The New South and Jim Crow

The "New South" (1877-1898)

This section explores the concept of the "New South" and examines the factors that contributed to both continuity and change in the Southern states from 1877 to 1898.

Vision of the New South

Henry Grady, the editor of The Atlanta Constitution, coined the phrase "New South."
Grady envisioned a South characterized by:
- Economic diversity
- Industrial growth
- Laissez-faire capitalism
Grady believed industrial advancement would prevent the South from suffering the same fate as during the Civil War.

Industrial Growth in the South

Southern cities and industrial centers began to grow.
Southern states surpassed New England in textile manufacturing.
Population growth and railroad construction in the South equaled or surpassed other regions.

Reality Check: Limits to the "New South"

Despite advancements, the "New South" vision was not fully realized:
- Transformation was limited to a few isolated cities.
- The South remained primarily agricultural.

The Persistence of Sharecropping

Sharecropping was a labor system in which individuals who lacked capital worked the land of a plantation owner in exchange for a portion of the harvest.
In theory, sharecropping could have benefited newly freed black people and poor whites
In practice, it often led to a new form of slavery due to sharecroppers remaining indebted to landowners.

Racial Segregation and the Jim Crow South

The Compromise of 1877, which ended Reconstruction, led to the removal of federal troops from the South.
This removal allowed racial segregation to become the standard social structure.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

This Supreme Court case stemmed from a Louisiana law mandating separate railcars for black and white passengers.
Homer Plessy, who was seven-eighths white and one-eighth black, challenged the law by riding in a whites-only car.
The Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation was constitutional as long as the separate facilities were equal in quality.
The phrase "separate but equal" emerged from this case.
This ruling allowed Southerners to bypass the Fourteenth Amendment, which guaranteed equal protection under the law.

Jim Crow Laws

Plessy v. Ferguson led to the implementation of Jim Crow Laws, which segregated nearly every aspect of society.
Examples of segregation included:
- Bathrooms
- Water fountains
- Public transportation
Black people also faced exclusion from juries and public office.