New South

Henry Grady, editor of the Atlanta Constitution in the 1880s, was a leading cause in the creation and accept of a new post-war ideology of the "New South"; focusing on education for the masses, a practical education that taught everyone, white or black, poor or rich, how to work with your hands and not shun manual labor. This was a step forward from the "Old South", an economy based on slavery and agriculture, where the idea of manual labor was frowned upon and seen as lower work. At the time, the idea, healthy and strong, was accepted and grew, but soon afterwards it became a facade for white elitists to hide behind as they further pursued now not only black oppression, but poor white oppression was well, though not as severely. Eventually, it even led to the Jim Crow laws, which held until the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. [1]

The "New South" was not all bad, however, as it led to the creation of many technical colleges throughout the southeast as a form of practical education for the masses. Most notable was the creation of a technical college in Atlanta, the industrial center of the South at the time. This college being Georgia Institute of Technology. [2][3]

I personally believe that this New South ideology has been a major proponent in the formation of the South as we know it today, being an underlying cause of not only known historical moments, such as the Jim Crow laws and the Civil Rights movement, but also a basis for the formation of certain stereotypes, such as Southerns being more mechanical inclined and advocates of manual labor. Ideas, thoughts or disagreements?

For link [2], send me an email and I can bring the rest of the article to class on Tuesday if you'd like to read the rest.