History is written by the victors -Winston Churchill

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Reflection Questions

Why was the "New South" more a slogan than a reality? What specific facts should be looked at to support both points of view?
I feel that the New South was a reality when referring to the economy and the agricultural standpoints but politically it remained the same with the addition of some new leaders. The south turned its back on the one crop society that it was before and began to have multiple crops, one of the biggest being tobacco. Although they began turning to some secondary crops cotton remained a big part of the Souths agrarian life which proved to be wise when the textile industry began to boom. The rail industry also expanded which allowed the North and South to profit off of each others productivity. There was also the introduction of hydroelectricity which added to their industrialization process. When it came to the political aspect of the "new South" there was the introduction of the Redeemers who protected the south from being dominated by the north as well as moving the south on from the one crop society to a multi crop one. Republicans, independents, and Populists accused the Redeemers of being reactive instead of proactive, saying they learned nothing from the war. These "bourbons" were mostly democrats. They wanted to reassert dominance over blacks to reverse the achievement of the civil war. Black schools quickly became popular in the South but had to be supported by mostly private benefactors. Lastly blacks became representatives in congress however they mostly represented areas with a high density of blacks. With these points considered I believe that the New South was a reality. 

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