Characteristics of the New South: Economic Progress and Poverty and Agriculture Topic 6.4 (Contextualization) (jan 1, 1861 – 8h 20min, jun 6, 2026 y)

Description:

Economic Progress:
Henry Grady, an editor of the Atlanta Constitution, spread the gospel of the New South arguing for economic diversity and laissez-faire capitalism. Efforts to create a New South were in Birmingham, Alabama, which was the nations leading steel producer. Memphis, Tennessee, held the South's growing lumber industry. Richmond, Virginia, held the capital of the nation's tobacco industry. By 1900 the South had 400 cotton mills, and the mills employed around 100,000 white workers. The South was finally integrated into the national rail network. However, two things slowed the South's economy down. The North had controlled three-quarters of the South's railroads before the civil war. After the civil war, the North had control of the South's steel industry. The second thing was that the profits went to the Northern banks instead of expanding the Southern economy.

Poverty and Agriculture:
The South was still mainly agricultural, so it was still poor compared to the rest of the country. By 1900, half of the White farmers and three-quarters of the black farmers in the South were tenant farmers or Sharecroppers. Since most of the money went to the Northern banks, the Southern banks couldn't loan a lot of money to their farmers. The farmers were in constant debt and were barely getting by year to year.
Cotton was still the main source of the South's economy. The supply of cotton more than doubled after the civil war. This caused the price of cotton to decrease by %50 which caused farmers to lose their farms. An American Scientist, George Washington Carver, said that the South needed to grow other crops like peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans to increase the price of cotton. However, farmers remained in debt so there were unions that formed. The Farmer's Southern Alliance had a little over a million members. There was a separate union for African Americans called the Colored Farmers' National Alliance which had around 250,000 members. They both had the idea to fix farmers' economic problems, but they couldn't band together because the white people were too racist.

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