Political, Social, and Economic Changes in Georgia

Introduction

The years of 1877-1918 saw drastic changes for not only the state of Georgia, but the United States as a whole. The country began to piece itself back together in the post Reconstruction years and rebuild itself politically and economically. Socially, racial tensions still ran high across the country as the push for civil rights reform began thanks to the work of early activists. A new generation of new leaders focused on creating a “New South” that needed to diversify its economic structure in order to prosper. They began to focus on the expansion of industries and rely less on the cash crops such as cotton.

Module Lessons Preview

In this module, we will study the following topics:

People and Events; Impact and Change in Georgia after Reconstruction: Georgia’s economy was devastated after the Civil War. In the late 1800s thanks to several key citizens the state and the economy began to recover. The state held the International Cotton Exposition to highlight the growth of the cotton industry and attract new thriving businesses to the state. Even with the successes Georgia faced adversity such as growing racial tensions, the 1906 Atlanta Riot, and the Leo Frank Case. Overall the road out of Reconstruction was long and filled with obstacles as Georgia faced the 20^th century.

Social Justice Based on Race Continues in the South: From 1865 to 1877 the 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th amendments were passed to reign in the season of equal rights. At this time the Democrats and numerous white Supremacists gained control of southern state governments. The Georgia Assembly passed Jim Crow Laws in 1889 legalizing separate, but “equal” facilities for blacks in whites. This ranged from hotels, transportation, schools, restrooms, waiting rooms, and even water fountains. Even though African Americans had gained federal rights in the post Reconstruction years, the states were taking away civil liberties through a number of ways.

Early Civil Rights Activists: With the turmoil facing Georgia at the turn of the 20^th century, the state saw national civil rights activists become more outspoken and increasingly gained state and national attention. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois created national attention to the atrocities facing the African American population in the South. Even with the hardships of Jim Crow laws many African Americans saw success in their lives Men like Alonzo Herndon who became the wealthiest African American with his Atlanta Insurance Company became models of success for the African American community. The South began to see resistance to the white supremacy.

World War One in Georgia: World War I began as a European war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. Due to entangled alliances, all of Europe was quickly pulled into the escalating conflict. The United States stayed out of the war until 1917. Georgia played a significant role in World War I. The state housed more training camps than any other state in the United States. Men were being shipped into Georgia to prepare to fight in Europe.

Key Terms

County Unit System - instituted in 1917, gave more power to rural, less populated counties than to urban ones.
Jim Crow Laws - named after a fictional black ministerial character, took away most of the citizenship rights of African-Americans. Under these laws most blacks could not vote or serve on juries, and were denied many of the other rights of US citizens.
Disenfranchisement - Loss of voting rights for blacks based on Jim Crow laws such as:

Poll Tax - taxes on voting,

White primary - blacks couldn't vote in primary elections,

Literacy tests - have to read & write to vote, and

Grandfather clause - if your grandfather fought in the Civil War they could vote without a test or tax.

Populists - a US political party formed in 1891 that advocated the interests of labor and farmer.

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