LIFE OF THE PEOPLE IN A CHANGING SOCIETY

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LIFE OF THE PEOPLE IN A CHANGING SOCIETY
AS THE 20TH CENTURY APPROACHED, COTTON WAS STILL
KING. 2 OUT OF 3 GEORGIANS WERE FARMERS. THE
AVERAGE SALARY WAS 259.00 PER YEAR. GEORGIA
FARMERS WERE AMONG THE POOREST PEOPLE IN THE
NATION.
IN GEORGIAS CITIES, PEOPLE WERE ENJOYING A
HIGHER STANDARD OF LIVING, AND THE LUXURIES OF
ELECTRIC LIGHTS, INDOOR PLUMBING, STREETCARS, AND
PAVED ROADS. EVERYWHERE IN GEORGIA, PEOPLE WERE
SEARCHING FOR A BETTER WAY TO MAKE A LIVING.
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INDUSTRIALIZING GEORGIA
HENRY GRADY WAS THE LEADER OF THE NEW SOUTH
MOVEMENT. HE SAW GEORGIA AS NOTHING MORE THAN A
COLONY FOR THE NORTH, WHO TOOK GEORGIA COTTON
AND PRODUCED GOODS OUT OF IT AND THEN SHIPPED
THOSE GOODS BACK SOUTH TO BE SOLD AT A HEALTHY
PROFIT. HE OFTEN DESCRIBED GEORGIAS ECONOMY BY
TELLING THE STORY OF A FUNERAL WHERE THE ONLY
PART OF THE FUNERAL THAT GEORGIA COULD LAY CLAIM
TO WAS THE BODY AND THE HOLE IN THE GROUND!
P.236 237. HE WANTED TO SEE GEORGIA
INDUSTRIALIZED!!
HE TRAVELED ALL OVER THE NORTH URGING BUS- INESS
MEN TO INVEST THEIR MONEY IN THE SOUTH. HE URGED
NORTHERNERS THAT THE SOUTH WAS DIFFERENT NOW AND
WELCOMED THEM, AND HE PRINTED ARTICLES IN THE
ATLANTA CONSTITUTION TO ILLUSTRATE THIS FEELING.
AS A RESULT, GA. GREW IN INDUSTRY BETWEEN 1870
AND 1910 FROM 14 MILLION INVESTED TO 202 MILLION.
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TEXTILE MANUFACTURING
COTTON MILLS HAD BEEN IN GEORGIA SINCE 1829.
THEY WERE LOCATED MOSTLY ALONG THE FALL LINE
WHERE WATER POWER WAS PLENTIFUL, BUT THEY WERE
SMALL AND FEW. GEORGIANS STILL BOUGHT MOST OF
THEIR MANUFACTURED GOODS AND EVEN COTTON CLOTH
FROM OUTSIDE THE STATE.
THIS MAY HAVE BEEN A TYPICAL SCENE IN GRIFFIN,
WHICH OWES MOST OF ITS GROWTH TO COTTON
MILLS. GRIFFIN WAS A TYPICAL GEORGIA MILL TOWN
AS A RESULT OF THE NEW SOUTH MOVEMENT.
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IN 1881, ATLANTA HELD THE WORLDS FAIR AND GREAT
INTERNATIONAL COTTON EXPOSITION TO ATTRACT
INVESTORS TO THE VALUE OF INVESTING THEIR MONEY
IN GEORGIA INDUSTRY.
GOV. ALFRED E. COLQUITT WORE A SUIT FROM ONE
OF THE EXPOS DISPLAYS THAT SHOWED HOW THE
COTTON USED TO MAKE THE SUIT WAS PICKED, GINNED,
WOVEN, AND TAILORED ALL AT ONE TIME RIGHT IN
FRONT OF THE VISITORS EYES TO PROVE THE VALUE
OF ONE STOP MANUFACTURE.
THE EXPO WAS SO SUCCESSFUL, THAT IN 1887,
ATLANTA HELD THE PIEDMONT EXPOSITION, WHICH THE
PRESIDENT ATTENDED. THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS
LOCATED LATER BECAME KNOWN AS PIEDMONT PARK IN
ATLANTA.
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1895 COTTON STATES AND INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION
ATLANTA HELD ITS BIGGEST AND MOST SUCCESSFUL EXPO
IN 1895. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON SPOKE AT THE EXPO
ABOUT THE ROLE HE SAW BLACKS PLAYING IN THE NEW
SOUTH ECONOMY.
AS A RESULT OF ALL THIS EFFORT, COTTON MILLS
BECAME THE INDUSTRY LEADER IN GEORGIA BY 1900.
BEING CLOSER TO FIELDS CUT TRANSPORTATION COSTS
TREMENDOUSLY, AND TAXES WERE LOWER. STILL, THE
NUMBER ONE FACTOR THAT CAUSED NORTHERN
INDUSTRIALISTS TO INVEST IN THIS IN- DUSTRY IN
GEORGIA, WAS THE AVAILABILITY OF CHEAP LABOR.
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OTHER INDUSTRY
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AGRICULTURE
INDUSTRY GREW, BUT COTTON REMAINED KING WELL
INTO THE 20TH CENTURY. THERE WAS MORE COTTON
BEING GROWN AT THIS TIME THAN BEFORE THE CIVIL
WAR. COTTON WAS GROWN MORE THAN EVER IN THE
BLACK BELT REGION (NAMED SO FOR THE HIGH
PERCENTAGE OF BLACKS WHO LIVED IN THAT AREA.)
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GROWTH OF TOWNS AND CITIES
MOST OF THE GROWTH IN POPULATION IN GEORGIA WAS
IN ITS TOWNS AND CITIES. TENANT FARMING AND THE
EMERGENCE OF NEW INDUSTRIES WAS THE REASON
WHY. CITIES GREW UP AROUND TENANT FARMS. AS MANY
PEOPLE STARTED BUSINESSES TO SUPPLY THE FARMERS
AS DID THE FARMERS THEMSELVES.
STRIP MINING IN 19TH CENTURY GEORGIA.
ATLANTA 1908
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BUSINESSES THAT ATTRACTED PEOPLE AND THE GROWTH
OF TOWNS AND CITTIES
COTTON GIN
SAWMILLS
SCHOOLHOUSE
GENERAL STORE
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ATLANTA GATE CITY OF THE SOUTH
ATLANTA, DESTROYED BY SHERMAN DURING THE WAR,
ROSE LIKE THE MYTHICAL PHOENIX OUT OF THE ASHES
ALL THANKS TO THE RAILROAD!
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GATE CITY OF THE SOUTH
15 RAIL LINES SERVED ATLANTA MAKING IT THE
WARE- HOUSE DISTRIBUTION CENTER OF THE SOUTH.
THE CONSTANT IN AND OUT OF PEOPLE AND GOODS
BROUGHT TO ATLANTA, CAUSED THE GROWTH OF ALL
KINDS OF BUSINESSES AND POP- ULATION GROWTH.
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BLACK GEORGIANS FOUND MORE OPPORTUNITY AND STATUS
IN ATLANTA. THERE THEY COULD OWN AND OPERATE
BUSINESSES AND ENJOY A MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE LIFE.
AUBURN AVENUE IN ATLANTA BECAME A SOCIAL AND
CUL- TURAL CENTER FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS KNOWN
THROUGH- OUT THE NATION.
(FOUNDER OF THE NAACP)
W.E.B. DUBOIS
ALONZO HERNDON, WAS THE OWNER OF A PARTICULARLY
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS IN ATLANTA ON AUBURN
AVENUE. HE WAS A FORMER SLAVE FROM WALTON COUNTY.
HE START- ED OUT RUNNING BARBER SHOPS FOR ALL
WHITE CLIENTS, HE GAVE TO WORTHY CAUSES THAT
HELPED THE BLACK COMMUNITY, AND WHEN HE DIED IN
1927 HIS MAIN BUSINESS THE ATLANTA LIFE
INSURANCE COMPANY WAS WORTH 1 MIL- LION DOLLARS.
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ATLANTAS DEPARTMENT STORE
RICHS, WAS STARTED BY A HUNGARIAN IMMIGRANT IN
ATLANTA, NOW KNOWN AS RICHS DEPARTMENT STORE,
ESTABLISHED IN 1867. HE AND HIS BROTHERS CREATED
M. RICH BROS. OFCOURSE, ATLANTAS MOST WELL
KNOWN LANDMARK COMPANY IS COCA-COLA
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COCA-COLA, BORN IN ATLANTA IN 1886, WAS
ORIGINALLY SOLD AS A HEADACHE REMEDY. IT WAS
CREATED BY JOHN PEMBERTON A DRUGGIST.
YES, IT GOT ITS NAME FROM THE FACT THAT IT
CONTAINED COCAINE WHEN FIRST CREATED.
IT BECAME THE FAMOUS DRINK THAT IT IS QUITE BY
ACCIDENT. WHEN DRUGGISTS MIXED IT WITH
CARBONATED WATER TO SPEED ITS HEAD- ACHE RELIEF
QUALITIES, A LEGEND WAS BORN. PEMBERTON SOLD
THE FORMULA TO ASA G. CANDLER FOR 2,300.00 AND A
FEW TRADE ITEMS. IT WAS SOLD IN EVERY STATE IN
THE COUNTRY BY 1895.
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IN 1919, CANDLER SOLD THE COCA-COLA COMPANY TO
THE TRUST COMPANY OF GEORGIA FOR 25 MILLION
DOLLARS. THE COMPANY WAS HEADED BY ERNEST
WOODRUFF. HIS SON ROBERT W. WOODRUFF MADE
COCA-COLA A WORLD WIDE PHENOMENON BY THE START
OF WORLD WAR II.