J. D. B. De Bow's Promotion of a Modern Economy in the Old South
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 8-2008 The First New South: J. D. B. De Bow’s Promotion of a Modern Economy in the Old South John Franklin Kvach University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Kvach, John Franklin, "The First New South: J. D. B. De Bow’s Promotion of a Modern Economy in the Old South. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2008. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/460 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by John Franklin Kvach entitled "The First New South: J. D. B. De Bow’s Promotion of a Modern Economy in the Old South." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in History. Robert J. Norrell, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Stephen V. Ash, Daniel Feller, Bethany Dumas Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by John Franklin Kvach entitled “The First New South: J. D. B. De Bow’s Promotion of a Modern Economy in the Old South.” I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in History. Robert J. Norrell, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Stephen V. Ash Daniel Feller Bethany Dumas Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges, Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official student records) The First New South: J. D. B. De Bow’s Promotion of a Modern Economy in the Old South A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville John Franklin Kvach August 2008 Acknowledgments At age eight I told my grandfather that I would someday become a history professor. With support and patience from my advisor, Robert J. Norrell, and mentoring from Stephen V. Ash, I fulfilled that promise. Their graduate seminars sparked my interest in the nineteenth-century American South and helped guide me to my dissertation topic. I hope that I have embodied many of their personal and professional traits and will someday influence my students as much as they have influenced me. I would also like to express my gratitude to the other members of my dissertation committee, Dr. Daniel Feller and Dr. Bethany Dumas. Their constructive comments were helpful and insightful. I have made many friends at the University of Tennessee. Their willingness to read drafts of my dissertation, commiserate about graduate school, play golf, and just enjoy life made it much easier for me to finish my work. In particular, I would like to thank Aaron Crawford, Fashion Bowers, Travis Hardy, and Will Bolt. I hope that I can repay the kindness and support that they have shown me. I would also like to thank Larry Madaras for his support. Finally, I would like to thank my family. I have been lucky enough to have great parents, Jim and Kathy, who have supported me along the way. My father reminded me that getting a Ph.D. is a marathon not a sprint, and I have often used his words to motivate myself for the past five years. There has never been a day in my life that I did not know that I was loved. That is the ultimate gift a parent can give a child. I have also been blessed with in-laws who have loved and supported me as if I was their own child—thank you, Gib and Kate. My vocabulary is not developed enough to find words to thank my wife, Ann, and our two children, Ben and Tom. They have changed my life and made me a better person. Ann’s support has been essential to everything that I have accomplished since the day that I sat next to her on an airplane and realized that my future was with her. The debt that I owe to my family cannot be repaid in an acknowledgment. Instead, I hope to use what I have learned to become the best father, husband, son, and person that I can be. ii Abstract Between 1846 and 1867, J. D. B. De Bow, the editor of De Bow’s Review, promoted agricultural reform, urbanization, industrialization, and commercial development in the nineteenth-century South. His monthly journal appealed to thousands of antebellum southerners with similar interests in a modern market economy. De Bow’s vision and his readers’ support of economic diversification predated the rhetoric of postbellum boosters who promised a New South after the Civil War. He created an economic plan that resonated among urban, middle-class merchants and professionals; wealthy planters; and prominent industrialists. They supported De Bow because he understood the necessity of economic diversification. Yet, despite these modern capitalistic leanings, a majority of Review subscribers were unapologetic slaveholders and ardent supporters of the social and economic trappings provided by slavery and cotton. These Old South innovators, like their New South counterparts, shared a similar message of hope for the future. De Bow created a similar sense of forward economic momentum that appealed to profit-minded readers with capitalistic and entrepreneurial tendencies. For the first time in southern history, he successfully consolidated modern economic goals into a cohesive plan. His reverence for past traditions helped legitimize his feelings about the future transformation of the South. Progress and modernity were to be embraced, and De Bow campaigned for regional support for his plan. He had anticipated the future, and by 1860 the economic transformation of the South had begun. Although slavery and sectionalism overwhelmed the original intent of the Review, De Bow recovered his editorial balance after the Civil War and rededicated himself to regional economic improvement. He asked readers to forget about past mistakes and help reintegrate the South back into the national economy. His comprehensive postwar plan for recovery came from years of prewar experimentation. Although De Bow died before the next generation of boosters began their public campaign for a New South, he had made the first and most significant contribution to their vision. He foresaw the need for a well-rounded, diversified economy. De Bow’s anticipation of a modern economy helped create hope for a New South long before the demise of the Old South. iii Table of Contents CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………... 1 CHAPTER TWO: THE EDUCATION OF J. D. B. DE BOW, 1820-1845 ..................... 11 CHAPTER THREE: ENTERING A NEW SOUTH, 1845-1849 ..................................... 36 CHAPTER FOUR: “IT IS IN THE POWER OF EVERY FRIEND OF THE REVIEW,”: A COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHY OF DE BOW’S READERS, 1846-1860 ..................... 62 CHAPTER FIVE: THE CONVULSIONS OF A NATIONALIST, 1848-1854 .............. 87 CHAPTER SIX: THE RADICALIZATION OF DE BOW, 1855-1860 ........................ 111 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE REFORMULATION OF DE BOW’S SOUTH, 1861-1867 135 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 162 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................ 176 VITA ............................................................................................................................... 226 iv List of Tables Table 1: De Bow’s Review Readership .......................................................................... 177 Table 2: 1845 Memphis Commercial Convention: Delegates by State and Occupation 217 Table 3: Distribution of Known Subscribers, By State and Occupation ........................ 218 Table 4: Subject of Articles in De Bow’s Review, 1846-1866 ........................................ 219 Table 5: Comparative Slaveholding Levels, 1860 .......................................................... 220 Table 6: Investment Patterns of Known Readers in Select Cities and Towns, 1840-1860 ......................................................................................................................................... 221 Table 7: Population Growth in Southern Cities and Towns, 1850-1860 ........................ 222 Table 8: Distribution of Review Readers in Urban Centers ............................................ 223 Table 9: Value of Manufactured Goods in the Southern States, 1850-1860 .................. 224 Table 10: Investment Patterns of Individual Subscribers in Alabama and Tennessee, 1830-1860 ....................................................................................................................... 225 v Chapter One: Introduction James Dunwoody Brownson (J. D. B.) De Bow lived a paradoxical life. Born into a middle-class merchant family in Charleston, South Carolina, he became the chief spokesman for