CHAPTERS 15 & 16
BOURBON TRIUMVIRATE; HENRY GRADY; TOM WATSON & THE
POPULISTS; REBECCA LATIMER FELTON; 1906 ATLANTA RACE RIOT; LEO FRANK; PLESSY V. FERGUSON; JIM CROW LAWS;
DISFRANCHISEMENT; BOOKER T. WASHINGTON; W.E.B. DUBOIS;
ALONZO HERNDON
The New South
Redeemers Gain Control
Redeemers –
Democrats in GA who worked to undo the changes imposed during the Reconstruction.
This meant restoring Democrats to public office and making clear that control of society should be in the hands of the white race (white supremacy)
1877 State Constitution
Most restrictive constitution in GA history because…
1. It made it impossible for the state to borrow money.
2. Tax money could be spent only for purposes spelled out in the constitution.
3. Terms of office for Governor and state Senators were limited from 4 years to 2 years.
Bourbon Triumvirate
Southern Democrats who believed the South’s prosperity depended on industry not cotton.
Did not want any other social or political change.
The three served as Senators and Governor from 1872-1890
The Bourbon Triumvirate
The Four Goals
for the
South
Make the state more self sufficient; a push toward industry.
Attracting investors from the north to build factories and mills in GA.
Farmers needed to diversify their crops; less cotton, more foods and grains.
Grains were bought from other states, so less money leaving the state.
Alfred Colquitt
The Bourbon Triumvirate
John B. Gordon Joseph E. Brown
Independent Movement 1870's
Farmer’s Alliance 1890’s
A campaign to help the farmer. Dr. Felton was a 3 time US Congressman.
Mrs. Felton gave speeches, wrote articles and sent letters to the newspapers about the injustices that farmers and other “little people” were suffering.
Wanted better schools & roads and changes in state tax laws to ease the burden of the farmers.
Fought for laws requiring railroads to post their rates in the railroad stations and charge the same rater per mile for all shippers.
Four Political Parties of the New South
Tom Watson & PopulistsWas against the New
South and represented the farmers in GA. Did not want Northern
investors to get rich at the hands of GA farmers.
The Populist Party was a national party that supported the farmers.
Progressive Democrats
•Wanted to keep GA a one party state. •Opposed any law that would promote social equality of the races. •Legislating moral behavior, improving education, and helping those in need.
Democrats in PowerGeorgia became a one-party state after
Reconstruction was over.
Carpetbaggers, scalawags, and black leaders lost their power as white conservatives regained their former positions of power.
Democrats regained control of state
government. Georgia has had a Democratic governor since 1871, with the exception of the current Governor, Sonny Perdue.
Taking away the
right to vote.
Disfranchisement
Jim Crow Laws (poll tax & grandfather clause) contributed to
the disfranchisement of African American men
in the south.
Voting Restrictions
“Good character & citizen clause”According to the county registrar, those who were of “good
character” and understood the “duties of citizenship”; usually applied this rule to illiterate whites but not blacks.
Property ExemptionsIf you owned at least 40 acres of land or had other taxable
property worth at least $500; few blacks owned this much land or taxable property.
Grandfather ClauseCould exempt if you were the descendent of a Union or
Confederate veteran; mostly applied to white Georgians whose grandfathers were Civil War veterans.
Jim Crow LawsLaws that restricted
behavior of African Americans and kept them separated from whites socially and politically.
Jim Crow was the creation of a minstrel show performer. He is not a real person.
Jim Crow LawsPurpose – To limit
interaction between the races.
Examples - GA’s first Jim Crow Law required railroads to provide separate passenger cars for blacks and whites.
Plessy v Ferguson1896 Supreme Court case.
“Separate but Equal” It is legal to have separate facilities for blacks and
whites, as long as they are equal.
Facilities were never equal.
Child Labor Prison Reform
Children often worked 10 – 15 hour days in factories.
There were NO laws governing the treatment of children.
Poor treatment of prisoners.
Chain gangs made famous throughout the country due to GA’s chain gangs.
Other Social Issues of the New South
Prohibition Women’s Suffrage
The 18th Amendment outlawed alcoholic beverages for the whole country in 1917.
Suffrage means the right to vote. Women were not given the right to vote until the 19th amendment to the US Constitution in 1919.
Other Social Issues of the New South
The County Unit System
What is it? A special formula for
counting votes in the primary elections of the Democratic Party.
It was using in Governor & Senator Races.
8 largest counties got 6 votes each
30 next largest counties got 4 votes each
121 counties got 2 votes each.
1940Fulton – 392,886
residents(6 votes)
Quitman, Echols, Towns, Long, Glascock, & Dawson – 23,966 residents (12 votes)
The supreme court ruled that it violated the 14th Amendment in 1962.
Defenders Opponents
This system protected the rural counties from being controlled by the large cities – Such as Atlanta.
The system violated the voting rights of Georgians who lived in urban counties. Many African Americans lived in the urban city counties to work in factories.
The County Unit System
Henry GradyOne of the most
important New South figures.
Was the editor of the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Traveled to the North to urge them to invest in the South.
Industrialize Georgia
Henry Grady – Why rely on other states to buy products when our state has the same natural resources. Ex. Marble Headstone & Pine Coffin
1860 – 15,000 workers & less than $20 million dollars in goods produced
1910 – 105,000 workers & Approx. $210 million dollars in goods produced
Great Cotton Exhibitions – An attempt to get northern investors to either finance or own Cotton Mills in GA.
Tenant Farming Sharecropping
Landowner furnished the land
Tenant furnished the supplies and seed
Owner received either cash or a portion of the crop.
The tenant received the rest of the profit or crop
The landowner furnished the seed, house, land, plows, mules, etc.
The tenant furnished the labor
The land owner received a share of the crop.
The tenant received a place to live and enough crops to survive on and make a small earnings.
Farming in GA
Auburn Avenue
Social & Commercial center in Atlanta for African Americans
Known throughout the United states as a center for African Americans
Rich’s Department Store
Opened in 1867Morris RichAn immigrant from
Hungary.Goes into business
with his brothers.Spreads throughout
the Southeast as a major department store
Coca-Cola Company
Developed in 1866 by John Pemberton to help get rid of headaches.
By 1895 it was sold in every state within the United States
It was sold and Robert W. Woodruff became president in 1923.
Before WWII started Coke was already an international product
Booker T. Washington
A black educatorTold black Americans
in a speech to accept racial segregation and forget about social equality for the time being.
He encouraged blacks to learn a trade and their privileges would come from that given trade
W.E.B Dubois
Born in 1868 in Mass.First African
American student to earn a Dr. of Philosophy at Harvard University
Organized the Niagara movement to do away with Jim Crow Laws
Founder of the NAACP organization
Rebecca Latimer FeltonFirst Female
SenatorSenator Tom Watson
Died and Gov. Hardwick appointed Felton to take his seat temporarily.
She only served two days.
1906 Atlanta RiotTension between
whites and blacks over voting and competition for jobs.
Unsubstantiated reports of violence by black men towards white women.
3 days of violence and dozens of people were killed.
1906 Atlanta Riot
Leo Frank CaseJewish factory owner
is tried for the murder of a 14 year old girl.
Convicted although evidence was circumstantial
Convicted to hang, but sentence was reduced to life.
Mob lynched him
Booker T. WashingtonEstablished Tuskegee
Institute Stressed technical
training and agriculture
Told blacks to accept social segregation, learn a skill, eventually equality would come.
W.E.B. DuboisFirst African
American to earn a PHD from Harvard.
Niagara movement- 1st national effort to end Jim Crow laws.
Co-founded the NAACP, which worked for racial equality.
Alonzo HerndonFormer slave who
worked as a barber and then started Atlanta Life Insurance Company.
Company was worth over 1 million dollars at the time of his death.
