The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of the Liberal Arts NATURE AND THE NEW SOUTH: COMPETING VISIONS OF RESOURCE USE IN A DEVELOPING REGION, 1865-1929 A Dissertation in History by William D. Bryan 2013 William D. Bryan Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2013 The dissertation of William D. Bryan was reviewed and approved* by the following: William A. Blair Liberal Arts Professor of American History Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee Mark E. Neely McCabe Greer Professor in the American Civil War Era Solsiree Del Moral Assistant Professor of History Robert Burkholder Associate Professor of English Adam Rome Associate Professor of History and English The University of Delaware Special Member David G. Atwill Director of Graduate Studies in History *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School iii ABSTRACT This dissertation examines conflicting visions for natural resource use and economic development in the American South in the years between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the Great Depression. Emancipation toppled the region’s economy and led many Southerners to try to establish a “New South” to replace their antebellum plantation society. Their task was unprecedented, and necessitated completely reimagining the economic structure of the entire region. Although most Southerners believed that the region was blessed with abundant natural resources, there were many competing ideas about how these resources should be used in order to achieve prosperity. By examining how these different visions shaped New South economic development, this dissertation reconsiders a longstanding interpretation of the postbellum American South, and provides a fresh historical perspective on the challenges of sustainable development in underdeveloped places worldwide. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. v Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1 “Nature’s Bounty” ................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 2 Touring a New South .............................................................................................. 71 Chapter 3 Waste and Efficiency .............................................................................................. 123 Chapter 4 Balancing Tests ....................................................................................................... 170 Chapter 5 “The Garden Spot of the Nation” ............................................................................ 226 Conclusion Resource Use in a Developing Area .................................................................... 282 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 294 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have incurred many debts over the course of writing this dissertation. This seeds for this project were planted while I was an undergraduate at Furman University, where I spent a semester researching and writing about Conestee Mills—a cotton mill in Greenville, South Carolina that successfully challenged industrial pollution in the 1920s. Steve O’Neill supervised that thesis and introduced me to the fields of Southern and environmental history. He led me to want to pursue these two fields in graduate school, and I will always be grateful to Steve for understanding and cultivating my interests—even if at the time I could not always discern these interests myself. At Furman, Gary Malvern also provided welcome support for my historical endeavors, and was an invaluable sounding board for questions about scholarship and life, besides being a good friend. Penn State provided a wonderful community of scholars that shaped my own work and greatly benefitted my dissertation. I am especially grateful to my dissertation committee, which stuck with me through my masters’ defense, comprehensive exams, and dissertation. I will never be able to fully thank Adam Rome for his guidance throughout the course of my graduate career. He challenged me to take up a topic that at times seemed impossibly broad, but provided the support and education needed to pull it off. He has a knack for always making me leave a meeting feeling encouraged about my work, and perhaps more than anything else I appreciate his constant encouragement over the past six years. I will always be proud to call myself one of his students. Bill Blair has also provided crucial support for this work, and I am extremely thankful for his guidance. He graciously stepped in to chair my dissertation committee in the midst of this project, and provided direction as I was writing and revising. He encouraged me to always think about how my work related to the scholarly literature on the South, and provided a welcome reminder to frame it for the largest possible audience. His insightful comments made this vi dissertation far better than it otherwise would have been, and his support made my experience in graduate school a very pleasant one. I can never look at documents the same after taking a class with Mark Neely, and he brought the same critical eye to my dissertation that he teaches his students to use in interpreting primary sources. I am grateful for his valuable feedback. Solsiree Del Moral has pushed me think beyond the South, and to consider Southern history in light of broader trends in Latin American and the Caribbean. I greatly appreciate her help in thinking about the challenges of postbellum Southern economic development in this broader historical context. Robert Burkholder provided valuable insights into my dissertation from outside the historical field, and was the source of many interesting and enjoyable conversations about nature writing, Southern food, hiking, camping and kayaking, among other topics. Aside from my dissertation committee, a number of other faculty members at Penn State were welcome supporters of my work and graduate career, including Nan Woodruff, Sally McMurry, Crystal Sanders, and Mike Milligan. Dan Letwin gave me the opportunity to present my dissertation research to his Gilded Age/Progressive Era class, and he also provided helpful feedback on my work. At Mississippi State, Mark Hersey read and commented on drafts of several chapters, and provided immensely valuable advice from afar throughout the entire course of this project. I deeply appreciate all the time that he took to meet with me and his willingness to help out along the way. Jim Cobb and Elliott West commented on an early draft of this dissertation during an on-campus seminar arranged by The George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center. They provided direction for reworking and polishing parts of my argument, and I am thankful for the time that they put into reading and reviewing my work. I owe them both a great deal, and the final draft of my dissertation is far better because of their suggestions. This project would not have been possible without the help of a number of fantastic librarians at Penn State. I would especially like to thank Eric Novotny, who helped me find vii documents that I assumed were forever lost, and provided valuable insight into conducting research for this dissertation generally. Penn State’s Interlibrary Loan department somehow processed hundreds of my ILL requests, and constantly amazed me by what they were able to track down and send to me. This ultimately saved me many hours of travel and helped me finish this dissertation within a reasonable amount of time. Funding for this project has come from many sources. The George and Ann Richards Civil War Center not only provided collaboration with other scholars working on topics in nineteenth-century America, but has provided generous funding throughout the course of this project. This could never have been completed without the support of the Richards Center. The Department of History at Penn State was also generous in providing funding for research and travel to conferences, as well as providing teaching opportunities throughout my time in graduate school. The Institute for the Arts and Humanities at Penn State provided an office space, scholarly community, and financial support during the writing process, and I appreciate their intellectual and financial investment in this project. The Penn State Alumni Association also supplied generous support for the later stages of this project. I presented pieces of this dissertation at several conferences, including the annual meetings of the American Historical Association and the Southern Historical Association. I appreciate the suggestions of my fellow panelists, chairs, and commentators, including Paul Sutter, Christine Keiner, Monica Gisolfi, Tom Okie, Nicole Cox, Matthew Vitz, Amanda McVety, Eric Dinmore, Jon Free, and Merritt McKinney. This dissertation would never have been completed without the encouragement of my fellow graduate students at Penn State, who provided a community of scholarly and social support throughout my time in State College. Thanks to Laurent Cases, Aryendra Chakravartty, Andrea Gatzke, David Hensley, John Hoenig, Jeff Horton, Kevin Lowe, Lesley Rains, Rob Shafer, Juan Tebes, and Eric Welch. I especially appreciate my officemates in Pond Laboratory viii for putting up with me for the past six years