The New South

Bourbon TriumvirateBourbon Triumvirate

Redemption EraRedemption Era : period after Reconstruction and before the “New South”

• Redeem the state from the hardships of Reconstruction (i.e.…The Republican Party)

• The Bourbon The Bourbon TriumvirateTriumvirate: Joseph Brown, Alfred Colquitt, and John Gordon

• Democrats who wanted stronger economic ties with northern industry but maintain “old South traditions” (White Supremacy)

Joseph BrownJoseph Brown

• Yale Law School• Opened law office in

Canton, GA• State senator• Judge• N. Georgia farmer• 1857: elected governor• State’s rights activist• Possible connections to

KKK

AnnalsAnnals: recordsGovernor Joseph Brown

Alfred ColquittAlfred Colquitt

• Princeton Law School• Fought in Mexican War• State senator• Maj. Gen. in Confederate

Army• 1876: elected Governor• State debt reduced• New state constitution

(1877)

Political AllyPolitical Ally: one who shares a common cause Alfred ColquittAlfred Colquitt

John B. GordonJohn B. Gordon

• Lt. Gen. in Confederate Army

• Newspaper man• Manager of coal mine• Rumored Head of

Georgia’s KKK during Reconstruction

• 1886: elected Governor• Brought new industry to

Georgia.

Lt. Gen. John B. GordonLt. Gen. John B. Gordon

The Bourbon TriumvirateThe Bourbon Triumvirate

SuccessesSuccesses

• State taxes lowered

• State war debts reduced

• Business and Business and industry expandedindustry expanded

FailuresFailures

• Did not improve lives of poor

• Education suffered

• Did not reform prisonsDid not reform prisons

• Poor working conditions in factories

Convict Lease System• Prisoners were leased (rented)leased (rented) to people who provided them with housing and food

in exchange for labor (Slavery?)(Slavery?)– Repairing/building Railroads– Farming– Mining

• Rules ignored, such as…health care, work on Sundays, adequate clothing and housing.

• Paid workers were not given work because of cheap Convict Lease System…Paid workers were not given work because of cheap Convict Lease System…Bourbon Triumvirate took advantage of this!Bourbon Triumvirate took advantage of this!

Chain gang in western North CarolinaChain gang in western North Carolina

The 1906 Atlanta Riot• Occurred Sept. 22nd- Sept. 24,

1906

The Negro population grew from 9000 in 1880 to 35, 000 in 1910.

Growth caused increased competition for jobs and deepened class divisions.

Articles printed in local newspapers evoked racial tension to riot level.

2 day rioting resulted in an unofficial death toll of 25-40 blacks and 2 whites

The barbershop owned by Alonzo Herndon was damaged.

Who is Alonzo Herndon?

• Was a Georgia native who became the wealthiest Black man in the city of Atlanta at the time of his death in1927.

• His businesses include a chain of barbershops and the most successful

• black-owned insurance co. in the nation.

• He owned 100 houses on Auburn Avenue.

• He was active an active member of the NAACP and founded the National Negro Business League.

Alonzo Herndon

Alonzo Herndon’s house

Rebecca and William FeltonRebecca and William Felton

• Roots of Roots of Populist Movement• Led a group of independent

Democrats against the Triumvirate

• From Cartersville

William FeltonWilliam Felton: U.S. Congressman; served in GA General Assembly– Worked to improve education,

prison reform, and paved the way for controls and limits on alcohol.

Rebecca Latimer FeltonRebecca Latimer Felton

PPiiccttuurree ooff 11993300 PPrroohhiibbiittiioonn

Picture of 1930 ProhibitionPicture of 1930 Prohibition

Rebecca FeltonRebecca Felton

• A leader towards suffragesuffrage-votes, particularly -votes, particularly for women.for women.

• Pushed for temperancetemperance-anti-alcohol-anti-alcohol• Popular writer for the “Atlanta Journal”

• Used paper as a forumforum (Way to communicate ideas…TV, (Way to communicate ideas…TV, paper, radio, speech…)paper, radio, speech…)

• Began Georgia Training School for Girls in Atlanta

• With Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage

• First female U.S. SenatorFirst female U.S. Senator in nation’s history• Replaced another Senator due to death (24 hours

““The New South”The New South”

• New South: A phrase used to describe southern progress in the late 1800s…IndustryIndustry!

– Henry W. GradyHenry W. Grady: first to use the phrase…editor for the Atlanta Daily Journal

Henry W. GradyHenry W. Grady

The international Cotton Exposition

The International Cotton Exposition

• In 1881, as part of his New South Program, Henry Grady promoted Georgia's first International Cotton Exposition

• The exposition attracted 200,000 paid visitors during its two and a half month run and showed the country that Georgia was ready for more industry

T. Washington

Jim crow laws

• Jim Crow - term used for practices and rules that discriminate along color lines.

• System of segregation• Jim Crow was the stage name

of a white minstrel who performed in Black face makeup in the late 1800s.

• His act caricatured blacks. • The name Jim Crow came to

stand for all the segregation laws that were instituted in the South after the Civil War.

Plessy v. Ferguson

• The Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court

• Court case heard in the Supreme Court

• Case originated in Lousiana in 1896

• Upheld segregation and deemed legal and long as facilities were “separate but equal”

• Ruling in this case justified racial segregation for 50 years

The Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court

Populist

• Populism was a political party know as the People Party.

• The populist wanted the government to do more to regulate the economy so that farmers could earn more money for their crops.

• Populist encouraged farmers to work together for their cause through alliances

• Most of these farmers were white, but were some African-American Populists

Populist

The Populist PartyThe Populist PartyThe Farmers’ Alliance joined with labor The Farmers’ Alliance joined with labor

organizations (unions) to form this organizations (unions) to form this new political partynew political party..

Platform:Platform:1. 8hour workday2. Gov’t ownership of railroad,

telephone, and telegraph3. Graduated federal income tax4. Direct election of U.S. Senators5. Restriction of immigration6. Use of Australian Ballot:

Ballot printed by gov’t, distributed at voting places, and collected in secret sealed boxes.

1892 Election1892 Election: Democrat Grover Cleveland won…Populist candidate: James B. Weaver

James B. WeaverJames B. Weaver

White and black farmersWhite and black farmers

Tom WatsonTom Watson

• Georgia’s best known Georgia’s best known Populist.Populist.

• 1882: elected to Georgia General Assembly

• 1890: elected to Congress with backing of Farmers’ Alliance– Introduced the Rural Free Rural Free

Delivery Bill (RFD):Delivery Bill (RFD): required the postmaster general to find a way to deliver mail to rural homes free of charge

• Warren CountyWarren County: 1st in GA

• 1896: ran as vice-president under William Jennings Bryant (Lost)

Tom Watson, Tom Watson, PopulistPopulist

Conti…

Conti…

• Tom Watson become the most powerful voice for populism in GA and of the most powerful in the nation.

• Watson was frustrated that the Democrats weren’t doing enough to help the farmers

• He left the party and become populist

• He found it hard to defend himself against white racism