Grimly, sullenly, the white man of the South fought again to secure
domination, this time, however, of his own section only and not of the
nation. When this had been achieved, a large portion of the population
was overcome by that deadly apathy so often remarked by travelers who
ventured to visit the land as they would have visited Africa. The white
South wished only to be let alone.
During this apathetic period there was some talk of the natural
resources of the South; but there was little attempt on the part of
Southerners to utilize these resources. There was talk of interesting
foreign capital, but little effective work was done to secure such
capital. Many men feared the new problems which such development might
bring in its train, while others, more numerous, were merely
indifferent or lukewarm. Many of those who vaguely wished for a change
did not know how to set about realizing their desires. The few men who
really worked to stimulate a quicker economic life about 1880 had a
thankless and apparently a hopeless task.
Yet one must be careful not to write of the South as if it were a single
country, inhabited by a homogeneous people. Historians and publicists
have spoken, and continue to speak, of "Southern opinion" and of the
"Southern attitude" as if these could be definitely weighed and
measured.
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