Unit 2 Georgia's Earliest People Through Colonization

Georgia In The "New South” I Can:

Cobb, James C., and John C. Inscoe. "Georgia History: Overview." New Georgia Encyclopedia. 26 August 2015. Web. 15 December 2015.

London, Bonnie. Georgia and the American Experience. Atlanta: Clairmont, 2005. Print.

The Redemption era in Georgia marked a return to power of several antebellum and wartime leaders, most notably the group known as the "Bourbon Triumvirate," consisting of former Confederate governor Joseph E. Brown and former Confederate generals John B. Gordon and Alfred H. Colquitt. These three politicians maintained power within Georgia as governors and/or U.S. senators from 1872 until 1890, capitalizing on their positions to industrialize the state, often for their own profit. All of these leaders wanted stronger economic ties with the industrial North in order to expand Georgia’s economy. They also wanted to keep many old southern traditions including white supremacy (the belief that the white race is superior to any other race). The triumvirate's efforts were reinforced by Henry W. Grady, the editor of the Atlanta Constitution, who spearheaded a crusade to build a prosperous "New South" centered around Atlanta. Using his considerable journalistic and oratorical skills, Grady created an emotional portrait of Atlanta, which had replaced Milledgeville as the state capital in 1868, rising phoenix-like from the ashes of war to become the capital of a dynamic and progressive New South. The vision he voiced for much of the 1880s stood very much at odds with both the reality and the broad national impression of Atlanta, as well as the state at large, by the turn of the century. Despite Grady's vision, Georgia remained largely rural, with most of the state's citizens attempting to survive as farmers. The loss of the slave labor force dealt a severe blow to cotton production, which, compounded by a decline in the demand for cotton worldwide, left Georgia agriculture in terrible financial circumstances. Neglected by a government focused on industrial and business opportunities, farmers had no choice but to participate in the tenant and crop lien systems, which imposed an unfair credit system. By 1880 45 percent of Georgia's farmers, black and white, had been driven into tenancy, and by 1920 two-thirds of farmers worked on land they did not own, most often as sharecroppers.

The Decline of the Bourbon Triumvirate

Leaders such as Gordon, Colquitt, and Brown helped carry Georgia through economic reconstruction as they lowered taxes, reduced the war debts, and expanded business and industry. However, they were criticized for accomplishing little to help the poor, improve education, reform factory working conditions, improve mental hospitals, or improve the lives of convicts. As a matter of fact, they profited personally from the use of prison labor. By the end of Reconstruction, the influence of the Republican Party had almost ended completely, and Democrats took over state politics. However, not all Georgians agreed with the beliefs or practices of the Bourbon Triumvirate or the Democrats who controlled state politics. A new group calling themselves Independent Democrats was slowly gaining recognition. One of the group’s leaders was William Felton, a doctor, farmer, Methodist preacher, and public speaker. His wife Rebecca worked with him to support political causes. The two used their family-owned newspaper, The Cartersville Courant, to attack the Bourbons. They traveled the state arguing that the leaders of the Democratic Party in Georgia were ignoring the poor and the lower middle class. Just like her husband, Rebecca Latimer Felton was a tireless worker for fairness and justice and was deeply involved with many causes. She was a leader in the suffrage and temperance (anti-alcohol) movements. Long before the early 1900s, when women began to push for equal rights, Rebecca Latimer Felton was publicly active. Moreover, she had a platform from which to publish her views. In 1889, Hoke Smith, publisher of the Atlanta Journal, asked her to be a columnist. She was a popular writer, and she continued to share her ideals and influence through the newspaper for the next forty-one years. One particular issue over which the Feltons clashed with the Bourbon Triumvirate was the convict lease system.

Complete the graphic organizer below based on the information above.

The Convict Lease System I Can:

Todd, William A. "Convict Lease System." New Georgia Encyclopedia. 10 January 2014. Web. 28 December 2015.

London, Bonnie. Georgia and the American Experience. Atlanta: Clairmont, 2005. Print.

During the antebellum period, Georgia and the rest of the South relied heavily on slave labor for farming and jobs that required hard labor. But with emancipation and the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, slavery as an institution and a form of labor became illegal. After the Civil War (1861-65), landowners had a difficult time finding, and controlling, a labor force. Some Georgians saw the prisoners at the state's penitentiary in Milledgeville as the solution to their problems—a workforce that could be firmly controlled. Georgia leaders were also concerned about the costs associated with operating a penitentiary, as the prison population increased and included many more African Americans. In an effort to resolve these issues, officials during Reconstruction (1867-76) approved the leasing of prisoners to private citizens. When the convict lease system began, the prisoners were used to complete public works projects, such as rebuilding roads destroyed during the war. Under this plan, people who leased the prisoners were responsible to provide housing and food exchange for their labor, but injustices began to show in the program. From the government's point of view, the program was successful. Although it was agreed that the convicts would be treated humanely (receive medical care, rest on Sundays, housing and adequate clothing), reports to Governor Rufus Bullock indicated that leased convicts were being overworked, brutally whipped, and killed.

Within five years, convict leasing was a major source of revenue for the state. Over a span of eighteen months the hiring out of prison labor brought Georgia more than $35,000. With this success, the state legislature passed a law in 1876 that endorsed the leasing of the state's prisoners to one or more companies for at least twenty years. Three companies took on these convicts at the price of $500,000 to be paid at intervals over the twenty-year span of the lease. Two of these companies were owned by Bourbons Joseph E. Brown and John B. Gordon. Each of the companies agreed to pay the state $25,000 a year, no matter how many convicts it used. The work the convicts did ranged from clearing land and farming to mining coal and building railroads.

During this period, there were attempts to reform the system of convict labor but such efforts were never successful, in part because of the profitability of the convict lease system. In 1881, expressing intentions to improve the prisoners' quality of life, the state legislature passed a law requiring that only one person in each work camp be authorized to administer punishment. Rather than ease the difficulties of leased convicts, however, this legislation enabled the harsh treatment of prisoners by men known as "whipping bosses." Prisoners were not the only ones to suffer from the lease system. Paid laborers lost out on the jobs convicts did and as a result had to compete for a limited number of available jobs, most of which paid very low wages. This increased the large number of poor and unemployed. Convict leasing became less profitable during the first decade of the twentieth century (1900s) as a rising tide of progressivism swept across the state. Progressives, influenced by the media exposure of convict leasing's inhumane conditions, pushed through legislation in 1908 outlawing the convict lease system. This wave of anti–convict leasing was coupled with a depression in 1907, which made enlisting prisoner labor less economically feasible for companies.

Henry Grady and The New South I Can:

Grem, Darren. "Henry W. Grady (1850-1889)." New Georgia Encyclopedia. 05 November 2015. Web. 28 December 2015.

London, Bonnie. Georgia and the American Experience. Atlanta: Clairmont, 2005. Print.

Henry W. Grady, the "Spokesman of the New South," served as managing editor for the Atlanta Constitution in the 1880s. A member of the Atlanta Ring of Democratic political leaders, Grady used his office and influence to promote a New South program of northern investment, southern industrial growth, diversified farming, and white supremacy. Grady County, created in 1905, is named in his honor, as is Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.

Grady first wrote for the Rome Courier before its bankruptcy in 1871. After marrying Julia King of Athens, he shared ownership with Robert Alston and Alexander St. Clair Adams of the Atlanta Daily Herald. On March 14, 1874, Grady published an editorial in the Herald entitled "The New South," in which he encouraged industrial development as a solution to the postwar South's economic and social troubles. His aggressive writing style and promotion of railroad development in Atlanta brought him to the attention of major stockholders of the Atlanta Constitution. Grady was offered one-fourth ownership of the newspaper for the price of $20,000, along with the position of managing editor. Grady enthusiastically accepted both offers.

As managing editor Grady quickly turned the Constitution into a platform for endorsing his own political views. He wrote in support of antiliquor laws, the construction of a new library, and care for Confederate veterans. Between 1880 and 1886 the Constitution also became the primary instrument of the Atlanta Ring, a loosely connected group of urban, pro-industry Democrats. Grady became the group's leader and dominant political force, and also played a significant role in helping Bourbons Joseph E. Brown and John B. Gordon into political leadership roles in Georgia.

With the Atlanta Ring's influence in Georgia politics firmly established, Grady turned his attention toward promoting the city's economic development. Invited to speak at the 1886 meeting of the New England Society in New York City, Grady preached the promises of a New South. Though the idea was not original with Grady, his support of unity and trust between the North and South helped to spur northern investment in Atlanta industries.

Upon returning to Atlanta, Grady published in the Constitution numerous articles declaring the superiority of Atlanta for its diversified small industry and "willing" labor force. Grady angered competitors in Augusta, Macon, and Athens with these claims, but his promotional efforts brought results. Grady’s ability to sell the concept of a “New South” helped bring jobs, recognition, and investments to the recovering Georgia economy. In 1887 he successfully promoted for the establishment in Atlanta of the Georgia Institute of Technology, a state school devoted to vocational and industrial education. In 1881 Grady was one of the principle planners for Atlanta’s International Cotton Exposition designed to show off the South’s new industries. In 1881, 1887, and 1895 Atlanta hosted cotton expositions and industrial fairs that attracted millions of investment dollars and provided new jobs to the city's growing population.

Despite such achievements, Grady's New South was not universally accepted. Agrarian expert Thomas E. Watson criticized Grady for allegedly submitting Georgia to northern interests and oppressing farmers. With his New South platform, Henry W. Grady encouraged unity and trust between the North and South and helped to spur northern investment in Atlanta industries. Farmers likewise ignored Grady's advice to raise other crops alongside cotton for additional revenue and higher cotton prices. Grady also struggled to portray a nonthreatening racial climate for northerners interested in southern industrial investment but troubled by the region's oppressive racial order. In numerous Constitution editorials Grady claimed that African Americans enjoyed "fair treatment" in Georgia and throughout the South. Though such writings pleased white southern readers, few northern reformers looked past the region's record of black disenfranchisement, exploitation, and violence.

Grady's attempts to attach northern interests to the city he loved were cut short by his sudden death in Atlanta on December 23, 1889. Nevertheless, his influence as the spokesman of the New South was extensive, providing both the political framework and the rhetorical motivation for Atlanta as a flourishing symbol of the New South.

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KEY ISSUES OF THE NEW SOUTH I Can:

London, Bonnie. Georgia and the American Experience. Atlanta: Clairmont, 2005. Print.

Education in the New South Era

Georgia’s 1868 constitution had called for “free public education for all children of the state.” The state established a system of public instruction in 1870 but did not fund it until 1871. Over 49,000 students enrolled, and the state agreed to spend $175,000 a year. In 1872, Dr. Gustavus James Orr was named state school commissioner. His efforts focused on improving state funding for schools and providing equal treatment for African American students. When Orr passed away in 1887, Sandersville attorney James S. Hook became state school commissioner. Tax monies for schools increased so that by 1893, almost $700,000 was being spent on public schools. Still, teachers made little more than farm laborers. By 1895, due largely to efforts of local newspapers such as the Atlanta Constitution and the Augusta Chronicle, $100,000 a year was raised for school buildings. Most of the money came from local communities.

Education in Georgia was based around a three-month school year which enabled children to both get a public school education and work either in the factories or mills. The three-month school year was held at different times in different counties. Because of this, it was possible for teachers to teach in more than one county. In addition, this flexibility took into consideration the different work needs of the students.