BECOMING NEW SOUTHERNERS...1865–70 AMENDMENTS AND RECONSTRUCTION Five days before Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses Grant at Appomattox Court House, President Lincoln and his

BECOMING NEW SOUTHERNERS

Main Street Station, Richmond

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BECOMING NEW SOUTHERNERS

After the Civil War,Virginians eagerly embraced economic development and technological change while resisting political and social change. Indeed, as Virginia moved forward in many ways and living standards improved, society was rigidly segregated by race.

STANDARDS OF LEARNING

K.2, 1.1, 1.4, 1.7, 2.3, 2.6, 3.7, 3.10, VS.8,VS.9, US1.9, US1.10, US11.1, US11.2, US11.3,VUS.8,VUS.9

KEY POINTS

• After the Civil War, the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments abolished slavery, guaranteed citizenship, and granted black (males) the right to vote.

• The Reconstruction period ended in Virginia in 1870. Black gains in political power continued until about 1885.

• After Confederate veterans gained control of Virginia politics, black gains were gradually reversed, and blacks were effectively barred from voting by 1902. Poor whites were also dis­franchised, and a closed political system came into operation that lasted until the 1960s.

• As Virginia went forward in many ways and living standards improved for most people, soci­ety was still rigidly segregated by race. In response, African Americans established their own parallel institutions—churches, clubs, businesses, and schools.

• Dramatic economic shifts meant that many Virginians lost their economic independence and became salaried employees of other people.

• Men continued their domination of politics and business, but women carved out spheres of action in social welfare, philanthropy, and the arts.

BECOMING NEW SOUTHERNERS • 87

THE RECONSTRUCTION ERA: REMAKING AMERICA Every country that participates in a war has to rebuild. In the case of the United States, Reconstruction refers to the time of rebuild­ing and reunification during and after the Civil War. There were three major problems when the Civil War ended in 1865:

• Millions of slaves had been freed by the war. Although they were glad that the cruel institution of slavery was over, the basic concerns of these newly freed peo ple were about housing, clothing, and food. How would they earn a living?

• The economy of the South had collapsed. There was no money. Banks had closed, and stores were empty. Railroads, bridges, plantations, and crops had been destroyed.How would the South rebuild?

• Because the Confederate states had been defeated in the Civil War, there was no longer a functioning government in the South. How would this war-torn area be brought back into the United States government?

Reconstruction was the national government’s plan for solving these problems. Not everyone in the government agreed on how to rebuild the defeated southern states. President Andrew Johnson and Congress argued constantly.The president called for speedy reinstatement of south­ern states with few penalties. Congress, on the other hand, was dominated by Radical Republicans, who wanted the rebellious South to meet strict congressional regulations. In 1867, the Republicans took over Congress and control of the reconstruction process. Congress estab­lished military rule in parts of the South to ensure that the states obeyed the conditions of the congressional Reconstruction plan.The ultimate goal was readmission of all the southern states, but this would only be achieved after the states adopted the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amend­ments. Reconstruction lasted ten years, officially ending in 1877. In Virginia, Reconstruction ended with a compromise whereby blacks gained the right to vote but former white Confederates were not disfranchised. Black gains continued until about 1885. These gains were gradually reversed when Confederate veterans gained control of Virginia politics and when the Supreme Court dealt a heavy blow to civil rights by declaring that “separate but equal” public facilities were legal (Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896).The black vote was effectively lost in the Virginia constitution of 1902, and the established practice of segregation by law, or Jim Crow, was well under way. Poor whites were also disfranchised, and a closed political system came into operation that lasted until the 1960s.

Above: “The First Vote” was printed in the November 16, 1867, issue of Harper’s Weekly.

88 • BECOMING NEW SOUTHERNERS

1865–70 AMENDMENTS AND RECONSTRUCTION Five days before Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses Grant at Appomattox Court House, President Lincoln and his son Tad, came up the James River to view Richmond. Union troops had restored order to the wartorn and burned city. Lincoln was greeted by large numbers of recent­ly freed slaves. Lincoln wanted to reunite the country and begin the reconstruction of the south. He also needed to find a way to guarantee the freedom recently won by former slaves. After Lincoln’s death, the Congress passed (and states ratified) the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments to protect African Americans and to ensure that all men received equal treatment.

TThhiirrtteeeenntthh AAmmeennddmmeenntt:: Ended slavery (1865):“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

FFoouurrtteeeenntthh AAmmeennddmmeenntt:: Civil rights for ex-slaves (1868):“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immu­nities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal pro­tection of the laws.”

FFiifftteeeenntthh AAmmeennddmmeenntt:: Suffrage for African Americans (1870): “The right of the citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

“The 15th Amendment, Celebrated May 19th 1870,” by Thomas Kelly after James C. Beard

BECOMING NEW SOUTHERNERS • 89

URBANIZATION Although there was little heavy industry in Virginia, except for shipbuilding in Newport News, towns and cities grew rapidly during the New South. Small-scale manufacturing prevailed: tobac­co in Richmond, Petersburg, and Lynchburg; textiles in Danville; furniture in Martinsville; and chemicals in Hopewell and Covington. Because these industries required a large concentrated labor forces, many local job opportunities were created.

As people moved from the countryside to Virginia cities seeking economic opportunities, urban areas became congested and services strained. In 1888, the electric streetcar was introduced in Richmond, replacing the horse-drawn streetcars called omnibuses.This was the first commercial electric streetcar or trolley system in the world.This change in transportation allowed more peo­ple to move quickly and easily to their destinations. New neighborhoods developed along street­car lines, and residential housing areas became increasingly segregated. In 1906, Jim Crow laws were passed that required blacks to sit only in the back of streetcars. Blacks in Richmond, Norfolk, Newport News, Lynchburg, and Danville protested unsuccessfully against the new reg­ulations on streetcars and other public facilities.

This streetcar operated in the city of Richmond. A similar one is on display in the Story of Virginia exhibit. When you visit the VHS, you will be able to climb aboard this streetcar just as people did in the late 1800s.

Critical Thinking

• Why did people in the rural areas of the New South move to the city? • In what ways did the streetcar change the way people lived? Compare the streetcar

to previous modes of transportation. • Compare the boycott of 1904 with Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus boycott in

1956.

90 • BECOMING NEW SOUTHERNERS

FARMING During the New South,Virginia’s economy became more diversified in agriculture, industry, and com­merce. In 1900, 85 percent of Virginians lived in rural areas, and most lived on farms. Farmers suf­fered from economic downturns in 1873, 1893, the 1920s, and the 1930s. They were at the mercy of high railroad freight rates, fluctuating commodity prices, and periodic droughts. Fewer than 10 per­cent of Virginia farmers were black; some were landowners, but most were sharecroppers. In the late 1930s, black farmers produced 30 percent of Virginia’s tobacco and corn, 50 percent of its cot­ton, and 60 percent of its peanuts.

TOBACCO Tobacco farming continued to be important to Virginia. In 1860, Richmond produced 56 percent of the nation’s tobacco products; Petersburg and Lynchburg supplied most of the remainder. After 1870,Virginia’s share declined, but the actual volume of manufac­turing increased as the demand for tobacco products soared. At first, modest quantities of twist chewing tobacco and snuff were produced. Production increased with the popularity of smoking tobacco for pipes. A new product called “cigarettes” became the most popular item in the tobacco industry. Between 1870 and 1900, cigarette use by Americans increased from 14 million to 200 million and continued to grow for decades.

Harvesting hay in the Shenadoah Valley

The picture above represents some of the uses of the advertising of tobacco products. The cigar store figure (above right) usually stood outside a tobacco shop and indicated tobacco products were for sale. Locate this figure in the exhibit. What is the cigar figure’s skirt made of? What other types of tobac­co ads can you locate? Compare these to today’s advertising.

BECOMING NEW SOUTHERNERS • 91

WOMEN OF THE NEW SOUTH During the decades after the Civil War and until 1920, men continued their complete monopoly of politics and near-monopoly of business. Women carved out a sphere of influence in social work and the arts. They were seen as the protectors of the weak and downtrodden in society and fought for health and education reforms. Many women com­bined an interest in the arts with concerns for social justice and women’s suffrage.

Maggie Lena Walker (1867–1934) was a driving force in Richmond’s black community through her leadership of the Independent Order of St. Luke. In 1903, she found­ed the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank and became the first female bank president in the United States.

Mary Cooke (Branch) Munford (1865–1938) fought unsuccessfully for the establishment of a coordinate college for women at the University of Virginia. Although women were admitted to Virginia’s graduate programs in 1920, they could not attend as undergraduates until 1970.

Activities & Questions

This photograph shows Virginia leaders working for their political rights, which were finally gained in 1920.

Janie Porter Barrett (1865–1948) founded the Locust Street Social Settlement for troubled girls in Hampton in 1890—the first such home for African Americans in the United States. In 1908 Barrett became president of the Virginia State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs and was instrumental in the establishment of the Virginia

Industrial School for Colored Girls in Hanover County.

Lila Meade Valentine (1865–1921), who worked diligently to secure for women the right to vote, was president of the Equal Suffrage League in Richmond. She was from a prominent Richmond family, helped create public kindergartens, and served as a catalyst for the first Instructive Visiting Nurse Association.

• Discuss the lives and accomplishments of important Virginia women from 1870 to 1920. How did their actions influence the lives of women in that era and later?

• Discuss the women’s suffrage movement. Emphasize how the right to vote represents social equality.

• Students should research influential Virginia women and use creative writing skills to write speeches honoring these women. They may want to design a monument for their project and use the speech to promote their candidate.

• Compare the struggle to gain the right to vote for women and minorities in America with other countries. Create comparative charts.

92 • BECOMING NEW SOUTHERNERS

ECONOMIC CHANGE Large-scale industrialization reached Virginia during the New South period of the late 1800s. Although the commonwealth remained largely agricultural, many Virginians for the first time became employees in textile, flour, and lumber mills, tobacco factories, and coal mines.Although much of the profit from these industries went to northerners, Virginians nonetheless actively sought the economic benefits of outside investment. At the same time, traditional folkways and handmade goods coexisted with machine-made products.

Early washing machine

In the Museum

Changing Technology

Ask students to locate examples of changes in technology. What machines would complete jobs in a shorter time? Find examples of new inventions that would change the lives of women in the home. How and why could electricity make a vast difference between old and new methods of work? What did people do with their extra time?

BECOMING NEW SOUTHERNERS • 93

RAILROADS Railroads were central to the business expansion in Virginia in the late 1800s expanding the market for Virginia’s agricultur­al produce, manufactures, and natural resources. Small towns such as Gladstone and Big Stone Gap sprang up along railroad lines.The hamlet of Big Lick transformed into Roanoke (pop­ulation 400 in 1881; 25,000 in 1892). Roanoke became the headquarters of the Norfolk & Western Railway, which con­nected the newly discovered coalfields of southwest Vir-ginia to the east coast. As a result, the cities of Norfolk and Newport News became two of the world’s largest coal ports.

The penetration of virgin areas by railroads facilitated the use and abuse of natural resources through strip mining, pollution, and excessive timber cutting. Overall, however, railroads fueled economic growth and raised living standards.They also boosted tourism. Cheap railroad excur­sions brought distant wonders such as Natural Bridge and Luray Caverns within reach of many Virginians for the first time.

Left: The discovery of high-grade coalfields in southwestern Virginia in 1873 spurred both railroad develop­ment and the Old Dominion’s econo­my during the New South era.

Right: This train was operated by the Virginia Iron, Coal, and Coke (V.I.C.&C.) Company.

Activities

Railroads

Discuss a hypothetical situation in which the class is located in a town that has just received notice that a railroad will be built there.Assign various roles to the students: store and shop owners, hotel manager-owner, farmers, and town mayor. How will each person or group be affected? What will happen to the farmers’ land? How will the new railroad benefit the town? What negative influences could occur? In what ways will the lives of the people be changed? With science classes, research how the construction of railroads, highways, and mining can harm the environment. In what ways can the environment be protected? Conclude this discussion by making a diagram of the town before and after the railroad.

94 • BECOMING NEW SOUTHERNERS

MINING The 1873 discovery of high-grade coalfields in southwest Virginia coupled with the coming of the railroad caused many changes to occur in the commonwealth. Jobs were created in the least industrialized sections of Virginia, while the ports of Norfolk and Newport News were actively engaged in exporting coal to industries in northern states. Coal mining diversified the local pop­ulation by attracting workers from other areas. Before the government set safety regulations, mining was very dangerous work. In the late 1800s and into the 1900s, coal fueled the world’s ships, locomotives, homes, and industries. In the twentieth century, mining became one of the few occupations in Virginia to be heavily unionized.

Sulphur Mine, Orange County, Virginia (Papers of Hawfield Farm [#2198], Special Collections, University of Virginia Library)

In the Museum

Mining

Find and identify objects and photographs relating to mining. How were the miners able to work underground? What was the purpose of the canary cage? Why was this such a dangerous occupa­tion?

BECOMING NEW SOUTHERNERS • 95

FROM THE COLLECTIONS

This drug store, owned by James H. Grant, was located at 626 E. Broad Street in Richmond. In 1912, when this photograph was taken, drug stores were very different from today’s pharmacies.They were gathering places for all ages as well as places where medicines and medical supplies were sold.

96 • BECOMING NEW SOUTHERNERS