The New South

  1. 3 main issues:
    1. The goal was not to end slavery.
    2. Once slaves were freed, how were they to be incorporated into the national culture?
    3. Despite struggles, the South remains economically dependent on the North.
  2. Slavery
    1. Based on economic issues
    2. Civil War: one of bloodiest in history
  3. Emancipation Proclamation
    1. January 1863: Freed slaves in area over which he had no control
    2. Encouraged abolitionist forces and led to passage of 13 Amendment in 1865
    3. Unresolved issue: what would be the place of black men and women in US life?
      1. End slavery, but what else?
      2. Entitled to citizenship?
      3. Equal rights? And if so, what kind? Only voting? Social and econ issues? Long struggle to gain equality
      4. What would role of nat'l govt be? Would it defend citizenship rights or econ power of elites?
  4. Social and economic meaning of freedom
    1. New econonomic opportunities; ex-slaves leave plantations and look for better opportunities
    2. New educational opportunities-schools
    3. Form new institutions, particularly churches
    4. Economic issues-sharecropping
      1. Live on land in exchange for giving part or share of crop to owner
      2. Land owner gives credit for food and supplies to be paid at time of harvest
      3. Sucks farmers into perpetual dependency and new form of dependency on whites
  5. Visions of a New South
    1. Henry Grady, editor of Atlanta Constitution, wanted:
      1. Business and industry
      2. North - South cooperation
      3. Racial cooperation (but not equality).
      4. Preserve southern heritage
    2. Colonial economy-still dependent on North