New South Agenda Between 1877 And 1900

As the rich became richer and the poor became poorer, it was realized by the laborers of the railroad that their nation's economic growth and prosperity was not being equally shared among the people. Coupled with years of wage cuts (35% over 3 years), and workforce reductions, that then required remaining workers to work 15-18 hour days, the workers fought back.

The New South: an era of change, a time of transition away from the destruction of the Civil War and chaos of Reconstruction. However, while the institution of slavery and a cotton-based economy faded away into the past, feelings of intolerance and inequality resided in the hearts and minds of Southerners, shaping a new society that closely mirrored the old. Blacks and other minorities, such as women, remained in an underclass with strict social and economic rules as the South expanded outside it agrarian roots. William Faulkner captures the preconceived sentiments keeping the Civil War relevant in the South in his novel Light in August. He chronicles the stories of the outcasts Lena Grove and Joe Christmas, both people who break social

Wages were very low for the amount of work people were expected to do. People would only make anywhere from $1.25-$1.50 for the entire 10-12 hour workday. Not only were these wages extremely low, but employees often lived in expensive company housing which left barely any money for the other necessities of life. Nobody was satisfied with the wages during this time period but another struggle was the long hours. People worked 60-80 hour work weeks in the hot overcrowded factories, only doing one monotonous job. Lastly, the boss was very distant from the work crowd and there was little to no contact between the two groups. Also, the workers were very controlled by the foreman. The doors were locked on all floors to prevent theft during the day and bathroom breaks would be monitored by a floor manager. Overall, during the late 1800’s everyone was overworked and underpaid and this led to many troubles as years went on.

The New South was mostly about development and growth that started to gradually increase after 1877 on into the 1900s. Iron and steel were the main contributors followed by tobacco and timber. Steel mills were popping up all over the south which provided numerous jobs and a better way of living. The downside was the effect it had on the farm industry due to the fact that cotton was cheap and so was labor. As a result most of the people preferred to work in the factories which paid higher wages.

The thesis of the book is that segregation of black and whites was developed later in life than it did when slavery was just introduce. In the earlier years blacks and white would live within the same residence and or property, sharing the same premises if not equal facilities. The black and white would attend the same church and sit in the pews. As life progress and economics and Political conflicts took place that’s when the segregation began.

The ideas of nationalism and sectionalism in the early 1800s played a large role in the presidential elections leading up to the Civil War. Nationalism is when the population of a nation has love for their country put their country first. Sectionalism is when the population identifies more with the ideals of their region more than they identify with the nation as a whole. Please two ideas would become the basis of the Missouri compromise, the Monroe doctrine, and this establishment of new political parties in the United States during the early 1800s.

The “New South” mentality attempted to modernize North Carolina’s previously agrarian economy through industrialization. Businessmen, such as Richard J. Reynolds, strategically erected factories in North Carolina for access to its prestigious railroads to swiftly transport their products. Factory owners had no trouble finding employees, as many North Carolinians were eager to avoid the hardships of farm labor. Towns began to rise around the factories after the influx of laborers came about. Such a plethora of potential workers allowed factory owners to pay their employees drastically low wages as they reaped the benefits of cheap labor. Low wages combined with pitiful working conditions resulted in these factory towns resembling life on slave plantations before the war.

The crops grown on plantations and the slavery system changed significantly between 1800-1860. In the early 1800s, plantation owners grew a variety of crops – cotton, sugar, rice, tobacco, hemp, and wheat. Cotton had the potential to be profitable, but there was wasn’t much area where cotton could be grown. However, the invention of the cotton gin changed this - the cotton gin was a machine that made it much easier to separate the seeds from cotton. Plantation owners could now grow lots of cotton; this would make them a lot of money. As a result, slavery became more important because the demand for cotton was high worldwide. By 1860, cotton was the main export of the south. The invention of the cotton gin and high demand for cotton changed

With the economic system, the south had a very hard time producing their main source “cotton and tobacco”. “Cotton became commercially significant in the 1790’s after the invention of a new cotton gin by Eli Whitney. (PG 314)” Let

A. southern ideology of non-white servitude moving west, while Northern ideology was unwavering keeping them completely using white work.

Henry Grady was a young creative editor of the South’s leading newspaper called the Atlantic Constitution during the 1880’s. He created a name for himself by painting an appealing picture advertising the rise of the “New South” to the rest of the nation and to the entire world. Particularly in two of his well-known speeches—one given in Boston in 1889, the other in New York in 1886—Grady conveyed a message that the Old South of secession was dead and that there was a “New South”, South of union, South of freedom, vibrant and prosperous.

The Civil war was a turning point in the United States history, it significantly changed southern society. Because most of battles were happened in the Union soil, southern economy be destroyed severely. Most of industries be destroyed, agricultural become the major depends of southern people. Thereby, poor be widespread accompany with racism. In order to maintains white superior in south. Henry W. Grady, an editor of the Atlanta Constitution also be think as the “Spokesman of the New South”, created the “New South” concept

The Civil War had ended and America was in a major crisis, more forwards the South. It was a cold time for millions who lacked the proper tools of living and that is what slowed down the country's economic working system. During the 1860s farm workers dominated the regions as it was a major supply

Following Reconstruction, the primary goals of the South alongside the rebuilding of their infrastructure, stabilizing and industrializing their economies and divesting from the agrarian focus was the education, training and job placement of the newly freed men. Not the freedmen as a whole but specifically the freed men. There was no effort or attention given to the more than one million women who too were freed, it is in this action where we find the marginalization of the minority within the minority begins. In her memoirs, Sophia B Packard,

Businesses, laborers, and farmers faced major challenges between 1877 and 1920. This was a time period that included both the Gilded Age and World War 1, and the challenges that these three parts of society faced were very different between each group and throughout each period. Businesses had to deal with things called “trusts” with other businesses. Many businesses desired to hold the monopoly of an entire industry, and competition was intense and cutthroat. Laborers, of course, faced the challenges of not having the previously mentioned working conditions, as well as pay cuts and unemployment during the depressions in the 1870s and the 1890s. Farmers had to deal with major drops in the prices for their crops due to the second Industrial Revolution and the development of new technology, as well as the already-difficult farming of the West. Many southern farmers were sharecroppers, as well, and as the prices for their goods fell, so did their standard of living.