1950's Business and the Economy | "The South Bets on Industry"

Magazine article

By: George M. MacNabb

Date: January 1957

Source: MacNabb, George M. "The South Bets on Industry." American Mercury 84, no. 396, January 1957, 14–19.

Introduction

After the Civil War (1861–1865), when many southerners wished to return to their predominantly rural way of life, others decided to promote industrial and commercial growth such as that in the North. Accordingly, there emerged after the Civil War the so-called New South movement, which stressed economic development while retaining some older facets of traditional southern society, in particular those involving racial issues.

The South has always been potentially attractive to outside investors. The region contains abundant raw materials, comparatively low labor costs, and business-friendly state and local governments, along with an absence of troublesome labor unions. Despite these...