New South,New South Democracy orNew South Creed is a slogan in the history of theAmerican South first used after theAmerican Civil War. Reformers used it to call for amodernization of society and attitudes, an integration more fully with the United States as a whole, and rejection of the economy and traditions of theOld South and the slavery-basedplantation system of the prewar period. The term was coined by its leading proponent,Atlanta editorHenry W. Grady, in 1874,[1] and sought to modernize the South while maintainingwhite supremacy through Jim Crow laws and disenfranchisement.
In the mid-20th century, the meaning of the term evolved as theCivil Rights Movement challenged segregation and white dominance. The dismantling ofJim Crow laws, economic diversification, and increasing urbanization led to a more inclusive and economically competitive South. This period saw the emergence of African American political power, the growth of cities likeAtlanta,Charlotte,Nashville, andHouston, and the rise of industries beyond agriculture.
The original use of the term "New South" was an attempt to prescribe an attractive future based on a growing economy. Theindustrial revolution of the Northern U.S. was the model. The prewar South was heavily agrarian. Following theAmerican Civil War, the South was impoverished and heavilyrural; it was mainly reliant on cotton and a few other crops with low market prices. Economically, it was in great need of industrialization. With slavery abolished,African Americans were playing a different role in the New South.Henry W. Grady made this term popular in his articles and speeches as editor of theAtlanta Constitution. Richard Hathaway Edmonds of the BaltimoreManufacturers' Record was another staunch advocate of New South industrialization.The Manufacturers' Record was one of the most widely read and powerful publications among turn of the 20th-century industrialists. HistorianPaul Gaston coined the specific term "New South Creed" to describe the promises of visionaries like Grady, who said industrialization would bring prosperity to the region.[2]
The classic history was written byC. Vann Woodward:The Origins of the New South: 1877–1913, published in 1951 by Louisiana State University Press.Sheldon Hackney, a Woodward student, hails the book but explains:
Of one thing we may be certain at the outset. The durability ofOrigins of the New South is not a result of its ennobling and uplifting message. It is the story of the decay and decline of the aristocracy, the suffering and betrayal of the poor whites, and the rise and transformation of the middle class. It is not a happy story. TheRedeemers is revealed to be as venal as thecarpetbaggers. The declining aristocracy are ineffectual and money hungry, and in the last analysis, they subordinated the values of their political and social heritage in order to maintain control over the black population. The poor whites suffered from strange malignancies of racism and conspiracy-mindedness, and the rising middle class was timid and self-interested even in its reform movement. The most sympathetic characters in the whole sordid affair are simply those who are too powerless to be blamed for their actions.[3]
The New South campaign was championed by Southern elites often outside of the old planter class. Their hopes were to make a fresh "new" start, forming partnerships with Northern capitalists in order to modernize and speed up economic development of the South. From Henry Grady to Black leaderBooker T. Washington, New South advocates wanted southern economic regeneration, sectional reconciliation, racial harmony, and believed in the gospel of work.
The rise of the New South, however, involved the continued supremacy of whites over blacks, who had little or no political power onceReconstruction was over. Federal troops were withdrawn from the South as a result of theCompromise of 1877, andJim Crow laws were put in place to suppress black rights. For example, Grady stated in an 1888 speech about the New South, "The supremacy of the white race of the South must be maintained forever, and the domination of the negro race resisted at all points and at all hazards because the white race is the superior race ... [This declaration] shall run forever with the blood that feeds Anglo-Saxon hearts."[4]
The economic woes of theGreat Depression dampened much New South enthusiasm, as investment capital dried up and the rest of the nation began to view the South as an economic failure.World War II would usher in a degree of economic prosperity as efforts to industrialize in support of the War effort were employed. In the southern mountains, theTennessee Valley Authority built dams, which generated employment and electricity that affected numerous residents and manufacturers alike. Other Southern industries, such as mining, steel and ship building, flourished during World War II, and set the stage for increased industrialization, urban development, and economic prosperity in Southern ports and cities in the second half of the 20th century.
In the post-World War II era, American textiles makers and other light industries moved en masse to the South to capitalize on low wages,social conservatism, and anti-union sentiments.[5] With the industrialization of the South came economic change, migration, immigration and population growth. Light industries would move offshore, but has been replaced to a degree by auto manufacturing, tourism, and energy production, among others.
The beginnings of theCivil Rights era in the 1950s and 1960s, led to a revival of the term to describe a South that would no longer be held back byJim Crow Laws and other aspects of compulsory legalsegregation. Racist conflicts during theCivil Rights Movement gave the American South a backward image in popular culture. Again, the initial slow pace of civil rights reforms, notably in the areas of schooldesegregation andvoting rights, at first made the "New South" more of a slogan than a description of the South as it actually was. TheCivil Rights Act of 1964 and theVoting Rights Act of 1965 would bring an era of far more rapid change. During the 1960s, the black population finally began being enfranchised and represented in political offices.
For over 100 years, from before the Civil War until the mid-1960s, theDemocratic Party exercised a virtual monopoly on Southern politics, which came to be known as theSolid South. Thus elections were actually decided between Democratic factions inprimary elections, often all white. The Democratic nomination was considered to betantamount to election.[6]
The "New South" period is double-edged. After the passage of civil rights legislation, African Americans began to vote in number for the Democratic Party. Many had supportedFranklin D. Roosevelt'sNew Deal programs, along withHarry S. Truman,John F. Kennedy, andLyndon B. Johnson who had supported their causes. At the same time, in 1964, several white Southern politicians and state voters supportedRepublicanBarry Goldwater forPresident over Democratic incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson. In what later became a trend, some switched party affiliations, notablyStrom Thurmond ofSouth Carolina.Richard Nixon'sSouthern strategy in the1968 campaign is thought by many[7][8] to have vastly accelerated this process. From Nixon's time to the present, the South has often voted Republican at the presidential level.
The term "New South" has also been used to refer to political leaders in the American South who embraced progressive ideas on education and economic growth and minimized racist rhetoric, even if not promoting integration. This term was most commonly associated with thewave of Southern governors elected in the late 1960s and 1970s, includingTerry Sanford inNorth Carolina,Carl Sanders andJimmy Carter inGeorgia, andAlbert Brewer inAlabama.[9][10]
Similarly, the term "New South" has also been used to refer to areas of the South that have become more diverse and cosmopolitan over the last several decades.
The "New South" also meant to describe economic growth in the American South. Since the late 20th century, this can be seen in many ways. Thelargest company in the world by revenue isWalmart, which is located inBentonville, Arkansas. Two of the largest U.S. banks,Bank of America andWells Fargo, have a major presence inCharlotte, North Carolina.Bank of America is headquartered there, andWells Fargo has maintained much of the operation ofWachovia after acquiring it in 2008. Charlotte is also home to many other major corporations includingLowe's,Duke Energy,Family Dollar,Lendingtree andHoneywell.
Automotive manufacturing plants in U.S. have declined in cities likeDetroit,Cleveland,Buffalo, andSt. Louis, while lower wage, non-unionized work forces in the American South have attracted foreign manufacturers. Automobile manufacturersBMW,Toyota,Mercedes,Honda,Hyundai,Kia,Nissan, andVolkswagen have opened plants in states such asGeorgia,Alabama,South Carolina,Kentucky,Tennessee,Texas,Mississippi, andWest Virginia.[11] Meanwhile,General Motors factories continue to operate in Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee and Texas, and twoFord factories operate in Kentucky's largest city ofLouisville.
High-profile companies such asIBM,Intel,Verizon andMicrosoft have major corporate presence in theResearch Triangle ofNorth Carolina. Additionally, several Fortune 500 companies, includingTesla, Inc. and a number oftechnology companies, are now headquartered inAustin, Texas, giving it the nickname of "Silicon Hills".
American Airlines Group, the largest airline in the world as of 2019, is headquartered in theDallas–Fort Worth metroplex inFort Worth. Dallas is also home to many global corporations, including the largest energy company in the worldExxonMobil, the largest Telecommunication company in the worldAT&T, and the company where the microchip was first inventedTexas Instruments. The Dallas-Fort Worth metro area is also the largest metro area in the South.
Delta Air Lines, one of theworld's largest airlines, is headquartered inHartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, currently the world’s busiest by passenger traffic.[12] Atlanta is also home to many global corporations, includingThe Coca-Cola Company,UPS,CNN,[13]Norfolk Southern,NCR,Mercedes-Benz, andPorsche.
Cities of the New South are defined as cities that have seen a large boom over the last century, and cities that have become growing regional hubs.
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Notes
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)It is generally believed to be the primary force that transformed the once overwhelmingly Democratic South into a reliable GOP stronghold in presidential elections (Aistrup 1996; Black and Black 2003)
Whatever the shortcomings of the southern strategy thesis, on one score it has been exactly right: it has placed white reaction against the modern civil rights movement at the center of the conservative resurgence since the 1960s.
Bibliography
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) By a Harvard professor; focus on race relations
