The Dawn of the 20th
Century
Chapter 7
Chapter Preview
Segregation
Credit
Lynching
Sharecropper
Boll Weevil
Gold Standard
Populists
Patronage
Primary
Progressive Movement
Lobbyists
People to Know
Frank Burkitt
Anselm J. McLaurin
A.H. Longino
James K. Vardaman
Leroy Percy
Theodore G. Bilbo
Post Civil War
After the Civil War, the vast majority of African Americans
became tenant farmers and sharecroppers in a system that
perpetually indebted them to white landowners.
After Reconstruction was halted, they were denied any hope of
progress or equal participation in the government, the
economy, or society.
This system led to extraordinary poverty for both white and
black alike.
This system almost ensured that Mississippi would remain one
of the poorest states in the country decade after decade.
The system also created a reputation among the other states of
the country that Mississippi was backward and hopeless.
Segregation
Segregation
After the adoption of the Constitution of 1890, the white ruling class in Ms
used its power to protect its own interests.
The state began to create laws that separated the races.
Segregation - “Separation of the races”
Legal segregation began in 1888 when a law was passed that
segregated passengers on trains.
Although there were laws passed, in Ms, laws were generally
unnecessary because of age old customs already abided by the
citizens of the state.
Hotels, restaurants and other services were separate
Store clerks helped white customers first
African Americans could not knock on the door of a white home
Lynching
Violations of the rigid caste
system (social order) often
sparked violent mob
punishment
Lynching - “Mob murder by
hanging, shooting, or burning”
Ms had more Lynchings than
any other state
Between 1889 and 1945, Ms
lynched 476 people (24 white,
14 African American females)
Coping Mechanism
African Americans did not meekly accept being disenfranchised
and forced into second class citizenship
However, the threat of violence forced them to cope with the
reality of the situation in a unique way
They developed a “Mask” to wear in the presence of white
people.
The true feelings and contempt for the system were hidden
from whites while a secret reality existed in the African
American community.
Resentment ran deep, but between 1890-1940 African
Americans had a single public demonstration against the
system.
Self Esteem
Despite segregation, African Mississippians never doubted their self
worth.
Often, they turned their attention away from segregation and focused
upon economic development and education
In response to segregation, they built their own restaurants, bars,
barbershops, beauty salons, and funeral parlors
African Americans became doctors and lawyers; serving their own people
and despite mass poverty, some became professionals and prospered.
They maintained their own churches, lodges, and private schools.
Much of life revolved around churches, just as whites did
African American churches represented a free venue where they could be
themselves.
Education
A weak economy and racism
caused Ms to neglect the
education of its children.
There had been NO public
education system in the state
prior to Reconstruction
After 1885, the Democrats
were in control and reduced
education funding to levels that
threatened even basic
teaching.
Education
African American students outnumbered white students in the
state
Irrespective of this, the state had twice as many white
teachers.
On average, white teachers were paid $130 a year while
African American teachers made $90
Few teachers had any training and 75% had only studied in
the rural schools where they taught.
Educational opportunities differed between predominantly
“white” counties vs predominantly African American Counties
The tax system was skewed so that white schools were
funded and African American schools were neglected
Agriculture
During this time period
poor whites and
freedmen turned to
sharecropping.
Sharecropping
After the Civil War, credit was tight and the economy of the
southern states was in disarray.
“Credit” is the ability to buy something now and pay for it later.
Sharecroppers were farmers who did not own the land they
farmed, the house they lived in, or often the tools they used.
They worked the land and paid rent in the form of a percentage
of the crops they grew
In 1890, over 60% of Ms farmers were sharecroppers
The life of sharecroppers and their families was very hard.
Life of a Sharecropper
Life was very hard for most sharecroppers
They lived in board shacks
Their diets were poor; most eating cornbread, salt pork, and molasses day after day.
Personal vegetable gardens were discouraged by the landowner because it took up
land that could be used for cash crops
Children attended school for six weeks a year and worked the fields the rest of the
year.
Most landowners only allowed cotton to be grown
Because cotton prices plummeted after the war most sharecroppers lost money
growing it.
Because the sharecroppers purchased what they needed from the county store on
credit, a cycle of poverty persisted year after year
The General Store
Sharecroppers bought
everything from food to clothing
to seeds and tools from a
single General Store.
Purchasing items on credit was
more expensive, had high
interest rates and all accounts
were settled at harvest time
Because most sharecroppers
were illiterate and could not do
math, the storeowner could
cheat the farmers easily
Sharecropping Laws
Sharecroppers were allowed to move to different areas or
even states looking for better conditions and higher pay
However, State Laws allowed a landowner to keep the
sharecropper working their land until all debts had been
settled.
This created an incentive for landowners to keep their
sharecroppers in perpetual debt.
Other laws were passed preventing “agents”
(headhunters) from luring tenants away
The result was a system where, as reported by the US
Department of Justice in 1907, that one-third of the larger
plantations in Ms held African American workers in near
slavery.
Delta Planters
Delta Chinese
During Reconstruction, Delta planters replaced slave labor with
“Coolie Labor” (unskilled contract labor from Asia) in an
experiment to see if Chinese laborers could replace African
American laborers.
The Chinese laborers outsmarted the landowners by completing
their contract obligations and then immediately leaving the
fields.
They used the unique circumstances of race relations in the
state to prosper by opening stores that catered to African
Americans, whom they treated with respect, while enjoying
autonomy from white racist rule.
In some circumstances they even attended white schools
Much like whites, they supported their own racial purity and
Delta Planters
In the 1900’s, Delta Planters tried to develop a new labor source by
recruiting Italian immigrant farm laborers.
Italian families worked hard and grew their own vegetables in
addition to cotton.
They were educated enough to negotiate the sale of their own crops
because they could get better prices and make more money.
They also resisted buying items at the general stores at inflated
prices and stayed away from credit.
In response, planters charged higher ginning and transportation
costs and increased prices on almost everything
The experiment failed because harsh treatment led to Italians
petitioning the government and led to investigations
Agricultural
Problems
The sharecropping system
could only work if planters could
use segregation to keep their
African American tenants and
this led to even harsher
treatment.
Topsoil erosion became a
serious problem
In 1907 the Boll Weevil invaded
Ms. It is a small beetle that
attacks the bolls where cotton
fibers are grown. This
devastated the crops for
years.Many farms turned away
The Lumber
Industry
At the turn of the century,
a giant forest of white
pine trees covered much
of the state. Many parts
of the state were still
frontier and were not
good for cotton. Settlers
supported themselves by
Give Him The Lumber
Once the railroads made their way to the state the lumber industry
followed.
The new industry offered employment and cash in return for trees.
Ms became a leading lumber supplier in the nation
In a shortsighted frenzy, lumber companies clear-cut (cut down all trees)
the entire state
The companies failed to replant the trees they had cut; taking their
profits and leaving the land barren
Only later, when yellow pines became profitable did landowners replant.
By the end of WWI the boom had ended. Some cities survived the bust
(Hattiesburg, Laurel) some did not and shrank into obscurity (D’Lo,
Electric Mills)
The Populist Revolt
The Non-Democratic State
Mississippi had never really been a Democracy:
Before the Civil War planters ran the government
During Reconstruction Republicans ran the state while
excluding former Confederates
After 1875, the African American majority was denied the
right to vote by force and fraud
During this time, a small group of insiders ran the state
and controlled the government
Some White leaders wanted reform but were stuck in an
impossible situation because they had to keep the Democratic
Party strong to keep Segregation and reform necessarily meant
dividing the party.
It’s the Economy, Stupid!
Mississippi’s small farmers suffered from falling cotton prices, high
tariffs (taxes on foreign imports), and “hard” money policies.
Republicans dominated Washington after the Civil War and instituted
policies that favored businessmen over farmers.
The high tariffs manufactured false economic conditions which
artificially raised prices on finished goods.
Farmers also had a difficult time getting credit because of the “Gold
Standard”.
The dollar was backed by gold only. Because gold was scarce,
money was scarce and credit was hard to get and interest rates were
very high.
Farmers wanted cheap credit and supported a monetary system based
on gold AND silver. Farmers revolted over the issue
Farmer’s Revolt
Frank Burkitt led the Mississippi Farmer’s Alliance, an organization
created to help small farmers.
Burkitt challenged the leading authorities in the state led by James Z.
George
In 1891, The Farmers’ Alliance endorsed Ethelbert Barksdale, editor of
a Jackson newspaper, as candidate for US Senate
Barksdale favored a sub-treasury that would extend cheap credit to
farmers and help store excess crops.
Small farmers supported Barksdale and he could have won a general
election but US Senators were appointed by the state legislature, not
popular vote.
George convinced the state Democratic Party to denounce the plan and
killed it.
The People’s Party
Burkitt, feeling betrayed by the Democrats left to form his own
party called the Mississippi People’s Party in 1891 as a voice for
small farmers
The “Populists” as they were known, demanded tariff reform, a
graduated income tax, regulation of railroads, the use of silver,
and the direct election of Senators.
Populists courted the lower classes of society and in many
states African Americans were included.
In Mississippi, Burkitt did not outwardly court African
Americans but did include education for all races in his
platform.
The Democrats accused the Populists of trying to restore
African American rights and adopted some of their platform
Party
Bosses and
Corruption
Anselm J. McLaurin
emerged as the leader of
the Democratic Party in
the late 1890’s, serving
as governor and US
Senator
Patronage
McLaurin based his career on “patronage” (appointing
people to government positions as rewards for political
support) and pardoning criminals.
With no political philosophy, his only goal appeared to be
to win elections and hold power.
The political county bosses had massive influence over
who was chosen to run for office and basically ruled as a
cabal, controlling all aspects of the government
Fraud was commonplace
Political elections became theater in the state and used to
entertain more than solve problems
Calls for Reform
The widespread political corruption led to calls for reform
and specifically for “Primary Elections”
In a primary, all of the party’s members vote for
candidates of that party to decide who will run as the
official candidate of that party
These reforms did not gain traction until the financial
scandals became publicized in 1900.
Counties began taking it upon themselves to institute
reforms and primaries began to take place
In 1902, a state primary law passed
Populist Democrats Take
Control
For the first time in Mississippi history, poor whites could control the
executive branch of the state government
In 1903, James Vardaman ran for governor with their support
Vardaman supported Barksdale and Burkitt but had remained a
Democrat.
He distrusted “Big Money” and hated the corrupt system
He complained about the treatment of small farmers
He supported government control of the railroads
Racism became the leading issue in the campaign
He did not support spending money to educate African American
children
A Progressive
Movement
Government Is the Answer
The Progressive Movement: Believed that government local, state and federal - was best equipped to solve all of
society’s ills.
Vardaman proposed laws to end the convict lease system,
restrict child labor, assist the deaf, and care for the
mentally ill but the legislature did not pass these laws.
He was successful in getting increased funding for
schools and for teachers
He created a state textbook commission, ending the
corrupt monopoly that forced students to pay inflated
prices for books
He favored breaking up the big plantations and
redistributing the land among small farmers
The Secret Caucus
When Senator McLaurin died in 1909, the legislature had to
choose someone to complete his term. Vardaman ran against
Leroy Percy of Greenville.
The legislature decided that the vote would be taken in a secret
caucus of Democrats
The voting process lasted for 6 weeks
For their votes both sides reportedly offered legislators
government jobs, money, and liquor
Percy won and Vardaman cried faul
Theodore Bilbo testified that he’d been bribed but the man he
accused was acquitted.
Bilbo was nearly expelled by the legislature
Mississippi in WWI
1914
WWI began in 1914 between the Central Powers led by Germany and
Austria-Hungary and the Triple Entente made up of France, Great Britain
and Russia
The US entered the fray in 1917
Almost 6,000 men; both white and African American enlisted
The army built two camps in the state:
Camp Shelby near Hattiesburg
West Point area Camp for the air force
Mississippi’s involvement was quite limited because the war officially
ended in 1919
Vardaman voted against entering the war and he was branded
unpatriotic which ended his political career
End Chapter 7
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