chapter twentyseven
2/27/06
6:02 PM
Page 341
chaptertwenty-seven
READJUSTMENT AT HOME
ANDCOLD WAR ABROAD
How did the nation react to the Cold War and the civil rights movement?
SELECTED
VOCABULARY
G. I. Bill of Rights
Fair Deal
Taft-Hartley Act
Central
Intelligence Agency
Dixiecrat Party
Truman Doctrine
Marshall Plan
McCarthyism
NATO
Brown v. Board
of Education
Barnwell Ring
Elmore v. Rice
Briggs v. Elliott
OVERVIEW
Harry S. Truman became
president at FDR’s death. He
continued and expanded the
New Deal. The United States
and the Soviet Union were
superpowers in the postwar
period. They were soon
involved in the Cold War
around the world. In 1950,
America entered the Korean
War. McCarthyism aroused fear
of communism at home.
Eisenhower tried to steer a
moderate course as president.
While he was president, the
Civil Rights movement began.
In South Carolina great
changes took place. Agriculture
declined, and industry grew.
Political power rested with a
small group of individuals in
the legislature. The white primary ended in 1947, and Strom
Thurmond and James F. Byrnes
became major spokesmen for
keeping racial segregation.
chapter twentyseven
2/27/06
6:02 PM
Page 342
TIMELINE
UNITED STATES
1945
Truman became president
UN Charter signed
SOUTH CAROLINA
1944
Smith v. Allwright
Legislature repealed
primary laws
1946
Thurmond elected
governor
1947
Taft-Hartley Act
Truman Doctrine
Marshall Plan
1948
Truman re-elected
1947
Elmore v. Rice
1948
Thurmond ran for
president on
Dixiecrat ticket
1949
NATO formed
1950
Korean War began
1951
Twenty-second Amendment
ratified
1952
Eisenhower elected
president
McCarthyism
1954
Brown v. Board of Education
1950
Savannah River plant begun
Briggs v. Elliott
1951
Byrnes elected governor
Gressette Committee formed
1952
Byrnes supported
Eisenhower
1954
Thurmond elected US
Senator
1955
Rosa Parks arrested; Martin
Luther
King, Jr. led
Montgomery boycott
1957
Russians launched sputnik
Little Rock high
school integrated
1958
NASA created
1959
Castro seized Cuban
government
342 | Chapter 27
1957
South Carolinians Speak: A
Moderate Approach to Race
Relations
I. THE RETURN TO PEACETIME
What happened to the country after the war?
Many people feared that the depression would return
once the war was over. It did not. Population growth,
which had stopped during the depression, soared. The
birth rate did not drop again until the 1960s.
The economy continued to improve. Many veterans
went to college on a government benefit called the G.
I. Bill of Rights. Others went into business or built
houses under the same program. People who had
done without many things during the 1930s and
1940s now bought them. Business boomed.
II. HARRY TRUMAN AND THE FAIR DEAL
What was the Fair Deal?
When Roosevelt died in April 1945, Harry S.
Truman of Missouri became president. He was born in
1884. He grew up on a farm and never went to college.
A veteran of World War I, Truman failed at business
and entered politics. In 1934 he was elected to the
Senate. Personally, he was tough and fiery. In politics,
he was a disciple of FDR. “Every individual,” he said,
“has a right to expect from his government a fair deal.”
The Fair Deal expanded Roosevelt’s New Deal
policies. Congress raised the minimum wage and gave
people more Social Security benefits to keep up with
inflation. A Civil Rights Committee named by the
president called for an end to racial segregation in
America. In 1948 the president ordered the integration of the armed services. Truman was fearful of high
prices, but Congress would not extend wartime price
controls. Labor unions asked for higher wages to pay
for rising prices. They called a number of strikes.
Truman thought the unions wanted too much.
Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947. It
ended many privileges that unions had. It gave the
president the right to get a court order to stop a strike
if it threatened the nation’s health or safety. Truman
vetoed the act, but Congress passed it over his veto.
Congress reorganized parts of the federal government. The armed services were no longer totally separate departments. They became part of the Department
of Defense. The secretary of defense spoke for them in
the cabinet. The Joint Chiefs of Staff coordinated the
branches of the armed forces. The National Security
Council advised the president on matters of war and
peace. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) gathered
secret information abroad that was useful to the gov-
chapter twentyseven
2/27/06
6:02 PM
Page 343
When FDR died on April 12,
1945, Harry S. Truman of
Missouri became president.
Library of Congress
What problems did he face
immediately?
ernment. Congress passed the Twenty-second Amendment, limiting presidents
after Truman to two terms. It was ratified in 1951.
III. REPUBLICAN GAINS AND THE ELECTION OF 1948
What did conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats do in the
1948 presidential election?
In 1946 the Republicans won a majority in both houses of Congress for the
first time since 1928. They stopped many of Truman’s proposals. In 1948 the
Republican Party nominated former Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York
for president. He had run against FDR in 1944. The Democrats split over civil
rights and economic policy. When the Democratic National Convention
opposed racial discrimination and failed to support cutting spending, Southern
delegates from Mississippi and Alabama walked out. Truman was re-nominated
for president. White Southerners later met and formed the States Rights
Democratic Party, or the Dixiecrat Party. They nominated Governor Strom
Thurmond of South Carolina for president. In the North, liberal Democrats
formed the Progressive Party and nominated former Vice President Henry A.
Wallace. Dewey seemed sure to be elected.
But Truman set out to win, and he did. He gained 49.5 percent of the popular vote; Dewey got 45.1 percent. The other candidates won over one million
votes each. The Democrats also took control of Congress.
IV. THE BEGINNING OF THE COLD WAR
How did the Cold War start?
Before his death Roosevelt hoped to keep the wartime Allies together by creating the United Nations. On April 25, 1945, fifty nations met in San Francisco
Cold War | 343
chapter twentyseven
2/27/06
6:02 PM
Page 344
and signed the United Nations charter. Every member nation is represented in
the General Assembly, which meets every year. The Security Council has eleven
member nations. They include six members elected by the General Assembly
and five permanent members — the United States, Britain, France, Russia (originally the Soviet Union), and China. It remains in session to keep the world at
peace. Each permanent member has a veto.
But wartime alliances do not last. The nations of Europe were no longer great
world powers. The most powerful nations were the United States and the Soviet
Union. The two superpowers, as they were called, no longer trusted one another. Slowly the nations began to divide between the free world, led by the United
States, and the Communist bloc, led by the Soviet Union.
Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met for the last time at Yalta in February
1945. They agreed to give the Soviet Union certain territories in Asia. In return,
Stalin agreed to enter the war against Japan. They split Germany into an eastern and western zone. The Soviets controlled East Germany, and the other
Allies controlled West Germany. Berlin, deep in East Germany, was also divided. The Soviets promised democratic elections in the countries of Eastern
Europe that they held.
Before the war in Europe was over, however, the Soviets began to form
Communist states in Eastern Europe. Churchill said that an “iron curtain” had
fallen across Europe, dividing East and West. Bernard Baruch said that it was the
beginning of a “cold war.”
V. CONTAINMENT AS AMERICAN POLICY
What became the goal of American foreign policy?
In 1947 American diplomat George F. Kennan warned that the Soviet Union
was committed to destroying the power of the United States in order to keep
itself secure. He urged a policy of containment. If America could stop Soviet
expansion, then perhaps the Russians would moderate their policy. Truman
favored Kennan’s views.
In March 1947, the president proposed the Truman Doctrine. He offered
American aid to any country threatened by communism. In June, Secretary of
State George C. Marshall announced the Marshall Plan. The United States
offered to help Europe rebuild after the war. Under the Marshall Plan, American
aid amounted to $13 billion. The Soviets responded by cutting off western
access to Berlin. Truman ordered an airlift of food and coal to the people of
West Berlin. In May 1949, the Soviet blockade ended. By that time Germany
was split into two nations, one Communist and the other democratic.
In April 1949, the nations of Western Europe, Canada, and the United States
created a military alliance against the Soviet bloc. It was called the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO). Five years later the Soviets formed the Warsaw Pact,
which united the Soviet Union and the Communist states of Eastern Europe.
Meanwhile China became a battleground of the Cold War, despite much
American aid. In 1949 the Communist forces of Mao Zedong forced the
Nationalists to leave the mainland and occupy the island of Taiwan.
Communism ruled the world’s largest nation.
344 | Chapter 27
chapter twentyseven
2/27/06
6:02 PM
Page 345
VI. THE KOREAN WAR
How did the Korean War begin?
The next battleground was Korea. Japan withdrew from Korea at the end of
World War II. The United States and the Soviet Union divided the country at the
thirty-eighth parallel. The Soviets formed a Communist state in North Korea,
and the United States supported a separate state in South Korea. In June 1950,
the North Korean army moved into South Korea. On June 27, the Security
Council of the United Nations called on member nations to come to the aid of
South Korea. The United States and fourteen other nations sent troops.
Under the command of American General Douglas MacArthur, the UN forces
pushed the North Koreans back to the Chinese border. MacArthur planned to
invade China. But Truman, who favored a limited war, removed MacArthur from
command. The United States agreed to a cease fire just north of the thirty-eighth
parallel, the original boundary. Peace talks bogged down, and the fighting went on.
VII. MCCARTHYISM: AMERICAN FEAR OF COMMUNISM
What was McCarthyism?
Like the Red Scare that swept the country after World War I, the Cold War
brought on a great fear of communism in the United States after World War II. Two
sensational cases alarmed Americans. In 1950, Alger Hiss, who had been a high
government official, was convicted of lying about his involvement with the Soviets
in 1938-39. That same year Congress passed the McCarran Internal Security Act
over Truman’s veto. Communist groups had to register with the government. It
barred Communists from coming into the United States. Julius and Ethel
Rosenberg were found guilty and executed for betraying atomic secrets in 1953.
Politicians, led by Wisconsin Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, began to attack many
other Americans as disloyal. McCarthy said that the State Department was filled
with Communist sympathizers. His charges were never proved, but he accused
many prominent Americans of disloyalty. In the spring of 1954, McCarthy’s hearings on the U. S. Army were televised. The public saw his bullying tactics. In
December 1954 he was censured by the Senate. McCarthyism became a term for
government leaders accusing citizens of disloyalty without proof.
Dwight D. Eisenhower was the
only president to serve two
complete terms between 1945
and 1980.
Library of Congress
What did Eisenhower call his
policies as president?
VIII. EISENHOWER AND DYNAMIC CONSERVATISM
Why did Eisenhower win the 1952 election?
In the election of 1952 the Democrats were split between white opponents of
civil rights in the South and the Progressive and labor groups in the big cities.
Republicans were also split between moderates who wanted to keep things as
they were and conservatives who wanted to dismantle the New Deal and go
back to isolation in foreign affairs.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower, hero of World War II, won the Republican
nomination for president. He said he would go to Korea and bring the war to “an
early and honorable end.” The Republican campaign slogan was “I like Ike.” He
swept to victory over the Democratic nominee, Governor Adlai Stevenson of
Illinois. Eisenhower was sixty-two years old. A native of Texas, he had grown up
Cold War | 345
chapter twentyseven
2/27/06
6:02 PM
Page 346
in Kansas. He went to West Point and became a career soldier. In World War II,
Eisenhower was Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe. As president,
he called his policies “dynamic conservatism.” He tried to steer a middle course
between extreme points of view.
IX. JOHN FOSTER DULLES AND “BRINKSMANSHIP”
What was Dulles’s view of foreign policy?
Martin Luther King, Jr., became
the best known leader of the
civil rights movement.
Library of Congress
On whose ideas did he base
his philosophy?
To end the Korean War, Eisenhower ordered more bombing of North Korea and
hinted at the use of atomic weapons. Quickly, an armistice was signed, leaving
Korea divided. At the same time, the new secretary of state, John Foster Dulles,
talked about an end to the policy of containment. He urged stronger action against
communism. He said America was willing to go “to the brink of war” to stop it.
The Soviets responded by crushing a rebellion of workers in East Germany in
1953. In 1956 they put down a revolution in Hungary. The United States did nothing. Brinksmanship was little more than containment with tough talk.
During Eisenhower’s second term, in 1957, the Russians launched sputnik,
the first man-made satellite. Americans were upset because they seemed to be
losing the missile race. The United States increased defense spending. In 1958
the first American satellite, Explorer I, was launched. Congress created the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to plan for manned
space flights. Congress also passed the National Defense Education Act (NDEA)
to fund education.
In 1959, Eisenhower agreed to have a summit conference, or a personal meeting, with the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev (KROOS chof). But prior to the
meeting, the Soviets shot down an American plane on a spy mission, and
Khrushchev cancelled the summit. There were a series of crises in the Middle
East. In 1959 communism reached the Western Hemisphere. Fidel Castro seized
the government of Cuba. With heavy Soviet support he turned it into a
Communist state.
X. THE CIVIL RIGHTS REVOLUTION
What events launched the civil rights revolution?
In the United States the civil rights revolution began in 1954. The
Supreme Court handed down a decision in the case of Brown v.
Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. It ended racial segregation
in the public schools. Southern whites decided to fight integration.
State officials began to talk of states rights and nullification. White
citizens’ councils were formed and the Ku Klux Klan revived to
keep white supremacy.
In December 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Mrs. Rosa Parks, an
African American seamstress, was arrested when she refused to give up
her seat on a bus to a white man. That night blacks set up a bus boycott.
A year later the Supreme Court struck down the separate but equal doctrine in public facilities.
Martin Luther King, Jr., became a major leader of the African American struggle
for equality in Montgomery. A native of Atlanta, Georgia and the grandson of a slave,
King was a Baptist minister. He was educated at Morehouse College and held the
346 | Chapter 27
chapter twentyseven
2/27/06
6:02 PM
Page 347
Ph.D. degree from Boston University. He was an inspiring leader and perhaps the
best orator of his generation. He combined the teachings of Jesus and the ideas of
Henry David Thoreau and Mahatma Gandhi of India into a program of nonviolent
action. Soon he led protests all over the South. King formed the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC) to organize non-violent protests. King and SCLC
leaders met many times at Penn Center on St. Helena Island.
XI. LITTLE ROCK
What happened at Little Rock, Arkansas?
In September 1957, the federal court ordered African Americans to attend
Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Governor Orval Faubus called out
the National Guard to keep nine black students from entering the school.
Eisenhower had to send 1,000 paratroopers to protect the students. He put the
National Guard under federal control. Still the Southern states from South
Carolina to Louisiana would not integrate their schools.
XII. SOUTH CAROLINA’S PEOPLE
After World War II how were the lives of South Carolinians different?
After World War II more changes came to South Carolina. For over a century the population of South Carolina had grown, but at a slower rate than the
nation as a whole. Poverty and the migration of African Americans to the North
were facts of life in the state. By 1950 the population grew faster, up by 11.4 percent in the previous ten years. The percentage of whites over African Americans
was still up, reflecting more migration. But the number of South Carolinians living in rural areas dropped below 75 percent for the first time in history. Many of
these people who lived in rural areas commuted to work in towns. This practice
began with the coming of good roads and automobiles. Over one-third (36.7
percent) of the people lived in towns, more than ever before.
As a whole, South Carolinians lived better. In 1929 the state was last among
the states in per capita income. By 1950 the per capita income was 60 percent
of the national average. But twenty-four counties had incomes of less than half
of that in the rest of the nation. South Carolina was still one of the poorest states
in the Union.
After World War II mechanical
cotton pickers were widely used
in South Carolina.
S.C. Department of Transportation
Why were they not
successful everywhere?
XIII. CHANGES IN AGRICULTURE
How did agriculture change in the state?
The amount of land devoted to farming in South Carolina began to drop. In
1950, 61.2 percent of the land was in farming. By 1959 the percentage dropped to
47.2 percent, just over 9 million acres. It continued to drop. Cotton production
went down, as well. In 1945 over a million acres of cotton were planted in the state.
Twenty-five years later only 300,000 acres were planted. The greatest decline was
in the Piedmont — in Anderson, Spartanburg, and Greenville counties.
Tenants almost disappeared from South Carolina farms by the 1950s. So did
mules, the usual farm animal. In the Piedmont, landowners turned to cattle and
tree farming. In the Inner Coastal Plain farmers planted soybeans. The average size
Cold War | 347
chapter twentyseven
2/27/06
6:02 PM
Page 348
of farms was rising, from seventy-five acres in 1945
to 117 acres in 1959. Without tenants and mules,
farmers turned to heavy farm machines, such as
cotton pickers. Still, change was very slow. Cotton
pickers had to have modern cotton gins to clean
the lint, but few new gins were built in the state.
Texas, Arizona, and California were the leading
cotton states by the 1950s.
XIV. CHANGES IN INDUSTRY
What changes took place in industry?
Textile companies installed modern machinery in the new mills
they built in the state after World
War II. Fewer workers operated
these new machines.
S.C. Department of Transportation
What happened to the
old mill villages?
In 1945 textile manufacturing was still the
largest industry in the state. Mills were located
mostly along the fall line and in the Piedmont. But changes began to occur in textiles, as well. Mills sold their mill houses. Many workers moved out of the villages
and into nearby towns. Individual mills were bought by national firms. Large
companies, such as Dan River, Deering Milliken, and J. P. Stevens took the place
of local corporations. Only a few independent companies were left, such as the
Spartan Mills in Spartanburg, Self Mills in Greenwood, and Springs Mills in Fort
Mill. They built new plants to house modern machinery. Working conditions
improved. Synthetic fibers, such as rayon and nylon, were made during World
War II. The Celanese plant at Rock Hill was built at a cost of $60 million. The May
plant of the DuPont Company at Camden cost $75 million.
But the most dramatic economic change of the 1950s was the location of an
Atomic Energy Commission plant in the state. It was built by the DuPont
Company on the Savannah River between Barnwell and Aiken. Entire towns,
such as Ellenton, had to be moved. The Savannah River plant, or “the bomb
plant” as South Carolinians called it, cost over $1.4 billion and employed 8,500
workers. Aiken, North Augusta, and other nearby towns soon had large mobile
home cities and traffic jams.
XV. “THE LEGISLATIVE STATE”
Why is South Carolina a “legislative state”?
Politically, South Carolina was still a legislative state. That is, the power of government rested primarily with the General Assembly, not the governor or the
courts. Only rarely, as in the case of Ben Tillman, did the governor have enough
support among the people to control the legislature.
Even county government was controlled by the General Assembly. To be sure,
the laws were enforced in the county by the sheriff, the county supervisor, and
other elected officials. But the county supply bill (the county budget) was
passed by the General Assembly. So the county delegation—the senator and
members of the House—were a powerful group. Since the state Senate gave the
senator from each county a veto over the supply bill, he was the most important
political leader in the county. Often the county officials and the delegation
remained in office for many years. They worked closely with one another and
were sometimes called “the courthouse ring.”
The legislature chose the judges and many state officials. They could stop the
348 | Chapter 27
chapter twentyseven
2/27/06
6:02 PM
Page 349
proposals of any governor. In fact, most governors had once been members of
the legislature. They depended on their friends in the two houses to support
their programs.
Of the two houses of the legislature, the Senate was the more powerful. The
Senate had only forty-six members, and its members were usually older and had
served longer than members of the House. Control of bills in the Senate lay with
the chairmen of the committees. The most powerful committees were the
Judiciary and Finance committees. Most bills had to be approved by one of these
two committees before they went to the full Senate for a vote. The Senate had a
seniority system. That is, the senators who had served the longest had their
choice of committee chairs. So the Senate was ruled by a small number of senior members. Since the smaller, rural counties in the state often reelected their
senators, the senior members of the Senate usually came from those counties.
Important laws were actually agreed on by conference committees of members
from the two houses. Usually the speaker of the house and the chairs of the
Senate Finance and Judiciary committees were members of these conference
committees.
XVI. THE BARNWELL RING
What was the Barnwell Ring?
The most powerful members of the legislature from the 1930s to the 1970s
were from Barnwell County. They included Senator Edgar A. Brown, chair of the
Senate Finance Committee, and Sol Blatt (BLOT), speaker of the House of
Representatives. At one time Winchester Smith of Barnwell was chair of the
House Appropriations Committee. J. Émile (A-meal) Harley of Barnwell was lieutenant governor from 1935 to 1941 and served as governor for four months
until his death in February 1942. Together they were often known as “the
Barnwell Ring.”
In 1950 the U.S. Atomic
Energy Commission
announced that a facility
would be built on 25,000
acres on the south side of
Aiken.
Savannah River Site
What changes did the
“bomb plant” bring to the
area?
Cold War | 349
chapter twentyseven
2/27/06
6:02 PM
Page 350
XVII. EDGAR BROWN, THE “BISHOP FROM
BARNWELL”
Who was Edgar Brown?
One of the most powerful figures in state government was
Edgar A. Brown. He was known as the “Bishop from Barnwell.”
Born in Aiken County in 1888, he dropped out of Graniteville
High School and went to business school. Later, in Aiken, he
became a close friend of James F. Byrnes. Brown moved to
Barnwell and became an attorney. In 1920 he was elected to the
House and later became speaker. In 1928 he was elected to the
Senate, where he served until 1972. He was chair of the Finance
Committee from 1942 to 1972.
In finance, he was a conservative. He insisted that South
Carolina pay off the remaining bonds from 1876, the state’s debt
from Reconstruction. He worked until the state got a triple-A
bond rating, the highest possible. That rating meant that the state
was in excellent financial condition. He was elected a life trustee
of Clemson in 1934 and served until his death in 1975. He was a
champion of Clemson in the legislature.
XVIII. SOLOMON BLATT: MR. SPEAKER
Who was Solomon Blatt?
State Senator Edgar A. Brown
was known as “the Bishop
from Barnwell.”
State House
What role did he play in
state government?
Solomon Blatt was speaker of
the state House of
Representatives from 1937 to
1973, with he exception of
three years.
South Caroliniana Library
What county did Blatt
represent?
Blatt, born in Blackville in 1896, was the son of
Jewish immigrants from Russia. He worked in his
father’s store and studied law at the University of
South Carolina. After serving in World War I, he
became the law partner of future governor J.
Émile Harley. Blatt was elected to the House in
1932 and served until his death in 1986. He
became speaker in 1937 and served, with the
exception of three years, until 1973.
Like Brown, Blatt was a financial conservative. He always favored the University of South
Carolina in the legislature.
Both Brown and Blatt favored the Highway
Department, but limited funds for public schools
and social services. Neither was a friend of African
Americans in state funding.
XIX. THE END OF THE WHITE PRIMARY
What was the importance of Elmore v. Rice?
In 1944 the United States Supreme Court issued a major decision for the
future of the state. In the case of Smith v. Allwright the court ruled that the white
primary in Texas was unconstitutional. Fearing that the state’s primary could be
challenged, Governor Olin D. Johnston called a special session of the legislature
in April 1944. He defended the way South Carolina had kept African Americans
350 | Chapter 27
chapter twentyseven
2/27/06
6:02 PM
Page 351
from voting since 1896: “White supremacy will be maintained in our
primaries. Let the chips fall where they may.”
The legislature repealed all of the laws that set up the Democratic
primary. Political parties became private groups. The legislature
hoped to avoid a court ruling against the white primary in the state.
But the state NAACP decided to challenge the primary in South
Carolina. The case of Elmore v. Rice was heard by federal Judge J.
Waties (WAIT-is) Waring. Waring was a native of Charleston, and his
family had lived in South Carolina for eight generations. But in racial
matters, World War II had a profound effect on Waring. In July 1947,
he ordered an end to the white primary. “Racial discrimination cannot exist in the machinery that selects the officers and lawmakers of
the United States.” Before the August primary, 35,000 blacks registered to vote.
XX. J. STROM THURMOND,
GOVERNOR AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
Why was Thurmond considered a reform candidate
for governor in 1946?
The first election for governor after World War II took place in 1946. Of
eleven candidates, the winner was Circuit Judge J. Strom Thurmond of
Edgefield. Born in 1902, he graduated from Clemson and taught school for several years. He was elected county superintendent of education and studied law
with his father. He served in the state Senate and was elected a judge in 1938.
He fought in World War II and served as governor from 1947 to 1951. He ran as
a reform candidate, urging changes in the Constitution of 1895. He attacked the
“Barnwell Ring” in his campaign speeches.
In office Thurmond urged the creation of a Probation, Parole, and Pardon
Board. It took the place of the governor’s power to pardon. That power had been
misused by some governors such as Cole Blease. The Budget and Control Board
centralized the finances of the state. It became the most powerful board in state
government. The State Development Board began to bring in new industry.
Thurmond urged more services for African American citizens. He asked for the
first state park for blacks, an industrial school for black girls, and trade schools
for black students-all segregated. When Willie Earle, accused of murder, was
taken out of the Pickens County Jail and lynched in 1947, Thurmond used his
influence to bring the lynch mob to trial. The trial in Greenville attracted international attention. The accused were acquitted, but no lynch mob had been tried
before. There was no more lynching in South Carolina.
When the national Democratic Party urged civil rights for all Americans in
1948, South Carolina Democrats split over the issue. State Senator Edgar Brown,
Sol Blatt, and U. S. Senator Olin Johnston were loyal to the national party.
Governor Thurmond was not. When the States Rights Democratic Party was
formed in Birmingham, Alabama, Thurmond was its candidate for president.
“There are not enough laws on the books of the nation,” he said, “nor can there
be enough laws, to break down segregation in the South.” The Dixiecrats won
only four states—South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana.
In 1950, Thurmond ran for the Senate seat held by Olin Johnston. He
attacked Johnston as “one kind of Democrat in South Carolina and another kind
Strom Thurmond campaigned as
a reform candidate for governor
in 1946.
U.S. Senate
What did he propose?
Cold War | 351
chapter twentyseven
2/27/06
6:02 PM
Page 352
in Washington.” Johnston reminded
the voters of Thurmond’s support for
African Americans while he was governor. It was the last of the old-time campaigns in the state before television.
The mill workers of the Piedmont rallied to Johnston once more. He won
over Thurmond by 25,000 votes.
XXI. JAMES F. BYRNES AND
THE BATTLE FOR SEGREGATION
How did Byrnes attempt to
maintain segregation?
Once the white primary was
ended, thousands of black
citizens registered to vote
for the first time.
South Caroliniana Library
When did African Americans
vote in a primary election after
the decision in Elmore v. Rice?
352 | Chapter 27
In 1951, James F. Byrnes, who had
resigned as secretary of state in 1947, was elected governor. It was a kind of
homecoming for the man who had served the nation in so many different ways.
As governor, he urged many reform measures, such as greater funding for the
State Hospital which cared for the mentally ill. But most important during his
term was the battle to maintain racial segregation.
In 1950, before Byrnes took office, a group of African American parents in
Clarendon County filed suit in the federal district court to require equal state
funding of the schools for their children. The moving spirit in the case was J. A.
Delaine, public school teacher and pastor of the Pine Grove circuit of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church. Later he lost his teaching position, and his house
was burned. The case of Briggs v. Elliott was argued in the federal district court
in Charleston by Thurgood Marshall, an attorney for the NAACP and later a
Supreme Court justice. Of the three judges who heard the case, only Judge
Waring supported an end to segregation. The NAACP then appealed the case to
the Supreme Court.
In the meantime, Governor Byrnes asked the legislature to approve a massive
effort to build African American schools that were equal to the white schools. He
blamed “the politicians in Washington” and “Negro agitators in South Carolina”
for the state’s problems. He warned that South Carolina would “abandon the
public school system” rather than desegregate. The legislature approved a 3 percent sales tax to pay for the school construction.
In 1952, Byrnes showed his anger with the national Democratic Party. He
urged South Carolinians to vote for Dwight Eisenhower, the Republican candidate for president. He asked Eisenhower to speak on the State House steps.
chapter twentyseven
2/27/06
6:02 PM
Page 353
XXII. REACTION TO THE SUPREME COURT DECISION
How did the state try to stop court-ordered integration?
The Supreme Court heard the case from Clarendon County along with four
other cases such as Brown v. Board of Education, the case from Kansas. James
Hinton, state NAACP president, spoke for many African Americans: “Negroes
will not turn back. Whites and Negroes will have public schools in South
Carolina after all of us have died and present officials are either dead or retired
from public life.” In May 1954, the Supreme Court struck down segregation in
the public schools. Governor Byrnes told the press he was “shocked.” So were
most white South Carolinians.
In September 1954, voters had a chance to express their feelings politically.
On the surface, race seemed to have little to do with the election. U. S. Senator
Burnet R. Maybank of Charleston died suddenly, after he won the primary. The
state Democratic executive committee decided to choose a candidate to take his
place in the general election. Byrnes wanted to go back to the Senate. He was not
chosen since he had backed Eisenhower in 1952. State Senator Edgar Brown was
the Democratic nominee. At once, former Governor Strom Thurmond said he
would run as a write-in candidate. Byrnes backed Thurmond and ended a long
friendship with Brown. Thurmond made “committee rule” the issue in the campaign, just as he had attacked Brown and the Barnwell Ring in 1946. In the first
write-in victory in a U. S. Senate race in history, Thurmond was elected.
At his inauguration in 1955, Governor George Bell Timmerman, Jr., pledged to
support racial segregation in South Carolina. A special legislative committee to
seek ways to keep segregation had been set up in 1951. State Senator Marion
Gressette of Calhoun County was chair. The committee asked that the legislature
repeal the law requiring children to attend school. Later the people voted to
remove from the constitution the requirement that the state have a system of public schools. Dean Chester Travelstead of the College of Education at the University
of South Carolina publicly opposed these actions. He was forced to resign as dean.
The legislature passed more segregation laws. For example, it required blood
banks to label by race blood given by whites and African Americans. The Ku Klux
Klan began to revive. White supremacy was its theme. In the small towns and rural
areas of the state, white citizens’ councils were formed to keep the races apart.
The voices of white moderates in South Carolina were few in number, but
firm. The South Carolina Council on Human Relations took the place of the
older state Interracial Cooperation Commission in 1945. The executive secretary was Alice Spearman of Columbia. Local councils held interracial meetings
wherever they could. James McBride
Dabbs of Mayesville became the
president of the Southern Regional
Council in 1957. That same year a
group of white ministers published a
series of statements by twelve persons urging progress toward better
race relations. It was entitled South
Carolinians Speak: A Moderate
Approach to Race Relations. But in
the 1950s moderates were still swimming against the tide
Many new schools for black
students were built with funds
raised by the sales tax after
1950. Robert Smalls High School
in Beaufort was one of them.
MCS Oliphant Collection
Why were so many black
schools built?
Cold War | 353
chapter twentyseven
2/27/06
6:02 PM
Page 354
EYEWITNESS TO HISTORY:
Judge Waring and the White Primary, 1947
On July 12, 1947, Federal District Judge J. Waties
Waring of Charleston issued an opinion in the case of
Elmore v. Rice. George Elmore, an African American from
Columbia, brought suit against Clay Rice and the other
members of the Richland County Democratic executive
committee. The purpose of the suit was to open the
white primary in South Carolina to voters regardless
of race. Waring’s decision was an important milestone in the modern civil rights movement in South
Carolina.
It is time for South Carolina to rejoin the union. It is time to fall in step
with the other states and to adopt the American way of conducting elections.
I am of the opinion that the present Democratic Party in South Carolina
is acting for and in behalf of the people of South Carolina; and that the primary held by it is the only practical place where one can express a choice
in selecting federal and other officials.
Racial distinctions cannot exist in the machinery that selects the officers
and lawmakers of the United States; and all citizens of this state and county are entitled to cast a free and untrammeled ballot in our elections, and
if the only material and realistic elections are clothed with
the name “primary,” they are equally entitled to vote there...
Questions for Reflection:
In these United States the time has passed for a discussion
of whether we should have universal suffrage, irrespective of
1. Why was the white primary “the
our views as to its desirability. The constitution and laws of
only practical place” to express a
the United States provide for it and forbid discrimination
choice in an election in1947?
because of race or creed. A free ballot to be freely exercised by
all the citizens is the established American way of govern2. How had the General Assembly
ment… .
?
kept blacks from voting in the
primary in 1944?
3. Compare Judge Waring’s decision to the words of the
Declaration of Independence and
the Fourteenth Amendment. Did
he agree or disagree with those
documents? In what way?
354 | Chapter 27
chapter twentyseven
2/27/06
6:02 PM
Page 355
Recalling wha
t you read
I. The Return to Peacetime
1.
2.
How did the return to peacetime affect the birth rate?
How did the G.I. Bill of Rights benefit veterans?
II. Harry Truman and the Fair Deal
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
FOR
THOUGHT
1. Why did World
War II bring so
many changes to
South Carolina?
2. How did the case of
Briggs v. Elliott help
bring changes in
the state?
Who succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt as president?
Name some accomplishments made under the Truman administration.
What kind of restrictions did the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 place on labor
unions?
What was Truman’s response to the Taft-Hartley Act? What action did
Congress take following Truman’s response?
What changes did Congress make to the organization of the federal government under the Truman administration?
What did the Twenty second Amendment do to limit the length of a president’s term in office? When was the amendment ratified?
III. Republican Gains and the Election of 1948
1. What did the Republican victory in both houses of Congress mean for
many of President Truman’s proposals?
2. Who was the Republican candidate in the election of 1948?
3. What South Carolinian was the first to run on the ticket of the newly
formed States Rights Democratic Party? What party did Henry A. Wallace
represent?
4. What happened within the Democratic Party that made the Republican
candidate seem sure of winning? Who won the presidency in 1948?
Which party gained control of Congress?
IV. The Beginning of the Cold War
1. How many nations signed the United Nations charter? When was it
signed?
2. What is the make up of the General Assembly? How often does it meet?
3. How many members make up the Security Council? Who are the five permanent members? When does the Council meet? What special privilege
does each permanent member have?
4. Which two nations became known as superpowers?
5. What agreements were made at the Yalta Conference in 1945?
6. What had happened that caused Churchill to say that an “iron curtain”
had fallen across Europe?
7. What term did Bernard Baruch use to describe the period after the war?
continued on page 356
Cold War | 355
chapter twentyseven
2/27/06
6:02 PM
Page 356
Recalling wha
t you read
V. Containment as American Policy
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Why did George F. Kennan propose the “policy of containment”?
What offer was made by the Truman Doctrine of 1947?
What was the purpose of the Marshall Plan? Who proposed it and what
was his position?
How did the Soviets respond to the Marshall Plan?
What was Truman’s response to the action taken by the Soviets?
What had happened to Germany by this time?
What was NATO? What nations created NATO?
What did the Warsaw Pact do?
In 1949, where were the Chinese Nationalists forced to move? What was
the result of that move?
VI. The Korean War
1. What two countries divided Korea at the thirty-eighth parallel after World
War II ended?
2. What kind of government was established in North Korea?
3. What newly established body came to the aid of South Korea after the
invasion by North Korea? How many countries other than the United
States responded?
4. Who was General Douglas McArthur?
5. What happened after Truman removed McArthur from command?
VII. McCarthyism: American Fear of Communism
1. What two cases alarmed Americans over the spread of Communism after
World War II?
2. Who was Joseph McCarthy? What changes did he make and who were his
targets?
3. What was the McCarran Internal Security Act?
VIII. Eisenhower and Dynamic Conservatism
1. Who was the Republican candidate in the election of 1952? Who was the
Democratic candidate?
2. What were Eisenhower’s policies called? What did he try to accomplish
with these policies?
IX. John Foster Dulles and “Brinksmanship”
1. What did President Eisenhower do to end the Korean War?
2. John Foster Dulles urged an end to the policy of containment of
Communism. What action did he favor and what was his policy called?
3. What kind of response did Dulles’ action against Communism receive
from the Soviets?
356 | Chapter 27
chapter twentyseven
2/27/06
6:02 PM
Page 357
Recalling wha
t you read
4. What two important achievements in space exploration occured during
Eisenhower’s presidency?
5. What happened to the summit conference planned by Eisenhower during
his second term in office and why did it happen?
6. In what year did Communism reach the Western Hemisphere? What happened?
X. The Civil Rights Revolution
1. What was the importance of the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas?
2. What was the significance of the action of Mrs. Rosa Parks when she
refused to give her seat on a bus to a white man?
3. Who was Martin Luther King, Jr.? What was the basis of his campaigns of
non-violent action?
XI. Little Rock
1. What happened in September 1957 when a federal court order was issued
to end segregation at the all black high school in Little Rock, Arkansas?
How did the Southern states react?
XII. South Carolina’s People
1.
Name some of the changes that took place in South Carolina following
World War II.
XIII. Changes in Agriculture
1.
How did cotton production change in South Carolina? In what areas of the
state did the greatest changes occur?
2. Describe the changes taking place in farming in South Carolina in the
1950s.
XIV. Changes in Industry
1. Describe the changes that took place in the textile industry in the mid1940s.
2. What was the most dramatic economic change of the fifties?
XV. “The Legislative State”
1. Why was South Carolina said to be a legislative state?
Describe the legislative system in the state.
2. Which house of the legislature was more powerful? How did it operate?
continued on page 358
Cold War | 357
chapter twentyseven
2/27/06
6:02 PM
Page 358
Recalling wha
t you read
XVI. The Barnwell Ring
1. Name the powerful members of the legislature from the 1940s to the
1970s who became known as the “Barnwell Ring.”
XVII. Edgar Brown, the “Bishop from Barnwell”
1. Who was Edgar Brown? What important financial accomplishment did he
achieve for South Carolina?
XVIII. Solomon Blatt: Mr. Speaker
1. Who was Solomon Blatt? On what issues did Brown and Blatt agree?
XIX. The End of the White Primary
1. Why was the Texas case of Smith v. Allwright important to South
Carolina’s future?
2. What was the significance for South Carolina of the case of Elmore v. Rice?
XX. J. Strom Thurmond, Governor and Presidential
Candidate
1. Who was Strom Thurmond? What was his position on issues important to
South Carolina in the late 1940s and 1950s?
2. Why did the South Carolina Democratic Party split in 1948? What was
Thurmond’s position on the issue that caused the party to split?
XXI. James F. Byrnes and the Battle for Segregation
1.
2.
Describe the efforts of James F. Byrnes to maintain racial segregation in
South Carolina.
Who was J.A. Delaine? With what lawsuit was he associated?
XXII. Reaction to the Supreme Court Decision
1.
Describe the reactions of South Carolinians to the May 1954 Supreme
Court decision to strike down segregation in the public schools.
2. What kind of laws were passed by the South Carolina legislature to maintain segregation?
3. Describe the action of white moderates in the state who began working to
end segregation.
358 | Chapter 27