Economy of the "New South" (College Board AP® US History): Study Guide

Summary

Following Reconstruction, hopes were high for a new beginning in the South, an idea popularized as the “New South”. Advocates hoped for economic diversification and industrial growth to break away from an economy driven by plantations. In reality, the old way of life continued in the South but with new titles in the form of sharecropping and tenant farming. These systems continued to persecute African Americans and poorer White people.

New Slavery & Tenant Farming

The “New South”

• The term “New South” was coined by Henry Grady, editor of The Atlantic Constitution newspaper

• Grady encouraged the idea of a new beginning for the region with views of modernization and new economic opportunities

  • Grady promoted the idea of the South moving away from its dependence on plantation agriculture

  • He advocated for the building of factories and textile mills, and the development  of railroad networks to integrate Southern cities into  the national economy 

Economy of the “New South”

• Industrial growth

  • Some Southern cities experienced industrial growth

    • An example of this was Iron and steel production in Birmingham, Alabama

  • Textile mills were built closer to the cotton fields

    • This cut down on transport costs 

    • It created new industrial hubs

  • Railroad tracks were significantly expanded to connect Southern cities to larger markets in the North and West

• Dependence on agriculture

  • Despite industrial growth, agriculture continued to be the backbone of the South’s economy

    • Cotton and cash crops like tobacco dominated the economy

  • Plantation owners looked for ways to keep costs low

    • A new form of labor was needed after the abolition of slavery

• Sharecropping/tenant farming

  • Sharecropping: Laborers (mainly African Americans and poorer White people) farmed land owned by wealthy landowners in exchange for a share of the crops

  • Tenant farming: A similar system where laborers rented the land but worked it for the owner in exchange for a portion of their harvest

  • These systems trapped farmers in a cycle of debt and poverty due to:

    • high interest rates on loans for seeds and tools

    • exploitative agreements that left farmers with little crop to sell after paying their rent

  • This became a new form of slavery as indebtedness would keep farmers from ever leaving the farms

Racial segregation

• Racial segregation continued as before

  • Segregation laws and customs (for example, Jim Crow laws) reinforced a racially divided society

• African Americans faced systemic barriers preventing them from escaping tenant farming or accessing other economic opportunities