Richard Arrington 10:10-11:00 The Old South use slavery as its main workforce .

The slave owners use the fear of violence to control the slaves. After the war, slavery was abolish and South could no longer use slavery as its workforce. The South wanted to create a new image that was known as the the New South. They wanted to make the South better but still used the principles of the Old South. The business owners had to pay the workers for their services. The people in power were controlling, greedy and did not care about the safety and well being of their workers. The South stilled viewed the the colored as inferior to the whites. Racism affected the decisions in job placement during this time period. Labor codes were established in the South that was under federal control. Slaveholders had to signed contracts with ex-slaves and pay them wages. The employers had to provide food, shelter, and medical care. The slaveholders could not whipped the slaves unless they refused to work. The landowners did not like the codes because it was not their idea of slavery. African Americans felt like they were not free because the did not own land.1 The South control its workforce with debt instead of violence. Former slaves still work the land they were enslave on. They planted and tilled the land rent free in exchange for their crops. They bought all supplies and seed from the local stores. This process was known as sharecropping. The sharecroppers debt was added to the next year if they had a bad planting season. The sharecroppers was bound to work the fields becuause they was in debt.2 Agriculture was still the main industry of the South. The abolition of slavery brought the interest of industry back the South. Textile mills was a booming industry in the South as well as the manufacturing of iron and lumber. The owners textile mills owned the schools, houses and stores in the towns. By having ownership of the town, the mill owners controlled the people mentally, culturally and politically.3 Greed and power was a driving force for the industrialist in the New South. They use cheap labor and worked their employees long hours. Business owners of the railroads and oil industry made deals with each other to drive their competition out of business and they would have a monopoly. In doing this owners charge what they wanted and made huge profits.4 The mill owners use child labor in the mills because they could work them for very little pay. In the 1800's a quarter of a million children ages 10-14 worked in the mills. The workers was paid 12 cent a day in company script so they had to shopped at the company store. The goods in the store was overpriced and exceeded income. The mill owners greed kept the workers in debt.5
1 James Roark and Michael Johnson, et al. The American Promise: A History of the United States, Volume II: From 1865 (New York: Bedford's/St. Martin's 2010),387. 2 Lecture, Martha Jane Brazy, USA, February 9, 2011 3 Lecture, Martha Jane Brazy, USA, February 9,2011 4 Roarks and Johnson et al., 441 5 Lecture, Martha Jane Brazy, USA, February 9, 2011

Richard Arrington 10:10-11:00 Daniel AugustusTompkins stated , Some employers were greedy, and took advantage of the system of handling the labor in manufacturing, to oppress labor and disregard the ordinary motives of humanity, to make more money. It was necessary to make law relating to employment of labor, both for the benefit of labor itself and for the better class of manufacturers. The mill owners wanted to exploit and control its workers pay and job conditions.6 The employers were not concerned about the work conditions of their employees. Workers in the factory and mills worked long hours and worked in unsatisfactory conditions. The workers were under paid and lived in poverty. The whites were still viewed as the supreme beings. The blacks were segregated from the whites in the workforce. Tompkins said, Cotton mill labor is practically all white labor. Negroes are sometimes used for draymen, firemen and other such purpose where there is little or no contact with the white organization. It would seem impossible to work a force of mixed white and black labor where white women and negro men would be brought in daily relations as co-workers. In laundries negro women work very well with and under more or less direction of white women. There is no instance, however, where a mixed organization of whites and blacks of both sexes have worked together successfully.7 The jobs that the blacks and immigrants did were dangerous. Many of the workers lost their lives due to unsafe work conditions. In 1889 the records of the Interstate Commerce Commission showed that 22,000 railroad workers were killed or injured.8 Even though technology improve working conditions some, mine workers still were subject to danger in the mines. In the 1870's 1 out of every 30 miners were hurt and I out of 80 killed.9 In conclusion the the working class people wanted better pay and better working conditions and the blacks wanted equality. The problem with this is the people who owned the factories, mills, and railroads also influenced the law makers. They did not believed in equality for all human beings. The employers wanted to control their workers and make money by using cheap labor. The South look different on the surface, but underneath; the South was the same.

Work Cited
Roark, James and Johnson, Michael et al. The American Promise: A History of the United States, Volume II: From 1865 New York: Beford's/St. Martin's, 2010 Lecture, Martha Jane Brazy, USA, February 9, 2011 Tompkins, Daniel Augustus Cotton Mill, Commercial Features Charlotte, NC: Daniel Tompkins, 1899 Zinn, Howard A People's History of the United States New York: Harper Collins, 2003
6 7 8 9 Daniel Augustus Tompkins, Cotton Mill, Commercial Features (Charlotte, NC: Daniel Tompkins, 1899),110. Tompkins, 109 Howard Zinn., A People's History of the United States (New York: Harper Collins, 2003),256 Roark and Johnson et al., 423