Nature and the New South: Competing Visions of Resource Use in a Developing Region, 1865-1929
Open Access
Author:
Bryan, William Davis
Graduate Program:
History
Degree:
Doctor of Philosophy
Document Type:
Dissertation
Date of Defense:
June 07, 2013
Committee Members:
William Alan Blair, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor William Alan Blair, Committee Chair/Co-Chair Mark E Neely Jr., Committee Member Solsiree Del Moral, Committee Member Robert Edwin Burkholder, Committee Member Adam Rome, Special Member
Keywords:
American South economic development environment natural resources conservation sustainable development
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.
