165-658: New South , New South Democracy or New South Creed is a slogan in the history of the American South first used after the American Civil War . Reformers used it to call for a modernization of society and attitudes, to integrate more fully with the United States as a whole, reject the economy and traditions of the Old South , and the slavery-based plantation system of the prewar period. The term
330-530: A library service was instituted for this area. The professional staff at headquarters were generally composed of experts from outside the region. By 1934, TVA employed more than 9,000 people. The workers were classified by the usual racial and gender lines of the region, which limited opportunities for minorities and women. TVA hired a few African Americans , generally restricted for janitorial or other low-level positions. TVA recognized labor unions ; its skilled and semi-skilled blue collar employees were unionized,
495-504: A "hidden loss" by preventing the creation of "factories and jobs that would have come into existence if the government had allowed the taxpayers to spend their money as they wished". Defenders note that TVA remains overwhelmingly popular in Tennessee among conservatives and liberals alike. Business historian Thomas McCraw concludes that Roosevelt "rescued the [power] industry from its own abuses" but "he might have done this much with
660-456: A Woodward student, hails the book but explains: Of one thing we may be certain at the outset. The durability of Origins of the New South is not a result of its ennobling and uplifting message. It is the story of the decay and decline of the aristocracy, the suffering and betrayal of the poor whites, and the rise and transformation of the middle class. It is not a happy story. The Redeemers
825-405: A breakthrough in an area known for corporations hostile to miners' and textile workers' unions. Women were excluded from construction work. Many local landowners were suspicious of government agencies, but TVA successfully introduced new agricultural methods into traditional farming communities by blending in and finding local champions. Tennessee farmers often rejected advice from TVA officials, so
990-575: A degree by auto manufacturing, tourism, and energy production, among others. In light of the many social and economic changes that have occurred since the Civil War, many now use the term in a celebratory sense. The beginnings of the Civil Rights era in the 1950s and 1960s, led to a revival of the term to describe a South that would no longer be held back by Jim Crow Laws and other aspects of compulsory legal segregation . Racist conflicts during
1155-602: A few other crops with low market prices. Economically, it was in great need of industrialization. With slavery abolished, African Americans were playing a different role in the New South. Henry W. Grady made this term popular in his articles and speeches as editor of the Atlanta Constitution . Richard Hathaway Edmonds of the Baltimore Manufacturers' Record was another staunch advocate of New South industrialization. The Manufacturers' Record
1320-633: A great deal less agitation and ill will". New Dealers hoped to build numerous other federal utility corporations around the country but were defeated by lobbyist and 1940 Republican presidential nominee Wendell Willkie and the conservative coalition in Congress. The valley authority model did not replace the limited-purpose water programs of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers . However, it has been shown that in river policy,
1485-593: A large American army in the process, and set up a network of bases inland. Although there were Loyalists within the Southern colonies, they were concentrated in larger coastal cities and were not great enough in number to overcome the revolutionaries. The British forces at the Battle of Monck's Corner and the Battle of Lenud's Ferry consisted entirely of Loyalists with the exception of the commanding officer ( Banastre Tarleton ). Both white and black Loyalists fought for
1650-661: A large area north of the city (along the Mississippi) becoming known as the German Coast. Still greater numbers immigrated to Texas (especially after 1848), where many bought land and were farmers. Many more German immigrants arrived in Texas after the Civil War, where they created the brewing industry in Houston and elsewhere, became grocers in numerous cities, and also established wide areas of farming. By 1840, New Orleans
1815-440: A naval flotilla was sent to Charleston harbor, and the threat of landing ground troops was used to compel the collection of tariffs. A compromise was reached by which the tariffs would be gradually reduced, but the underlying argument over states' rights continued to escalate in the following decades. The second issue concerned slavery, primarily the question of whether slavery would be permitted in newly admitted states. The issue
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#17327655667811980-590: A plan to meet the energy needs of the Tennessee Valley through 2020. In 1992 work resumed on Watts Bar Unit 1 , and the reactor began operation in May 1996. This was the last commercial nuclear reactor in the United States to begin operation in the 20th century. In 2002, TVA began work to restart Browns Ferry Unit 1 , the last of TVA's reactors that had been mothballed in 1985. This unit returned to service in 2007. In 2004, TVA implemented recommendations from
2145-422: A projected future increase in electrical consumption, TVA began constructing 500 kilovolt (kV) transmission lines, the first of which was placed into service on May 15, 1965. Electric rates were among the nation's lowest during this time and stayed low as TVA brought larger, more efficient generating units into service. Plants completed during this time included Paradise , Bull Run , and Nickajack Dam . Expecting
2310-841: A projection of further rapid increase in power demand. However, in the 1980s, it became increasingly evident that the agency had vastly overestimated the Valley's future energy needs, and rapid increases in construction costs and new regulations following the Three Mile Island accident posed additional obstacles to this undertaking. In 1981, the board voted to defer the Phipps Bend plant, as well as to slow down construction on all other projects. The Hartsville and Yellow Creek plants were cancelled in 1984 and Bellefonte in 1988. Citing safety concerns, all of TVAs five operating nuclear reactors were indefinitely shut down in 1985 with
2475-579: A proposal from industrialist Henry Ford to build a private dam and create a utility to modernize the Tennessee Valley. In 1930, Norris sponsored the Muscle Shoals Bill , which would have built a federal dam in the valley, but it was vetoed by President Herbert Hoover , who believed it to be socialistic . The idea behind the Muscle Shoals project became a core part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's New Deal program that created
2640-459: A short time during Reconstruction. There were thousands of people on the move, as African Americans tried to reunite families separated by slave sales, and sometimes migrated for better opportunities in towns or other states. Other freed people moved from plantation areas to cities or towns for a chance to get different jobs. At the same time, whites returned from refuges to reclaim plantations or town dwellings. In some areas, many whites returned to
2805-927: A small number of 115kV and 230kV lines in Alabama and Georgia that connect to Southern Company lines of the same voltage. TVA has conveyed approximately 485,420 acres (1,964.4 km ) of property for recreation and preservation purposes including public parks, public access areas and roadside parks, wildlife refuges, national parks and forests, and other camps and recreation areas, comprising approximately 759 different sites. Currently, TVA manages approximately 293,000 acres (1,190 km ) of Federally-owned land for public use. These lands are managed as either TVA Natural Areas or TVA Day-Use Recreation Areas. Natural Areas are smaller, ecologically or historically significant areas set aside for conservation, with some areas including hiking and walking trails. Day-Use Recreation Areas comprise approximately 80 different locations throughout
2970-520: A total of 260,000, out of a total white Southern population at the time of around 5.5 million. Based on 1860 census figures, 8% of all white males aged 13 to 43 died in the war, including 6% in the North and about 18% in the South. Northern military deaths were greater than Southern military deaths in absolute numbers, but were two-thirds smaller in terms of proportion of the population affected. After
3135-605: A trend, some switched party affiliations, notably Strom Thurmond of South Carolina . Richard Nixon 's Southern strategy in the 1968 campaign is thought by many to have vastly accelerated this process. From Nixon's time to the present, the South has often voted Republican at the presidential level. The term "New South" has also been used to refer to political leaders in the American South who embraced progressive ideas on education and economic growth and minimized racist rhetoric, even if not promoting integration. This term
3300-542: Is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States . TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee , portions of Alabama , Mississippi , and Kentucky , and small areas of Georgia , North Carolina , and Virginia . While owned by the federal government , TVA receives no taxpayer funding and operates similarly to a private for-profit company. It is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee , and
3465-954: Is also home to many other major corporations including Lowe's , Duke Energy , Family Dollar , Lendingtree and Honeywell . Automotive manufacturing plants in U.S. have declined in cities like Detroit , Cleveland , Buffalo , and St. Louis , while lower wage, non-unionized work forces in the American South have attracted foreign manufacturers. Automobile manufacturers BMW , Toyota , Mercedes , Honda , Hyundai , Kia , Nissan , and Volkswagen have opened plants in states such as Georgia , Alabama , South Carolina , Kentucky , Tennessee , Texas , Mississippi , and West Virginia . Meanwhile, General Motors factories continue to operate in Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee and Texas, and two Ford factories operate in Kentucky's largest city of Louisville . High-profile companies such as IBM , Intel , Verizon and Microsoft have major corporate presence in
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#17327655667813630-582: Is governed by a nine-member part-time board of directors, nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate . A minimum of seven of the directors are required to be residents of TVA's service area. The members select the chair from their number, and serve five-year terms. They receive annual stipends of $ 45,000 ($ 50,000 for the chair). The board members choose the TVA's chief executive officer . When their terms expire, directors may remain on
3795-471: Is revealed to be as venal as the carpetbaggers . The declining aristocracy are ineffectual and money hungry, and in the last analysis, they subordinated the values of their political and social heritage in order to maintain control over the black population. The poor whites suffered from strange malignancies of racism and conspiracy-mindedness, and the rising middle class was timid and self-interested even in its reform movement. The most sympathetic characters in
3960-507: Is staffed 24 hours a day to spot any threats to TVA's 16,000 miles of transmission lines. Given continued economic pressure on the coal industry, the TVA board defied President Donald Trump and voted in February 2019 to close two aging coal plants, Paradise Unit 3 and Bull Run. TVA chief executive Bill Johnson said the decision was not about coal, per se, but rather "about keeping rates as low as feasible". They stated that decommissioning
4125-566: Is the fifth-largest river system in the United States, and assists governments and private companies on economic development projects. TVA's headquarters are located in Downtown Knoxville , with large administrative offices in Chattanooga (training/development; supplier relations; power generation and transmission) and Nashville (economic development) in Tennessee and Muscle Shoals, Alabama . TVA's headquarters were housed in
4290-538: Is the sixth-largest power supplier and largest public utility in the country. The TVA was created by Congress in 1933 as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's New Deal . Its initial purpose was to provide navigation , flood control , electricity generation , fertilizer manufacturing, regional planning , and economic development to the Tennessee Valley , a region that had suffered from lack of infrastructure and even more extensive poverty during
4455-517: Is under the jurisdiction of the SERC Reliability Corporation . Like most North American utilities, TVA uses a maximum transmission voltage of 500 kilovolts (kV), with lines carrying this voltage using bundled conductors with three conductors per phase. The vast majority of TVA's transmission lines carry 161 kV, with the company also operating a number of sub-transmission lines with voltages of 69 kV and 46kV. They also operate
4620-682: Is used by the National Nuclear Security Administration for nuclear weapons , where it is used to supercharge and boost the explosive yield of the U.S. nuclear arsenal . TVA owns and operates its own electric grid , which consists of approximately 16,200 miles (26,100 km) of lines, one of the largest grids in the United States. This grid is part of the Eastern Interconnection of the North American power transmission grid , and
4785-794: The United States Census Bureau . It is between the Atlantic Ocean and the Western United States , with the Midwestern and Northeastern United States to its north and the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico to its south. Historically, the South was defined as all states south of the 18th-century Mason–Dixon line , the Ohio River , and 36°30′ parallel . Within the South are different subregions such as
4950-558: The 15th Amendment (which extended the right to vote to African American males), African Americans in the South were made free citizens and were given the right to vote. Under Federal protection, white and black Republicans formed constitutional conventions and state governments. Among their accomplishments were creating the first public education systems in Southern states, and providing for welfare through orphanages, hospitals and similar institutions. Northerners came south to participate in politics and business. Some were representatives of
5115-609: The British Isles before the American Revolution . In the 1980 census , 34% of Southerners reported that they were of English ancestry; English was the largest reported European ancestry in every Southern state by a large margin. The early colonists engaged in warfare , trade, and cultural exchanges. Those living in the backcountry were more likely to encounter Creek Indians , Cherokee , and Choctaws and other regional native groups. The oldest university in
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5280-804: The Chesapeake Bay . The next region to be settled was the Deep South, beginning in Province of Carolina and later the Province of Georgia . The last region to be settled was Appalachia, also settled by the Scotch-Irish . King Charles II of England granted the Charter of Carolina in 1663 for land south of the British Colony of Virginia and north of Spanish Florida . He granted the land to eight lords proprietor . Charles granted
5445-567: The Civil Rights Movement gave the American South a backward image in popular culture. Again, the initial slow pace of civil rights reforms, notably in the areas of school desegregation and voting rights , at first made the "New South" more of a slogan than a description of the South as it actually was. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 would bring an era of far more rapid change. During
5610-495: The Civil War and Reconstruction era (1865–1877). Following effects included thousands of lynchings (mostly from 1880 to 1930), a segregated system of separate schools and public facilities established from Jim Crow laws that remained until the 1960s, and the widespread use of poll taxes and other methods to deny black and poor people the ability to vote or hold office until the 1960s. Scholars have characterized pockets of
5775-542: The Democratic Party to power. In 1876 white Democrats regained power in most of the state legislatures. They began to pass laws designed to strip African Americans and Poor Whites from the voter registration rolls. The success of late-19th century interracial coalitions in several states inspired a reaction among some white Democrats, who worked harder to prevent both groups from voting. Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority ( TVA )
5940-540: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), four state governments, and three environmental groups to drastically reduce pollution and carbon emissions. Under the terms of the agreement, TVA was required to retire at least 18 of its 59 coal-fired units by the end of 2018, and install scrubbers in several others or convert them to make them cleaner, at a cost of $ 25 billion, by 2021. As a result, TVA closed several of its coal-fired power plants in
6105-621: The Freedmen's Bureau and other agencies of Reconstruction; some were humanitarians with the intent to help black people. Some were adventurers who hoped to benefit themselves by questionable methods. They were all condemned with the pejorative term of carpetbagger . Some Southerners would also take advantage of the disrupted environment and made money off various schemes, including bonds and financing for railroads. White Southerners who supported Reconstruction policies and efforts became known as scalawags . Secret vigilante organizations such as
6270-485: The Great Depression than other regions of the nation. TVA was envisioned both as a power supplier and a regional economic development agency that would work to help modernize the region's economy and society. It later evolved primarily into an electric utility. It was the first large regional planning agency of the U.S. federal government, and remains the largest. Under the leadership of David E. Lilienthal ,
6435-552: The Ku Klux Klan – an organization sworn to perpetuate white supremacy – had arisen quickly after the war's end in the 1860s, and used lynching , physical attacks, house burnings and other forms of intimidation to keep African Americans from exercising their political rights. Although the first Klan was disrupted by prosecution by the Federal government in the early 1870s, other groups persisted. By
6600-678: The Old Customs House in Knoxville from 1936 until 1976, when the current complex opened. The building is now operated as a museum and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The Tennessee Valley Authority Police is the primary law enforcement agency for the company. Initially part of the TVA, in 1994 the TVA Police was authorized as a federal law enforcement agency . The Tennessee Valley Authority
6765-626: The Patriot cause . Virginia would provide leaders such as commander-in-chief George Washington , and the author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson . In 1780 and 1781, the British largely halted reconquest of the northern states and concentrated on the south, where they were told there was a large Loyalist population ready to leap to arms once the royal forces arrived. The British took control of Savannah and Charleston, capturing
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6930-550: The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA). During his 1932 presidential campaign, Franklin D. Roosevelt expressed his belief that private utilities had "selfish purposes" and said, "Never shall the federal government part with its sovereignty or with its control of its power resources while I'm President of the United States." U.S. Senator George W. Norris of Nebraska also distrusted private utility companies, and in 1920 blocked
7095-680: The Research Triangle of North Carolina . Additionally, several Fortune 500 companies, including Tesla, Inc. and a number of technology companies , are now headquartered in Austin, Texas , giving it the nickname of " Silicon Hills ". American Airlines Group , the largest airline in the world as of 2019, is headquartered in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex in Fort Worth . Dallas is also home to many global corporations, including
7260-614: The Southeast , South Central , Upper South , and Deep South . Maryland , Delaware , Washington, D.C. , and Northern Virginia have become more culturally, economically, and politically aligned in certain aspects with the Northeastern United States and are sometimes identified as part of the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic . The United States Census Bureau continues to define all four places as formally being in
7425-718: The Tennessee Electric Power Company (TEPCO), Jo Conn Guild , was vehemently opposed to the creation of TVA, and with the help of attorney Wendell Willkie , challenged the constitutionality of the TVA Act in federal court. The U.S. Supreme Court again upheld the TVA Act, however, in its 1939 decision Tennessee Electric Power Company v. TVA . On August 16, 1939, TEPCO was forced to sell its assets, including Hales Bar Dam , Ocoee Dams 1 and 2 , Blue Ridge Dam and Great Falls Dam to TVA for $ 78 million (equivalent to $ 1.34 billion in 2023 ). In 1981
7590-533: The United States Census Bureau , A survey conducted by social geographers in 2010 selected thirteen states as the cultural south; Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Virginia, West Virginia, and Oklahoma. The Southern region of the United States includes sixteen states. As of 2010, an estimated 114,555,744 people, or thirty seven percent of all U.S. residents, lived in
7755-461: The green anole , the venomous cottonmouth snake, and the American alligator , mammals like the American black bear , the swamp rabbit , and the nine-banded armadillo , and birds such as the roseate spoonbill and the extinct but symbolic carolina parakeet . The question of how to define the boundaries and subregions in the South has long been the focus of research and debate. As defined by
7920-571: The late December 2022 North American winter storm . As many as 24,000 Nashville Electric Service customers were without power, with thousands more from smaller distributors affected as well. TVA was heralded by New Dealers and the New Deal Coalition not only as a successful economic development program for a depressed area but also as a democratic nation-building effort overseas because of its alleged grassroots inclusiveness as articulated by director David E. Lilienthal . However,
8085-606: The 16th century, reaching a peak in the late 17th century, but the population was small because the Spaniards were relatively uninterested in agriculture, and Florida had no mineral resources. There were regional differences in the Southern colonies, with the three main regions of Tidewater , the Deep South , and Appalachia . The first region to be settled was Tidewater, containing the low-lying plains of southeast Virginia , northeastern North Carolina , southern Maryland and
8250-473: The 1950s. In 1955 coal surpassed hydroelectricity as TVA's top generating source. On August 6, 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law an amendment to the TVA act, making the agency self-financing. During the 1950s, TVA's generating capacity nearly quadrupled. The 1960s were years of further unprecedented economic growth in the Tennessee Valley. Capacity growth during this time slowed, but ultimately increased 56% between 1960 and 1970. To handle
8415-481: The 1960s, the black population finally began being enfranchised and represented in political offices. For over 100 years, from before the Civil War until the mid-1960s, the Democratic Party exercised a virtual monopoly on Southern politics, which came to be known as the Solid South . Thus elections were actually decided between Democratic factions in primary elections , often all white. The Democratic nomination
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#17327655667818580-564: The 2010s, converting some to natural gas. These include John Sevier in 2012, Shawnee Unit 10 in 2014, Widows Creek in 2015, Colbert in 2016, Johnsonville and Paradise Units 1 and 2 in 2017, Allen in 2018, and Paradise Unit 3 in 2020. In 2018, TVA opened a new cybersecurity center in its downtown Chattanooga Office Complex. More than 20 Information Technology specialists monitor emails, Twitter feeds and network activity for cybersecurity threats and threats to grid security. Across TVA's digital platform, two billion activities occur each day. The center
8745-570: The American South. Since the late 20th century, this can be seen in many ways. The largest company in the world by revenue is Walmart , which is located in Bentonville, Arkansas . Two of the largest U.S. banks, Bank of America and Wells Fargo , have a major presence in Charlotte, North Carolina . Bank of America is headquartered there, and Wells Fargo has maintained much of the operation of Wachovia after acquiring it in 2008. Charlotte
8910-741: The British Governor Dunmore of Virginia's promise of freedom for service. Many others were removed by Loyalist owners and became slaves elsewhere in the British Empire. Between 1770 and 1790, there was a sharp decline in the percentage of blacks – from 61% to 44% in South Carolina and from 45% to 36% in Georgia. In addition, some slaveholders were inspired to free their slaves after the Revolution. They were moved by
9075-737: The British Navy. The British Navy did arrive, but so did a stronger French fleet, and Cornwallis was trapped. American and French armies, led by George Washington, forced Cornwallis to surrender his entire army in Yorktown, Virginia in October 1781, effectively winning the North American part of the war. The Revolution provided a shock to slavery in the South and other regions of the new country. Thousands of slaves took advantage of wartime disruption to find their own freedom, catalyzed by
9240-472: The British at the Battle of Kemp's Landing in Virginia. Led by Nathanael Greene and other generals, the Americans engaged in Fabian tactics designed to wear down the British invasion force and to neutralize its strong points one by one. There were numerous battles large and small, with each side claiming some victories. By 1781, however, British General Cornwallis moved north to Virginia, where an approaching army forced him to fortify and await rescue by
9405-431: The Census definition, two U.S. territories located southeast of Florida ( Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands ) are sometimes included as part of the Southern United States. The Federal Aviation Administration includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands as part of the South, as does the Agricultural Research Service and the U.S. National Park Service . The first well-dated evidence of human occupation in
9570-419: The Civil War, the South was devastated in terms of infrastructure and economy. Because of states' reluctance to grant voting rights to freedmen, Congress instituted Reconstruction governments. It established military districts and governors to rule over the South until new governments could be established. Many white Southerners who had actively supported the Confederacy were temporarily disenfranchised. Rebuilding
9735-441: The Confederacy. Though early in the war, the Confederacy controlled more than half of Kentucky and the southern portion of Missouri. By March 1862, the Union largely controlled all the border state areas, had shut down all commercial traffic from all Confederate ports, had prevented European recognition of the Confederate government, and was poised to seize New Orleans. The rugged mountainous East Tennessee region attempted to rejoin
9900-884: The Depression years, it has developed primarily into a power utility. Despite its shares being owned by the federal government, TVA operates like a private corporation, and receives no taxpayer funding. The TVA Act authorizes the company to use eminent domain . TVA provides electricity to approximately ten million people through a diverse portfolio that includes nuclear , coal-fired , natural gas -fired, hydroelectric , and renewable generation. TVA sells its power to 153 local power utilities, 58 direct-serve industrial and institutional customers, 7 federal installations, and 12 area utilities. In addition to power generation, TVA provides flood control with its 29 hydroelectric dams. Resulting lakes and other areas also allow for recreational activities. The TVA also provides navigation and land management along rivers within its region of operation, which
10065-460: The East Coast to the Great Lakes. Some noted explorers who encountered and described the Mississippian culture, by then in decline, included Pánfilo de Narváez (1528), Hernando de Soto (1540), and Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville (1699). Native American descendants of the mound-builders include Alabama , Apalachee , Caddo , Cherokee , Chickasaw , Choctaw , Creek , Guale , Hitchiti , Houma , and Seminole peoples, all of whom still reside in
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#173276556678110230-721: The Eastern District of Tennessee . The initial spill resulted in no injuries or deaths, but several of the employees of an engineering firm hired by TVA to clean up the spill developed illnesses, some of which were fatal, and in November 2018, a federal jury ruled that the contractor did not properly inform the workers about the dangers of exposure to coal ash and had failed to provide them with necessary personal protective equipment. In 2009, to gain more access to sustainable, green energy, TVA signed 20-year power purchase agreements with Maryland-based CVP Renewable Energy Co. and Chicago-based Invenergy Wind LLC for electricity generated by wind farms. In April 2011, TVA reached an agreement with
10395-400: The Mississippi River in 1863. In the East, however, the Confederate Army under Robert E. Lee beat off attack after attack in its defense of their capital at Richmond. But when Lee tried to move north, he was repulsed (and nearly captured) at Sharpsburg (1862) and Gettysburg (1863). The Confederacy had the resources for a short war, but was unable to finance or supply a longer war. It reversed
10560-486: The New Dealers' spending mood by expanding the Army Corps' flood control program. They also helped defeat further valley authorities, the most promising of the New Deal water policy reforms. When Democrats after 1945 began proclaiming the Tennessee Valley Authority as a model for countries in the developing world to follow, conservative critics charged that it was a top-heavy, centralized, technocratic venture that displaced locals and did so in insensitive ways. Thus, when
10725-415: The New South are defined as cities that have seen a large boom over the last century, and cities that have become growing regional hubs. Notes Bibliography Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie , also referred to as the Southern States , the American South , the Southland , Dixieland , or simply the South ) is one of the four census regions defined by
10890-504: The Reservoir Operations Study (ROS) on how it operates the Tennessee River system. The following year, the company announced its intention to construct an Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor at its Bellefonte site in Alabama, filing the necessary applications in November 2007. This proposal was gradually trimmed over the following years, and essentially voided by 2016. In October 2007, construction resumed on Watts Bar Unit 2 . which began commercial operation in October 2016. Watts Bar Unit 2
11055-409: The South and Eastern United States and were sent to Oklahoma. By 1856, the South had lost control of Congress, and was no longer able to silence calls for an end to slavery – which came mostly from the more populated, free states of the North. The Republican Party, founded in 1854, pledged to stop the spread of slavery beyond those states where it already existed. After Abraham Lincoln
11220-448: The South as an economic failure. World War II would usher in a degree of economic prosperity as efforts to industrialize in support of the War effort were employed. In the southern mountains, the Tennessee Valley Authority built dams, which generated employment and electricity that affected numerous residents and manufacturers alike. Other Southern industries, such as mining, steel and ship building, flourished during World War II, and set
11385-463: The South generally has a reputation as hot and humid, with long summers and short, mild winters. Most of the South—except for the areas of higher elevations and areas near the western, southern, and some northern fringes—falls in the humid subtropical climate zone. Crops grow readily in the South due to its climate consistently providing growing seasons of at least six months before the first frost. Some common environments include bayous and swamplands,
11550-445: The South include: Historically, the South was defined as all states south of the 18th century Mason–Dixon line , the Ohio River , and 36°30′ parallel . Newer definitions of the South today are harder to define, due to cultural and sub-regional differences throughout the region; however, definitions usually refer to states that are in the southeastern and south central geographic region of the United States. Although not included in
11715-498: The South, the College of William & Mary , was founded in 1693 in Virginia; it pioneered in the teaching of political economy and educated future U.S. Presidents Jefferson , Monroe and Tyler , all from Virginia. Indeed, the entire region dominated politics in the First Party System era: for example, four of the first five presidents – Washington , Jefferson , Madison and Monroe – were from Virginia. The two oldest public universities are also in
11880-449: The South, the nation's most populous region. The Census Bureau defined three smaller divisions: The Council of State Governments , an organization for communication and coordination between states, includes in its South regional office the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Other terms related to
12045-774: The South. Other peoples whose ancestral links to the Mississippian culture are less clear, but those who were in the region before the European incursion include the Catawba and the Powhatan . The arrival of European settlers caused a massive population decline in Native Americans , due to Europeans unknowingly spreading diseases that the natives had no immunities towards, numerous violent conflicts, and forcibly relocating them. The predominant culture of
12210-413: The South. To account for cultural variations across the region, some scholars have proposed definitions of the South that do not coincide neatly with state boundaries. The South does not precisely correspond to the entire geographic south of the United States, but primarily includes the south-central and southeastern states. For example, California, which is geographically in the southwestern part of
12375-662: The South: the University of North Carolina (1789) and the University of Georgia (1785). Slavery was legal in all of the Thirteen Colonies prior to the American Revolution in 1776. Britain had slave island colonies in the Caribbean , including Jamaica , Barbados , Nevis , and Antigua , which provided a steady flow of profits from the slave labor that produced sugar. The Southern Colonies differed in that
12540-556: The Southern United States as being authoritarian enclaves from Reconstruction until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 . When looked at broadly, studies have shown that Southerners tend to be more conservative than most non-Southerners, with liberalism being mostly predominant in places with a Black majority or urban areas in the South. Although historically a Democratic stronghold , most states in
12705-518: The Southern transportation system depended primarily on river and coastal traffic by boat; both were shut down by the Union Navy . The small railroad system virtually collapsed, so that by 1864 internal travel was so difficult that the Confederate economy was crippled. The Confederate cause was hopeless by the time Atlanta fell and William T. Sherman marched through Georgia in late 1864, but
12870-575: The TVA Board of Directors broke with previous tradition and took a hard line against white-collar unions during contract negotiations. As a result, a class action suit was filed in 1984 in U.S. District Court charging the agency with sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 based on the large number of women in one of the pay grades negatively impacted by the new contract. TVA reached an out-of-court settlement in 1987, in which they agreed to contract modifications and paid
13035-714: The TVA Board voted to approve an advanced approach of nuclear energy technology with an estimated $ 200 million investment, known as the New Nuclear Program (NNP) in February 2022. This would promote the construction of new nuclear power facilities, particularly small modular reactors , with the first facility being constructed in partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory at the Clinch River Nuclear Site in Oak Ridge . On December 23, 2022, TVA had several hours of rolling blackouts due to
13200-441: The TVA also became the global model for the United States' later efforts to help modernize agrarian societies in the developing world . The TVA historically has been documented as a success in its efforts to modernize the Tennessee Valley and helping to recruit new employment opportunities to the region. Historians have criticized its use of eminent domain and the displacement of over 125,000 Tennessee Valley residents to build
13365-419: The TVA chairman and another board member, saying they were overpaid and had outsourced 200 high-tech jobs. The move came after U.S. Tech Workers, a nonprofit that works to limit visas given to foreign technology workers, criticized the TVA for laying off its own workers and replacing them with contractors using foreign workers with H-1B visas . Citing its aspiration to reach net-zero carbon emissions in 2050,
13530-477: The TVA forced residents to sell their property at values less than the fair market value , and indirectly destabilized the real estate market for farmland. Some displaced residents committed suicide, unable to bear the events. On some occasions, land that TVA had acquired through eminent domain that was expected to be flooded by reservoirs was not flooded, and was instead given away to private developers. The 1960 film Wild River , directed by Elia Kazan , tells
13695-546: The TVA was controversial early on, as some believed its creation was an overreach by the federal government. Supporters of TVA note that the agency's management of the Tennessee River system without appropriated federal funding saves federal taxpayers millions of dollars annually. Opponents, such as Dean Russell in The TVA Idea, in addition to condemning the project as being socialistic , argued that TVA created
13860-492: The TVA. The agency was initially tasked with modernizing the region, using experts and electricity to combat human and economic problems. TVA developed fertilizers, and taught farmers ways to improve crop yields. In addition, it helped replant forests, control forest fires , and improve habitats for fish and wildlife. The Authority hired many of the area's unemployed for a variety of jobs: they conducted conservation , economic development , and social programs . For instance,
14025-721: The Tennessee River for electricity generation and navigation improvements. The National Defense Act of 1916 , signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson , authorized the construction of a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River in Muscle Shoals, Alabama , for the purpose of producing nitrates for ammunition. During the 1920s and the 1930s, Americans began to support the idea of public ownership of utilities , particularly hydroelectric power facilities. Many believed privately owned power companies were charging too much for power, did not employ fair operating practices, and were subject to abuse by their owners, utility holding companies, at
14190-515: The Tennessee Valley Authority. Even by Depression standards, the Tennessee Valley was in dire economic straits in 1933. Thirty percent of the population was affected by malaria . The average income in the rural areas was $ 639 per year (equivalent to $ 11,947 in 2024), with some families surviving on as little as $ 100 per year (equivalent to $ 1,870 in 2023). Much of the land had been exhausted by poor farming practices, and
14355-609: The Tennessee Valley largely concentrated on or near TVA reservoirs that include water access points, campgrounds, hiking trails, fishing piers, and equestrian facilities. TVA operates an economic development organization that works with companies and economic development agencies throughout the Tennessee Valley to create jobs via private investments. They also work with businesses to help them choose locations for facilities and expand existing facilities. Services provided include assistance with site selection, employee recruitment and training, and research. A total of seven sites throughout
14520-534: The Union as a new state , having opposed secession and slavery compared to most of Tennessee. In the four years of war 1861–65 the South was the primary battleground, with all but two of the major battles taking place on Southern soil. Union forces led numerous campaigns into the western Confederacy, controlling the border states in 1861, the Tennessee River, the Cumberland River and New Orleans in 1862, and
14685-563: The United States and the third largest nuclear power fleet, with seven units at three sites . In addition, they also operate four coal-fired power plants , 29 hydroelectric dams, nine simple-cycle natural gas combustion turbine plants, nine combined cycle gas plants, 1 pumped storage hydroelectric plant, 1 wind energy site, and 14 solar energy sites. In fiscal year 2020, nuclear generation made up about 41% of TVA's total energy production, natural gas 26%, coal 14%, hydroelectric 13%, and wind and solar 3%. TVA purchases about 15% of
14850-571: The United States. From 1860 to 1861, eleven Southern states plus an additional two Southern states that were claimed and partially controlled seceded from the Union , forming the Confederate States of America . Following the American Civil War , these states were subsequently added back to the Union. Sociological research indicates that Southern collective identity stems from political, historical, demographic, and cultural distinctiveness from
15015-408: The Valley are certified by TVA as megasites , which contain a minimum of 1,000 acres (4.0 km ), and have access to an Interstate Highway and the potential for rail service, and environmental impact study, and contain or have the potential to contain direct-serve industrial customers. In the late 19th century, the Army Corps of Engineers first recognized a number of potential dam sites along
15180-401: The Valley's electric power needs to continue to grow, TVA began building nuclear power plants in 1966 as a new source of power. The following year, TVA began work on the construction of Tellico Dam , which had been initially conceived in the 1930s and would later become its most controversial project. During the 1970s significant changes occurred in the economy of the Tennessee Valley and
15345-400: The agency's five nuclear reactors return to service, and the institution of a rate freeze that continued for ten years. As the electric-utility industry moved toward restructuring and deregulation , TVA began preparing for competition. It cut operating costs by nearly $ 800 million a year, reduced its workforce by more than half, increased the generating capacity of its plants, and developed
15510-504: The agency's infrastructure projects. The Tennessee Valley Authority is a government-owned corporation created by U.S. Code Title 16 , Chapter 12A, the Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933. It was initially founded as an agency to provide general economic development to the region through power generation, flood control, navigation assistance, fertilizer manufacturing, and agricultural development. Since
15675-411: The arguments over states' rights that culminated in secession and the Civil War. One of these issues concerned the protective tariffs enacted to assist the growth of the manufacturing sector, primarily in the North. In 1832, in resistance to federal legislation increasing tariffs, South Carolina passed an ordinance of nullification , a procedure in which a state would, in effect, repeal a Federal law. Soon
15840-501: The board until the end of the current congressional session (typically in December) or until their successors take office, whichever comes first. The current board members as of January 4, 2023: President Biden has nominated the following to fill a seat on the board. They await Senate confirmation. With a generating capacity of approximately 35 gigawatts (GW), TVA has the sixth highest generation capacity of any utility company in
16005-634: The codes are not an exact copy, such as Virginia and Maryland , the influence of the Barbados Slave Code can be traced throughout various provisions. In the mid-to-late-18th century, large groups of Ulster Scots (later called the Scotch-Irish ) and people from the Anglo-Scottish border region immigrated and settled in the back country of Appalachia and the Piedmont . They were the largest group of non-English immigrants from
16170-666: The company's nuclear reactor fleet. This includes fuel for the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant , fuel handling equipment upgrades across the fleet and steam generator replacements at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant . Framatome will provide its state-of-the-art ATRIUM 11 fuel for the three boiling water reactors at Browns Ferry . This contract makes TVA the third U.S. utility to switch to the ATRIUM 11 fuel design. On August 3, 2020, President Trump fired
16335-407: The country, is not considered part of the South. However, the geographically southeastern state of Georgia is. The South, being home to some of the most racially diverse areas in the United States, is known for having developed its own distinct culture , with different customs, fashion, architecture , musical styles , and cuisines , which have distinguished it in many ways from other areas of
16500-581: The eleven Confederate states, states such as Tennessee (especially East Tennessee ), Virginia (which included West Virginia at the time), and North Carolina were home to the largest populations of Unionists. Many areas of Southern Appalachia harbored pro-Union sentiment as well. As many as 100,000 men living in states under Confederate control would serve in the Union Army or pro-Union guerrilla groups. Although Southern Unionists came from all classes, most differed socially, culturally, and economically from
16665-553: The end of the 15th century – the Mississippian culture . The Mississippian culture was a complex, mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Southeastern United States from approximately 800 AD to 1500 AD. Natives had elaborate and lengthy trading routes connecting their main residential and ceremonial centers extending through the river valleys and from
16830-402: The expense of consumers. The concept of government-owned generation facilities selling to publicly owned distribution utilities was controversial, and remains so today. The private sector practice of forming utility holding companies had resulted in them controlling 94 percent of generation by 1921, and they were essentially unregulated. In an effort to change this, Congress and Roosevelt enacted
16995-474: The gospel of work. The rise of the New South, however, involved the continued supremacy of whites over blacks, who had little or no political power once Reconstruction was over, Federal troops were withdrawn from the South as a result of the Compromise of 1877 , and Jim Crow laws were put in place to suppress black rights . For example, Grady stated in an 1888 speech about the New South, "The supremacy of
17160-690: The group $ 5 million (equivalent to $ 11.5 million in 2023 ), but denied wrongdoing. TVA has received criticism throughout its entire history for what some have perceived as excessive use of its authority of eminent domain and an unwillingness to compromise with landowners. All of TVA's hydroelectric projects were made possible through the use of eminent domain, and displaced more than 125,000 Tennessee Valley residents. Residents who initially refused to sell their land were often forced to do so via court orders and lawsuits. Many of these projects also inundated historic Native American sites and early Colonial -era settlements. Historians have claimed that
17325-510: The institution became even more deeply an integral part of the South's economy. With the opening up of frontier lands after the government forced most Native Americans to move west of the Mississippi, there was a major migration of both whites and blacks to those territories. From the 1820s through the 1850s, more than one million enslaved Africans were transported to the Deep South in forced migration, two-thirds of them by slave traders and
17490-468: The intent of also controlling floods, greatly improved the lives of farmers and rural residents, making their lives easier and farms in the Tennessee Valley more productive. They also provided new employment opportunities to the poverty-stricken regions in the Valley. At the same time, however, they required the displacement of more than 125,000 valley residents or roughly 15,000 families, as well as some cemeteries and small towns, which caused some to oppose
17655-567: The invention of the cotton gin , short staple cotton could be grown more widely. This led to an explosion of cotton cultivation, especially in the frontier uplands of Georgia, Alabama and other parts of the Deep South, as well as riverfront areas of the Mississippi Delta. Migrants poured into those areas in the early decades of the 19th century, when county population figures rose and fell as swells of people kept moving west. The expansion of cotton cultivation required more slave labor, and
17820-575: The investigation. In 1963, U.S. Senator and Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater was quoted in a Saturday Evening Post article by Stewart Alsop as saying, "You know, I think we ought to sell TVA." He had called for the sale to private companies of particular parts of the Authority, including its fertilizer production and steam-generation facilities, because "it would be better operated and would be of more benefit for more people if it were part of private industry." Goldwater's quotation
17985-520: The labor-intensive cultivation of tobacco, the first cash crop of Virginia. Tobacco exhausted the soil quickly, requiring that farmers regularly clear new fields. They used old fields as pasture, and for crops such as corn wheat, or allowed them to grow into woodlots. The Barbados Slave Code served as the basis for the slave codes adopted in the British American colonies, including Carolina , Georgia , and Antigua . In other colonies where
18150-574: The land in return for their financial and political assistance in restoring him to the throne in 1660. The granted lands included all or part of the present-day U.S. states of North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. In the British colonies, immigration began in 1607 and continued until the outbreak of the Revolution in 1775. Settlers cleared land, built houses and outbuildings, and on their own farms. The Southern rich owned large plantations that dominated export agriculture and used slaves. Many were involved in
18315-504: The land to farm for a while. Some freedpeople left the South altogether for states such as Ohio and Indiana, and later, Kansas. Thousands of others joined the migration to new opportunities in the Mississippi and Arkansas Delta bottomlands, and Texas. With passage of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States (which outlawed slavery), the 14th Amendment (which granted full U.S. citizenship to African Americans) and
18480-595: The largest energy company in the world ExxonMobil , the largest Telecommunication company in the world AT&T , and the company where the microchip was first invented Texas Instruments . The Dallas-Fort Worth metro area is also the largest metro area in the South. Delta Air Lines , one of the world's largest airlines , is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia . Atlanta is also home to many global corporations, including The Coca-Cola Company , UPS , CNN , Norfolk Southern , NCR , Mercedes-Benz , and Porsche . Cities of
18645-537: The late 1940s and early 1950s, however. TVA was one of the first federal hydropower agencies, and was quickly hailed as a success. While most of the nation's major hydropower systems are federally managed today, other attempts to create similar regional corporate agencies have failed. The most notable was the proposed Columbia Valley Authority for the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest , which
18810-672: The mid-to-late-1870s, some upper class Southerners created increasing resistance to the altered social structure. Paramilitary organizations such as the White League in Louisiana (1874), the Red Shirts in Mississippi (1875) and rifle clubs, all "White Line" organizations, used organized violence against Republicans , both black and white, to remove Republicans from political office, repress and bar black voting, and restore
18975-501: The nation's largest electricity supplier. Even so, the demand for electricity was outstripping TVA's capacity to produce power from hydroelectric dams, and so TVA began to construct additional coal-fired plants. Political interference kept TVA from securing additional federal appropriations to do so, so it sought the authority to issue bonds. Several of TVA's coal-fired plants, including Johnsonville , Widows Creek , Shawnee , Kingston , Gallatin , and John Sevier , began operations in
19140-411: The nation, prompted by energy crises in 1973 and 1979 and accelerating fuel costs throughout the decade. The average cost of electricity in the Tennessee Valley increased fivefold from the early 1970s to the early 1980s. TVA's first nuclear reactor, Browns Ferry Unit 1 , began commercial operation on August 1, 1974. Between 1970 and 1974, TVA set out to construct a total of 17 nuclear reactors, due to
19305-632: The number of immigrants arriving at Southern ports began to increase, although the North continued to receive the most immigrants. Huguenots were among the first settlers in Charleston, along with the largest number of Orthodox Jews outside of New York City. Numerous Irish immigrants settled in New Orleans, establishing a distinct ethnic enclave now known as the Irish Channel . Germans also went to New Orleans and its environs, resulting in
19470-426: The officials had to find leaders in the communities and convince them that crop rotation and the judicious application of fertilizers could restore soil fertility. Once they had convinced the leaders, the rest followed. TVA immediately embarked on the construction of several hydroelectric dams, with the first, Norris Dam in upper East Tennessee , breaking ground on October 1, 1933. These facilities, designed with
19635-816: The original Southern states was English . In the 17th century, most voluntary immigrants were of English origin and settled chiefly along the eastern coast but had pushed as far inland as the Appalachian Mountains by the 18th century. The majority of early English settlers were indentured servants , who gained freedom after working off their passage. The wealthier men, typically members of the English landed gentry , who paid their way received land grants known as headrights to encourage settlement. The Spanish and French established settlements in Florida , Texas , and Louisiana . The Spanish settled Florida in
19800-559: The others by masters who moved there. Planters in the Upper South sold slaves in excess of their needs as they shifted from tobacco to mixed agriculture. Many enslaved families were broken up, as planters preferred mostly strong males for field work. Two major political issues that festered in the first half of the 19th century caused political alignment along sectional lines, strengthened the identities of North and South as distinct regions with certain strongly opposed interests, and fed
19965-897: The planned nuclear plants put the agency in deep financial trouble. In an effort to restructure and improve efficiency and financial stability, TVA began shifting towards a more corporate environment in the latter 1980s. Marvin Travis Runyon , a former corporate executive in the automotive industry , became chairman of the TVA in January 1988, and pledged to stabilize the agency financially. During his four-year term he worked to reduce management layers, and reduced overhead costs by more than 30%, which required thousands of workers to be laid off and many operations transferred to private contractors. These moves resulted in cumulative savings and efficiency improvements of $ 1.8 billion (equivalent to $ 3.51 billion in 2023 ). His tenure also saw three of
20130-458: The power it sells from other power producers, which includes power from combined cycle natural gas plants, coal plants, and wind installations, and other renewables. The cost of Purchased Power is part of the "Fuel Cost Adjustment" (FCA) charge that is separate from the TVA Rate. In addition, the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant is the only facility in the country to industrially produce tritium , which
20295-468: The principles of the Revolution, along with Quaker and Methodist preachers who worked to encourage slaveholders to free their slaves. Planters such as George Washington often freed slaves by their wills. In the Upper South , more than 10% of all blacks were free by 1810, a significant expansion from pre-war proportions of less than 1% free. Cotton became dominant in the lower South after 1800. After
20460-658: The program was used as the basis for modernization programs in various parts of the third world during the Cold War , such as in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam , its failure brought a backlash of cynicism toward modernization programs that has persisted. In 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower referred to the TVA as an example of "creeping socialism". The following year, then-film actor and later 40th President Ronald Reagan began hosting General Electric Theater , which
20625-434: The projects, especially in rural areas. The projects also inundated several Native American archaeological sites, and graves were reinterred at new locations, along with new tombstones. The available electricity attracted new industries to the region, including textile mills , providing desperately needed jobs, many of which were filled by women. A few regions of the Tennessee Valley did not receive electricity until
20790-463: The proportion of their populations that were African American slaves was much higher than in the Middle Colonies and New England Colonies , as shown on the map. According to Bertram Wyatt-Brown , "Bondage was an answer to an economic need. The South was not founded to create slavery; slavery was recruited to perpetuate the South." The Barbados Slave Code of 1661 served as the basis for
20955-572: The rebels fought on until Lee's army surrendered in April 1865. Once the Confederate forces surrendered, the region moved into the Reconstruction Era (1865–1877), in a partially successful attempt to rebuild the destroyed region and grant civil rights to freed slaves. Southerners who were against the Confederate cause during the Civil War were known as Southern Unionists . They were also known as Union Loyalists or Lincoln's Loyalists. Within
21120-624: The region have in recent decades come to favor Republicans , although both the Republican and Democratic Party are competitive in certain Southern swing states . The region contains almost all of the Bible Belt , an area of high Protestant church attendance, especially evangelical churches such as the Southern Baptist Convention . Historically, the South relied heavily on agriculture as its main economic base and
21285-446: The region were historically dominated by a small rural elite. The historical and cultural development of the South has been profoundly influenced by the institution of slave labor , especially in the Deep South and coastal plain areas, from the early 1600s to mid-1800s. This includes the presence of a large proportion of African Americans within the population, support for the doctrine of states' rights , and legacy of racism magnified by
21450-444: The regions dominant pre-war planter class . The South suffered more than the North overall, as the Union strategy of attrition warfare meant that Lee could not replace his casualties, and the total war waged by Sherman, Sheridan and other Union armies devastated the infrastructure and caused widespread poverty and distress. The Confederacy suffered military losses of 95,000 soldiers killed in action and 165,000 who died of disease, for
21615-429: The rest of the United States; however, this has declined since around the late 20th century, with many Southern areas becoming a melting pot of cultures and people. Ethnic groups in the South were the most diverse among American regions, and include strong European (especially English , Scots-Irish , Scottish , Irish , French , and Spanish ), African , and Native American ancestries. The politics and economy of
21780-459: The same time, and design and construction employment reached a total of 28,000. In its first eleven years, TVA constructed a total of 16 hydroelectric dams. During the war, the agency also provided 60% of the elemental phosphorus used in munitions, produced maps of approximately 500,000 square miles (1,300,000 km ) of foreign territory using aerial reconnaissance , and provided mobile housing for war workers. The largest project of this period
21945-548: The slave codes adopted in the British American colonies of the Province of Carolina and the Province of Georgia . In other colonies where the slaves codes were not an exact copy, such as the Colony of Virginia and the Province of Maryland , the influence of the Barbados Slave Code can be traced throughout various provisions. During the American Revolutionary War , the Southern colonies helped embrace
22110-565: The soil was eroded and depleted. Crop yields had fallen, reducing farm incomes. The best timber had been cut, and 10% of forests were lost to fires each year. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Tennessee Valley Authority Act (ch. 32, Pub. L. 73–17 , 48 Stat. 58 , enacted May 18, 1933 , codified as amended at 16 U.S.C. § 831 , et seq.), creating
22275-513: The south United States occurs around 9500 BC with the appearance of the earliest documented Americans, who are now referred to as Paleo-Indians . Paleoindians were hunter-gatherers that roamed in bands and frequently hunted megafauna . Several cultural stages, such as Archaic ( c. 8000 –1000 BC) and the Woodland ( c. 1000 BC – AD 1000), preceded what the Europeans found at
22440-532: The southern pine forests , the warm temperate montane forest of the Appalachians, the savannas of the southern Great Plains, and the subtropical jungle and maritime forests along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Unique flora include various species of magnolia, rhododendron, cane, palm, and oak, among others. Fauna of the region is also diverse, encompassing a plethora of amphibian species, reptiles such as
22605-518: The stage for increased industrialization, urban development, and economic prosperity in Southern ports and cities in the second half of the 20th century. In the post-World War II era, American textiles makers and other light industries moved en masse to the South to capitalize on low wages, social conservatism , and anti- union sentiments. With the industrialization of the South came economic change, migration, immigration and population growth. Light industries would move offshore, but has been replaced to
22770-504: The state of Kentucky attempted to remain neutral, and it could only do so briefly. When Lincoln called for troops to suppress what he referred to as "combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary" judicial or martial means, four more states decided to secede and join the Confederacy (which then moved its capital to Richmond, Virginia). Although the Confederacy had large supplies of captured munitions and many volunteers, it
22935-551: The states includes regulation of streams and that controlling floods is required for keeping streams navigable; it also upheld the constitutionality of the TVA under the War Powers Clause , seeing its activities as a means of assuring the electric supply for the manufacture of munitions in the event of war. The argument before the court was that electricity generation was a by-product of navigation and flood control and therefore could be considered constitutional. The CEO of
23100-414: The strength of opposing interest groups also mattered. The TVA bill was able to attain passage because reformers like Norris skillfully coordinated action at potential choke points and weakened the already disorganized opponents among the electric power industry lobbyists. In 1936, after regrouping, opposing river lobbyists and members of congress who were part of the conservative coalition took advantage of
23265-462: The traditional low-tariff policy of the South by imposing a new 15% tax on all imports from the Union. The Union blockade stopped most commerce from entering the South, and smugglers avoided the tax, so the Confederate tariff produced too little revenue to finance the war. Inflated currency was the solution, but that created distrust of the Richmond government. Because of low investment in railroads,
23430-529: The two at Sequoyah coming back online three years later and Browns Ferry's three reactors coming back online in 1991, 1995 and 2007. Construction of the Tellico Dam raised political and environmental concerns, as laws had changed since early development in the valley. Scientists and other researchers had become more aware of the massive environmental effects of the dams and new lakes, and worried about preserving habitats and species. The Tellico Dam project
23595-591: The two plants would reduce its carbon output by about 4.4% annually. TVA announced in April 2021 plans to completely phase out coal power by 2035. The following month, the board voted to consider replacing almost all of their operating coal facilities with combined-cycle gas plants. Such plants considered for gas plant redevelopment include the Cumberland, Gallatin, Shawnee, and Kingston facilities. In early February 2020, TVA awarded an outside company, Framatome , several multi-million-dollar contracts for work across
23760-496: The war effort. However, the abundance of TVA power was one of the major factors in the decision by the U.S. Army to locate uranium enrichment facilities in Oak Ridge, Tennessee , for the world's first atomic bombs . This was part of an effort codenamed the Manhattan Project . By the end of World War II, TVA had completed a 650-mile (1,050 km) navigation channel the length of the Tennessee River and had become
23925-420: The white race of the South must be maintained forever, and the domination of the negro race resisted at all points and at all hazards because the white race is the superior race ... [This declaration] shall run forever with the blood that feeds Anglo-Saxon hearts." The economic woes of the Great Depression dampened much New South enthusiasm, as investment capital dried up and the rest of the nation began to view
24090-529: The whole sordid affair are simply those who are too powerless to be blamed for their actions. The New South campaign was championed by Southern elites often outside of the old planter class. Their hopes were to make a fresh "new" start, forming partnerships with Northern capitalists in order to modernize and speed up economic development of the South. From Henry Grady to Black leader Booker T. Washington , New South advocates wanted southern economic regeneration, sectional reconciliation, racial harmony, and believed in
24255-402: Was a cosmopolitan port with a variety of jobs that attracted more immigrants than other areas of the South. Because of lack of investment, however, construction of railroads to span the region lagged behind the North. People relied most heavily on river traffic for getting their crops to market and for transportation. Between 1830 and 1850, Native Americans were removed from their home states in
24420-478: Was coined by its leading spokesman, Atlanta editor Henry W. Grady in 1874. The original use of the term "New South" was an attempt to prescribe an attractive future based on a growing economy. The industrial revolution of the Northern U.S. was the model. The prewar South was heavily agrarian. Following the American Civil War , the South was impoverished and heavily rural ; it was mainly reliant on cotton and
24585-466: Was completed in 2015 at a cost of more than $ 1 billion, was the largest industrial spill in United States history, and considered one of the worst environmental disasters of all time. A 2009 report by engineering firm AECOM found a number of inadequate design factors of the ash pond were responsible for the spill, and in August 2012, TVA was found liable for the disaster by the U.S. District Court for
24750-643: Was considered to be tantamount to election . The "New South" period is double-edged. After the passage of civil rights legislation, African Americans began to vote in number for the Democratic Party. Many had supported Franklin D. Roosevelt 's New Deal programs, along with Harry S. Truman , John F. Kennedy , and Lyndon B. Johnson who had supported their causes. At the same time, in 1964, several white Southern politicians and state voters supported Republican Barry Goldwater for President over Democratic incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson. In what later became
24915-514: Was difficult as people grappled with the effects of a new labor economy of a free market in the midst of a widespread agricultural depression. In addition, the limited infrastructure the South had was mostly destroyed by the war. At the same time, the North was rapidly industrializing. To avoid the social effects of the war, most of the Southern states initially passed black codes . During Reconstruction, these were mostly legally nullified by federal law and anti-Confederate legislatures, which existed for
25080-412: Was elected the first Republican president in 1860, seven cotton states declared their secession and formed the Confederate States of America before Lincoln was inaugurated. The United States government, both outgoing and incoming, refused to recognize the Confederacy, and when the new Confederate President Jefferson Davis ordered his troops to open fire on Fort Sumter in April 1861, war broke out. Only
25245-646: Was initially delayed because of concern over the snail darter , a small ray-finned fish which had been discovered in the Little Tennessee River in 1973 and listed as an endangered species two years later. A lawsuit was filed under the Endangered Species Act and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of protecting the snail darter in Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill in 1978. The project's main motive
25410-469: Was initially finessed by political compromises designed to balance the number of "free" and "slave" states. The issue resurfaced in a more virulent form, however, around the time of the Mexican–American War , which raised the stakes by adding new territories primarily on the Southern side of the imaginary geographic divide. Congress opposed allowing slavery in these territories. Before the Civil War,
25575-477: Was modeled off of TVA, but did not gain approval. In order to provide the power for essential industries during World War II , TVA engaged in one of the largest hydropower construction programs ever undertaken in the U.S. This was especially important for the energy-intensive aluminum industry, which was used in airplanes and munitions. By early 1942, when the effort reached its peak, 12 hydroelectric plants and one coal-fired steam plant were under construction at
25740-625: Was most commonly associated with the wave of Southern governors elected in the late 1960s and 1970s, including Terry Sanford in North Carolina , Carl Sanders and Jimmy Carter in Georgia , and Albert Brewer in Alabama . Similarly, the term "New South" has also been used to refer to areas of the South that have become more diverse and cosmopolitan over the last several decades. The "New South" also meant to describe economic growth in
25905-517: Was one of the most widely read and powerful publications among turn of the 20th-century industrialists. Historian Paul Gaston coined the specific term "New South Creed" to describe the promises of visionaries like Grady, who said industrialization would bring prosperity to the region. The classic history was written by C. Vann Woodward : The Origins of the New South: 1877–1913 , published in 1951 by Louisiana State University Press. Sheldon Hackney ,
26070-470: Was predominantly rural until after World War II . Since the 1940s, the region has become more economically diversified and metropolitan , helping attract both national and international migrants. In the 21st century, it is the fastest-growing region in the United States, with Houston being the region's largest city. The South is a diverse meteorological region with numerous climatic zones, including temperate , sub-tropical , tropical , and arid —though
26235-516: Was slower than the Union in dealing with the border states. While the Upland South border states of Kentucky, Missouri, West Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware, as well as the District of Columbia , continued to permit slavery during the Civil War, they remained with the Union though Kentucky and Missouri both had rival Confederate governments that formed that were admitted and recognized by
26400-470: Was sponsored by General Electric (GE). He was fired in 1962 after publicly referring to the TVA, which was a major customer for GE turbines, as one of the problems of "big government". Some claim that Reagan was instead fired due to a criminal antitrust investigation involving him and the Screen Actors Guild . However, Reagan was only interviewed; nobody was actually charged with anything in
26565-473: Was the Fontana Dam . After negotiations led by then-Vice President Harry Truman , TVA purchased the land from Nantahala Power and Light, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alcoa , and built Fontana Dam. Also in 1942, TVA's first coal-fired plant, the 267-megawatt Watts Bar Steam Plant , began operation. The government originally intended the electricity generated from Fontana to be used by Alcoa factories for
26730-401: Was the first new nuclear reactor to enter service in the United States in the 21st century. On December 22, 2008, an earthen dike impounding a coal ash pond at TVA's Kingston Fossil Plant failed, releasing 1.1 billion US gallons (4,200,000 m ) of coal ash slurry across 300 acres (1.2 km ) of land and into two tributaries of the Tennessee River. The spill, of which cleanup
26895-482: Was the wealthiest city in the country and the third largest in population. The success of the city was based on the growth of international trade associated with products being shipped to and from the interior of the country down the Mississippi River. New Orleans also had the largest slave market in the country, as traders brought slaves by ship and overland to sell to planters across the Deep South. The city
27060-477: Was to support recreational and tourism development, unlike earlier dams constructed by TVA. Land acquired by eminent domain for the Tellico Dam and its reservoir that encountered minimal inundation was sold to private developers for the construction of present-day Tellico Village , a planned retirement community . The inflation crises of the 1970s and early 1980s, combined with the cancellation of several of
27225-452: Was used against him in a TV ad by Doyle Dane Bernbach for then-President Lyndon B. Johnson 's 1964 campaign , which depicted an auction taking place atop a dam and promised that Johnson would not sell TVA. The TVA has faced multiple constitutional challenges. The United States Supreme Court ruled TVA to be constitutional in Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority (297 U.S. 288) in 1936. The Court noted that regulating commerce among
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