HIS1005 QUIZ 3
Demographic Changes: WWII
4 million left southern farms during war 700,000 pour into industrial heartland. In pursuit of wartime jobs. March on Washington Movement opens jobs to African Americans 1940-1960: 5 million settled in northern cities.
*WWII also produces what major demographic change in African American life?
Mass migration from countryside to city.
*What does this mean for the South?
Agricultural system of the old planter class is undermined.
What does government intervention look like?
Electrification project by TVA in seven states. Consequences? Feeds industrialization Diversification of crops AAA pays sharecroppers not to farm WPA employs farmers: pays higher wages and provides other avenues of employment
What did racism look like in the South
Everyday life was segregated African Americans lived in terrible conditions of poverty Worked as sharecroppers and lives tied to cultivation of cotton Locked into system of indebtedness Terrorized by KKK Victims of lynching
Social, Economic and Political Consequences
Go from being rural people to urban people No longer isolated and atomized, less vulnerable to terror of the KKK Can fight from a position of strength Enjoy greater power in numbers Become part of the proletariat, more confidence and have economic power Gain greater political power in the North where African Americans can vote
4. According to Bloom's Chapter 3, how did demographic changes brought on during WWII affect black Americans, the Democratic Party, and southern society? How did these fuel the civil rights movement?
In 1949 Blacks had potential power such as voting power, power to determine the outcome of the presidential power, militant, and better organized than they ever had been. The simple movement in population is part of what created this new black political power. 90 percent of the black population outside the South was concentrated in urban areas, shifting the number of electoral votes to 278 in the Northern sixteen states they migrated to. This changed how presidential candidates spoke about their goals, because now they had to keep in mind that black Americans were in hold of many electoral votes. The Democratic Party split because of conflicting opinions on segregation. President Truman (who addressed the issue of equality of treatment and opportunity with the disregard of cultural differences, color, and race) won the election, proving it impossible for a Democrat to win Northern votes without appealing to the concerns of Blacks. It also illustrated how distant the South's racist culture and political structure was from the North. The need for a Civil Rights Movement was made more and more apparent with the increase in black militancy (politically aggressive) and the new mindset of political leaders. Black demands were legitimized by the campaign, giving them the confidence to take the fight to the South. In 1936, Northern blacks who could vote moved over into the Democratic Party en masse for the first time. That year was also the first time black delegates were seated at the Democratic Party convention.
1. How exactly does Charles Payne explain the phenomenon of lynching in the South?
Lynching is only one form of racial terror and statistics on it virtually always underestimate the reality. The reasons behind lynching African Americans over crimes that they did not commit or crimes that were insignificant demonstrated that they were so far outside the human family that the most inhuman act could be brought upon them. After lynching the bodies would be mutilated, paraded around town, shot or burnt, roasted over slow fires or body parts would be severed and kept as souvenirs. Lynching and slayings of African Americans were taken casually and lightly between the 1930s and 1950s.
2. What major arguments, about the transformation of the southern economy, do the Payne and Bloom readings share in common? In other words what do they both agree on as regards the transformation of the southern economy and the consequences of such change for southern life?
Payne: The 1940s saw the development of the first commercially viable cotton harvester, a machine capable of doing the work of forty to more pickers. During the Depression the bottom fell out of the cotton market. Across the South, the average price of a pound of cotton, which was 35 cents in 1919, dropped to 6 cents in1931. Suddenly most African Americans did not have an economic function in the South. There was an increased out migration of Blacks from the South to the North or West. Bloom: Gross farm income from cotton between 1929 and 1930 dropped 70 percent. Blacks were more dependent on the cotton economy than whites, and thus they were hurt more by these trends. There was a sharp decline in the economic centrality of the plantation and it reflected in the increasing social and economic strength of the black population.
9. How exactly did the new strategy employed at Montgomery differ from the strategy of the NAACP?
Previous challenges to segregation, like those led by the NAACP, relied heavily on lawyers and lobbyists, with the Blacks playing a very passive role. MLK's actions in Montgomery sparked the motivation for Blacks to actively participate as a community. Mass meetings, the sight of other's marching down the street, and the formation of car pools created a sense of strength and unity among Blacks that allowed them to build up the courage to participate. They knew that if they were threatened, they would have a massive support group in their fellow Blacks. This new found uniformity and attitude conflicted with the passive NAACP, who were used to working behind the scenes of lawsuits and little Black participation. Direct action where blacks were willing to break laws, such as the bus boycotts in Florida during 1956, was discouraged by the NAACP.
South transformed by the 1960s
Sharp decline in the centrality of the plantation Manufacturing was a major source of income in every southern state. Cotton production replaced by construction, wholesale and retail trade and government employment. 58% of southerners were now urban dwellers. The rise of the Civil Rights Movement was tied up in this economic transformation and its political consequences.
What was the major government concern about the South during the Depression?
South was dragging rest of the economy down Overstock of cotton : 16 million bales in excess in a world that consumed only 23 million bales Solution: integrate southern economy into its more profitable, efficient, and industrialized Northern counterpart
6. According to Bloom's Chapter 3, what impact did the Cold War have on the Civil Rights Movement?
The Cold War had hastened the process of disintegration of the vast colonial empires. This movement toward self-determination meant that a great deal of the American competition with the Soviet Union focused on gaining the allegiance of the former colonies. In these circumstances, American treatment of Blacks in their own county could not help but be weighted by these emerging countries and create serious difficulties for the United States. Clark Clifford, Truman's advisor recalled the president's feeling that failure to assure equal rights to blacks was one of the nation's weakest points in the struggle with Communism. Truman states to the Black Press in 1947 "More and more we are learning how closely our democracy is under observation." Blacks could not help but be aware of the changing circumstances and their growing political importance. The NAACP went from a membership of 50,000 before the war to 350,000 after. In January of 1946, over a hundred black veterans marched to Birmingham courthouse and demanded their right to register to vote, although they were turned away Truman responded by establishing the President's Committee on Civil Rights.
3. According to Bloom's Chapter 2, how exactly did the Depression, the New Deal, and government action during WWII transform the character of the Southern economy and impel the civil rights movement?
The Great Depression: Depression Misery - The Need for Structural Change The Great Depression of the 1930s was a turning point. The rate of decline in agriculture in the South was twice the national rate, which was almost entirely due to cotton. As a result farmers in Mississippi were losing their land at about double the national rate. Banking suffered severely, and failures became common. Insurance companies and industries drained their capital out of the South. Two economists estimated that insurance companies alone withdrew at least $50 million between 1929 and 1934. Blacks were more dependent on the cotton economy than whites, therefore causing them to move in to the North in order to make a living. When Blacks moved to the North or to Southern cities, they were not such easy targets for terror or intimidation as they were in the country, and when they encountered it they were prone to fight back. They created organizations for self-help and change, they began to get educated and they developed purchasing power. The New Deal: The Changes Begin The New Deal measures introduced and institutionalized centralization. These measures included federal regulation or control over banking, welfare, unemployment compensation, social security, agriculture, the stock exchange, the communication industry, and labor relation. The new program both helped to remove cotton from its central place in the Southern economy and prepared the basis for industry. Cotton land cultivation declined, as a result, by 20 million acres between 1929 and 1939, leaving a total of only 23 million acres in production. As a result, the region began to diversify its agriculture. Newly created government sources of credit began to undercut the local power of the merchants and bankers. The New Deal thus began to change the character of the Southern economy: it began to prepare the way for industry. It helped to shift the emphasis in Southern agriculture away from cotton toward a more diverse mix. The government's aid in the forms of loans made a real difference, they could not prevent portions of this money from reaching the Black community, and Blacks were able to receive loans. Blacks were also able to vote in the AAA elections to decide on acreage limitations. Government Action during World War II: The huge amounts of money the government spent, as well as the mobilization of the whole society for war made possible rapid changes that otherwise would have taken decades. For example, between 1930 and 1940 total federal government expenditures nearly tripled. It was not long until new establishments were brought to the South to get new sources of labor and to decentralize for security purposes. The government ran an intensive program training workers for industry. That was an important contribution: one of the features that had kept companies out of the South was the lack of skilled labor. 46 percent of the allocations of military construction were channeled to the South. In the Southeast the government wanted increased production of milk, oats, eggs, peanuts, cattle, and soybeans which were useful guidelines to helping the South break out of the one-crop agricultural pattern. The war produced trained, skilled labor that was high in productivity as well as a skilled and experienced managerial group. The prosperity that developed fed on itself. Rising incomes and concentration in cities generated markets for consumer goods industries. The new industrialization relied heavily upon the most enduring feature of the Southern economy: its cheap labor force, antiunion climate. During the war, there were job openings for Blacks in the city, it put guns in their hands and they were trained to use them, the war exposed Blacks to education and to the world. By the war's end Blacks were becoming more self-assertive.
8. According to Bloom's Chapter 5, what was the importance of the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a crucial turning point in the black struggle of the fifties - the crucial turning point where Blacks scored an unequivocal victory over whites. A strategy, a new leadership, and a new consciousness among Blacks were the product of this episode. The success in Montgomery, Little Rock and elsewhere helped to create a new élan and leadership.
7. According to Bloom's Chapter 5, why did Martin Luther King believe that the emergence of a "New Negro" was important to the building of a Civil Rights Movement?
The new times had created the New Negro and as a result of their experiences became new people. King railed against black degradation and he encouraged human dignity. King played an important role in motivating Blacks and enabling them to find their inner strength to stand up and fight. King noted increased self-respect and respect for others. The old tendency to deprecate other Blacks to feel that they couldn't and wouldn't stand together was disappearing. In Montgomery the New Negro has taken a big step forward. The emergence of a New Negro encouraged Blacks to take action and come together to suppress white domination which was important to the building of a Civil Rights Movement. Actions such as bus boycotts which spread throughout different cities, boycotting the Mardi gras parade in New Orleans and boycotting twenty three businesses that Blacks should avoid in Orangeburg.
5. According to Bloom's Chapter 3, why was the election of 1948 so important for African Americans?
The political division in 1948 gave blacks a potential importance in the election that their numbers alone could still not account for. Blacks were in a better position to demand that the piper be paid. Estimates of voting strength in 1948 saw Blacks holding the balance of power in sixteen states with a total of 278 electoral votes, compared to 127 electoral votes controlled by the South. This fact alone was sufficient to suggest an important shift in the American political structure.
