READ 8-5.

5: Industrial development in South Carolina and the United States

After the Civil War, industry rapidly expanded throughout the United States. Spurred by
spending during the Civil War, the federal government supported the building of the
transcontinental railroad. The discovery of iron ore and coal in the west and the development
of new technologies led to growth in the steel and oil industries. Entrepreneurs began investing
in these industries and the industries grew quickly. Meat packing and grain processing plants
were built to process agricultural products from western ranchers and farmers. Immigrants
were anxious to make their fortunes in America and provided labor for expanding factories.

Image found: "The Settlement of the West." Apushcanvas

/. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 June 2014.

1. What industries do you think

developed along the railroads as they
expanded throughout the US?

South Carolina did not benefit from the economic growth experienced in the rest of the country
immediately after the war. South Carolina did not attract a large number of immigrants looking
for work. The planter elite looked down on the development of industry less noble than their
antebellum agricultural plantation society. Conservatives did little to support South Carolinas
struggling industrial development. They were more interested in reviving the old South than
developing a New South.

South Carolina did benefit from the railroad boom that spurred national industrialization during
the postwar period. Major cities grew as a result of their location on track routes that
connected them to suppliers and markers throughout the country. Columbia was a regional
railroad hub served by over 100 trains a day. Time zones and standard time was established
due to the need for accurate arrival and departure times of transcontinental trains.

Image found: "On This Day: American Time Zones

Established by Railways." On This Day: American Time
Zones Established by Railways. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 June
2014.

2. Why do you think establishing time

zones for transcontinental travel was
necessary?

The textile industry that had begun prior to the Civil War eventually became very important to
South Carolina, partly due to the railroad boom. South Carolina had a ready supply of raw
materials and changing attitudes about the development of industry led to the growth of the
textile industry in the Upcountry. The idea of an industrialized New South was bolstered by new
entrepreneurial leadership. Local investors provided most of the capital for the building of
textile mills. The textile mills were located close to cotton fields and along rivers that supplied
power to the mills as well as transportation for completed goods.
Although South Carolina did not attract a large number of foreign immigrants, there was a
ready supply of workers in the state. Poor farmers filled the role of mill workers because they
could no longer make a living from the land. Mill villages provided homes, schools, churches,
and stores in addition to jobs. Most African Americans were not considered for traditional
textile mill labor. The first mills were started in the Upstate and within 15 years there were mills
in the Midlands and the Lowcountry.

Image found: "White Oak Cotton Mills, Greensboro, N.C.

:: North Carolina Postcards." White Oak Cotton Mills,
Greensboro, N.C. :: North Carolina Postcards. N.p., n.d.
Web. 18 June 2014.

3. What impact did mill villages have

on modern housing developments?

After 1895, technological innovations created a boom in mill building. These textile mills,
modeled after New England mills, produced finished cloth on multiple spindles. By 1910, South
Carolina was the second largest textile producing state in the nation.
Life in mill villages was not ideal; conditions depended largely on the generosity of the mill
owners and the economic conditions of the times. When depression struck, workers were laid
off and they lost their homes as well as their jobs. Many children worked in the mills because
their small fingers could easily retie broken threads. Since they were children, they were more
likely to be injured in workplace accidents. Men, women, and children worked long hours for
low pay and were often looked down upon as lint heads.

Image found: "Doffers in Cherryville Mfg. Co., N.C. Plenty

of Others. Cherryville, N.C., 11/10/1909." Doffers in
Cherryville Mfg. Co., N.C. Plenty of Others. Cherryville,
N.C., 11/10/1909. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 June 2014.

4. What do you think the lives of the

children this picture was like?

Workers in South Carolina earned less than half of what mill workers in other parts of the
United States earned and women and children were paid even less than men. They worked
from six in the morning to six in the evening until Governor Tillmans law reduced working
hours to 66 per week. Workers often suffered from diseases of the lung, including tuberculosis
from breathing in cotton fibers and from the crowded conditions of the workplace and careerending accidents were always a possibility.
In other parts of the country, unions worked to improve working conditions. However, in South
Carolina, workers were unable to organize because union organizers were immediately fired
and the organized labor movement was consistently crushed by the mill owners. Low wages
and poor conditions were common throughout the United States. Even though workers outside
of South Carolina were slightly more effective at organizing unions and protesting working
conditions, the national unions were not successful in improving conditions. The United States

government, as well as political leaders in South Carolina, backed the interests of the mill
owners rather than the workers.
The production of cottonseed oil, lumber, and phosphates for fertilizers increased after
Reconstruction because southern states were able to lure northern mills to the South by
offering a source of cheap, non-union labor. Phosphate rock that was found near Charleston
and Beaufort was a major part of commercial fertilizer that was produced in the state for about
20 years after the Civil War. Phosphate mining brought wealth to the coastal area from
Charleston to Beaufort. However, phosphate mining in the Beaufort area never recovered after
the hurricane of 1893 and when rich phosphate deposits were found in Florida, South Carolina
companies went out of business.
Image found: "Joe's SC Railroads Research Page3.0." Joe's
SC Railroads Research Pages. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 June
2014.

5. How does this early advertisement

show the advantages of using
phosphates?