Chapter 17
A New South: Economic Progress and Social
Tradition, 1877-1900
Chapter Summary
Chapter 17 examines the post-Reconstruction South with a focus on determining how new the New South was.
Topics considered in this chapter include the limited industrial and urban growth in the South after the Civil War,
the Southern Populist movement, women in the New South, and post-Reconstruction race relations in the South.
The Newness of the New South
The “newness” of the New South was to be found primarily in its economic shift toward industrialization and
urbanization rather than its social relations. Urban and rural white leaders had used the banner of white supremacy to
constrict African-American social and economic roles; the Solid South, a white Democratic voting bloc emerged.
Industry from textiles to steel dotted the Southern landscape, young men and women migrated to cities, and railroads
connected the growing urban centers. Economically, the South remained behind the booming North; a weak
agricultural economy, high birthrate, and low wages were some of the undermining factors.
The Southern Agrarian Revolt
More than even before the Civil War, cotton dominated Southern agriculture; the price of cotton was low, and the
prices of fertilizer, tools, and necessities rose. Curtailing production to raise prices was not an option; the creditbased economy of the South was dependent upon cotton. Black and white sharecroppers and tenant farmers fought
back by organizing, scoring limited successes; it took higher cotton prices and returning prosperity in the late 1890s
to bring relief to farmers.
Women in the New South
White women in the South were cast in the roles of paragons of virtue and purity who needed men to defend them.
With these limitations, middle-class women entered the public arena slowly. Women’s involvement in church
organizations, temperance, and as protectors of Southern history allowed them involvement without challenging the
class and racial inequalities of the New South, while women’s club activities addressed their self-improvement and
allowed them to help other women.
Settling the Race Issue
The generation of black people who had come of age by the 1890s demanded full participation; white Southerners
raised on the myth of the Lost Cause resented the changed status of black people. Economic and political violence
worsened the tensions, and violence, including lynchings, accelerated. Segregation and disfranchisement laws were
passed; the U.S. Supreme Court condoned separate accommodations in the case Plessy v. Ferguson. The majority of
white Americans, North and South, ascribed to the notion of black inferiority; no national debate resulted in
response to the new restrictions. African Americans responded by creating their own community life within these
new confines. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois differed on the approaches black people should take to
accommodate and improve themselves.
Chapter Outline
I.
The Newness of the New South.
A.
An Industrial and Urban South
1.
Birmingham and the iron and steel industry
2.
The Southern textile industry
3.
The Southern tobacco industry
4.
The Coca-Cola industry
5.
Southern railroad construction
B.
The Limits of Industrial and Urban Growth
C.
Farms to Cities: Impact on Southerners
II.
The Southern Agrarian Revolt
A.
Cotton and Credit
B.
Southern Farmers Organize, 1877-1892
1.
The Grange
2.
The Agricultural Wheel
3.
The Southern Farmers’ Alliance
C.
Southern Populists
1.
The emergence of the Populist Party
2.
The election of 1892
III.
Women in the New South
A.
Church Work and Preserving Memories
1.
The home mission movement
2.
The Women’s Christian Temperance Union
3.
Rebecca Felton and the conservatism of female Southern reform
4.
Confederate commemorative organizations
B.
Women’s Clubs
IV.
Settling the Race Issue
A.
The Fluidity of Southern Race Relations, 1877-1890
B.
The White Backlash
C.
Lynch Law
D.
Segregation by Law
1.
Plessy v. Ferguson
2.
Jim Crow laws
3.
Deskilling
E.
Disfranchisement
F.
A National Consensus on Race
G.
Response of the Black Community
1.
Black relocation
2.
Booker T. Washington and the Atlanta Compromise
3.
W.E.B. DuBois
V.
Conclusion
Chapter 17
A New South: Economic Progress and Social Tradition, 1877–1900
Multiple Choice
Section 1: The Newness of the South
1.
The era of the New South
Page Ref.: 439
2.
Industrialism in the New South
Page Ref.: 439
3.
The term Solid South refers to
Page Ref.: 439
4.
Important emerging industries in the New South included all of the following EXCEPT
Page Ref.: 443
5.
What modern-day commodity became successful in the South by the early 1900s?
Page Ref.: 440
6.
In the late 1800s, this state was the dominant tobacco producer.
Page Ref.: 440
7.
Industrialism in the New South
Page Ref.: 441-442
8.
Which statement about women in the New South is NOT true?
Page Ref.: 439-440
9.
Economic conditions that hindered the South included all of the following EXCEPT
Page Ref.: 442-443
10.
Which of the following industries of the South avoided the problems that plagued other Southern enterprises?
Page Ref.: 443
11.
“Made in the South” became synonymous with
Page Ref.: 443
12.
With limited access to major sources of capital, the South’s textile industry depending on
Page Ref.: 443
13.
All of the following are true about the textile industry in the South EXCEPT
Page Ref.: 443
14.
Traditional southerners felt that urban development in the South was
Page Ref.: 445-447
Section 2: Southern Agrarian Revolt
15.
Of the following, which is NOT a true statement about southern farmers and their fight to improve their circumstances
from the 1870s to the 1890s?
Page Ref.: 446-447
16.
By the 1890s, how many farmers in the South were tenants or sharecroppers?
Page Ref.: 446
17.
Redeemer Democrats represented the interests of
Page Ref.: 447
18.
In fear of losing popular support, Redeemer Democrats
Page Ref.: 447
19.
The leaders of the Grange
Page Ref.: 447
20.
A major difference between the Agricultural Wheel and the Grange was
Page Ref.: 447
21.
The powerful Southern Farmers’ Alliance had its origins in
Page Ref.: 447
22.
Which description is the best portrayal of the Southern Farmers’ Alliance?
Page Ref.: 447-448
23.
The Holiness movement and the Church of God were similar in the way they
Page Ref.: 448
24.
The Colored Farmers’ Alliance staged a strike in their effort to
Page Ref.: 448
25.
Which statement best describes the subtreasury plan?
Page Ref.: 448
26.
The Populist Party supported all of the following policies EXCEPT
Page Ref.: 449
27.
In the effort to break an alliance between black and white Populists, southern Democrats
Page Ref.: 449
Identification
28–31. Directions- Fill in the letter of the name with its correct description.
A) Charles Macune
B) John Marshall Harlan
C) William A. Dunning
D) J.C. Napier
32–35. Directions- Fill in the letter of the name with its correct description.
A) Booker T. Washington
B) John B. Rayner
C) Tom Watson
D) W.E.B. Dubois
36–40. Directions- Fill in the letter of the name with its correct description.
A) Rebecca Felton
B) Lily Hammond
C) Laura Haygood
D) Ida B. Wells
E) Lugenia Burns Hope
Section 3: Women in the New South
45.
A supporter of temperance believed that
Page Ref.: 450
46.
All of the members of the following organizations were female activists EXCEPT the
Page Ref.: 450-451
47.
Most southern women’s clubs supported all of the following strategies EXCEPT
Page Ref.: 450-451
Section 4: Settling the Race Issue
48.
When T. McCants Stewart, a black Northerner, traveled to the South in 1885, he was
Page Ref.: 452
49.
During the 1880s and 1890s, many young, white Southerners
Page Ref.: 452
50.
The killings of the owners of the People’s Grocery in 1892 stemmed from the fact that
Page Ref.: 453
51.
Which statement about lynchings in the South in the 1890s is true?
Page Ref.: 453
52.
In the Plessy v. Ferguson case, the Supreme Court ruled all of the following EXCEPT
Page Ref.: 454-455
53.
The decision in the Plessy v. Ferguson case
Page Ref.: 454-455
54.
Jim Crow laws
Page Ref.: 455
55.
Grandfather clauses and poll taxes were used to
Page Ref.: 458
56.
Prior to disfranchisement, blacks’ participation in politics of the South was
Page Ref.: 455
57.
D.W. Griffith’s successful film, Birth of a Nation, promoted an image of
Page Ref.: 456
58.
Booker T. Washington emphasized
Page Ref.: 459
59.
In the Atlanta Compromise, Washington urged whites to provide education for blacks, and
Page Ref.: 459
60.
In the book, The Souls of Black Folk,
Page Ref.: 461
Chronology
61.
Which event happened last?
a. The Tuskegee Institute is opened
b. The Supreme Court issues its decision in Plessy v. Ferguson
c. Mississippi uses literacy tests to restrict black suffrage
d. The election of Rutherford B. Hayes ends Reconstruction
62.
Which headline would have appeared in 1906?
a. “Bloody Racer Riot Turns Atlanta into Cauldron of Violence”
b. “Populists Run Candidates for the First Time in Local Elections”
c. “Farmers’ Alliance Plans Large Boycott of Jute Manufacturers”
d. “Dubois is First Negro to Earn Degree at Harvard”
63.
What is the correct order of events?
a. Farmers’ Alliance goes national, Atlanta Compromise address, Plessy v. Ferguson
b. Plessy v. Ferguson, Farmers’ Alliance goes national, Atlanta Compromise address
c. Farmers’ Alliance goes national, Plessy v. Ferguson, Atlanta Compromise address
d. Atlanta Compromise address, Farmers’ Alliance goes national, Plessy v. Ferguson
64.
Which is the only event that happened in the twentieth century?
a. The United Daughters of the Confederacy is formed
b. The Populist Party endorses the Democratic presidential candidate
c. Charles Macune expresses the grievances of farmers in Texas
d. D. W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation draws huge crowds
65.
At which date would many southerners have expressed the most romanticized vision of the defeated Confederacy?
a. 1858
b.
c.
d.
1866
1872
1890
Short Essays
66.
What were some major examples of the growth of southern industry in the last quarter-century of the 1800s?
67.
What grievances and programs were expressed by the Southern Farmers’ Alliance?
68.
In what ways did conservative governments of the South take away the suffrage rights of black men?
69.
What aspects of southern farming personified the large gap of wealth between large landowners and common farmers in
the South?
70.
What was the Populist Party’s original stance on race within their movement?
Extended Essays
71.
In what ways was the activism of female reformers in the South both progressive and reactionary?
72.
Compare and contrast the views of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois regarding strategies that would achieve
social progress for African-Americans.
73.
Address the following statement: “In the period 1876–1900, the South made economic progress, but experienced social
polarization as well.”
74.
What factors accounted for the quick appeal, and then the sudden fall of the Populist Party in the South?
75.
Describe the nature of the opposing forces of social reform and white supremacy in the South during the period 1880–1900.