In this unit, you will read about important people and events of the New South. The focus will be on the changes that occurred in Georgia between the end of the Civil War and the end of World War I. Many new businesses were developed by entrepreneurs as the South became more industrialized like the North.

 

KEY TERMS

 

Bourbon Triumvirate: A name for the three most powerful politicians of the post-Reconstruction era: John B. Gordon, Alfred H. Colquitt, and Joseph E. Brown. Two goals of the Bourbon Triumvirate were to promote the development of industry in Georgia and to maintain segregation. (SS8H7a)

 

Disenfranchisement: Being deprived of the right to vote. During the Jim Crow era, Georgia established laws such as poll taxes and literacy tests that prevented African Americans/Blacks and poorer whites from voting, leading to disenfranchisement. (SS8H7b)

 

W. E. B. Du Bois: A civil rights activist and author known for his opposition to the Atlanta Compromise, which called for African Americans/Blacks to accommodate whites in return for basic educational and economic opportunity. (SS8H7c)

 

Henry Grady: A journalist from Georgia. He was instrumental in the integration of Southern states back into the Union during the Reconstruction era. He is credited with introducing the term “the New South.” (SS8H7a)

 

Alonzo Herndon: Born into slavery, Alonzo Herndon was emancipated at the end of the Civil War. He went on to own many businesses, including barber shops in Atlanta and the Atlanta Life Insurance Company. (SS8H7c)

 

International Cotton Exposition: An event held in Atlanta in 1881 to showcase Atlanta as an industrial center and to promote investment in the state. (SS8H7a)

 

Jim Crow laws: Starting in the 1890s, Jim Crow laws, named after a fictional African American/Black minstrel character, took away most of the citizenship rights of African Americans/Blacks. Under these laws, most African Americans/Blacks could not vote or serve on juries and were denied many of the other rights of U.S. citizens. (SS8H7b)

 

Leo Frank: A Jewish man from Atlanta, Georgia, who was convicted of murdering a 13-year-old girl. He was believed to be innocent, and his conviction led to protests and even riots. Some attributed his conviction to prejudice because he was Jewish. After his murder by a lynch mob, the state of Georgia pardoned him. (SS8H7d)

 

Plessy v. Ferguson: A U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the “separate but equal” doctrine. The Court ruled that African Americans/Blacks had political rights under the 14th and 15th Amendments but that social rights were not required. According to the Supreme Court, as long as facilities were equal for both races, they could be separate. (SS8H7b)

 

Populists: Members of the Populist Party, or “People’s Party,” which formed in 1890 primarily to support resentful farmers and the working class against the interests of railroads, bankers, and corporations. The party gained substantial support among Georgia farmers in the late 1800s and early 1900s. (SS8H7a)

 

Booker T. Washington: An author and civil rights activist who supported the Atlanta Compromise, which called for African Americans/Blacks to accommodate whites in return for basic educational and economic opportunity. (SS8H7c)

 

Tom Watson: A writer from Georgia and a leader of the Populist Party of the United States, which sought greater protections for agricultural workers. (SS8H7a)

 

1906 Atlanta riot: In September of 1906, white mobs killed dozens of African Americans/Blacks and caused property damage in an Atlanta riot. The spark for the riot was a series of local newspaper reports (later proved to be untrue) of alleged assaults by African American/Black men on white women. Other causes of the riot included the large number of unemployed whites, who viewed African Americans/Blacks as threats to jobs and the established social order. (SS8H7b)