877 was a deal brokered so that Republican Rutherford B. Hayes would be elected into the presidential office but at the cost of removing Federal troop from the former Confederate states. This was thought of as hope lost for African Americans. It was hope lost for change.

• The compromise officially ended Reconstruction in the former Confederacy.
• Jim Crow laws dominated in the south and continued to repress African Americans.
• Minister Louis Farrakhan stated that since this compromise was made that KKK violence increased resulting in lynchings, rapes, and mass murders.