1. Industrial
Expansion
8.5.5—Compare
industrial development in
South Carolina to
industrialization in the
rest of the United
States, including the
expansion of
railroads, the
development of the
phosphate and textile
industries, and
immigration.

2. Post Civil War Period…
• Spurred by wartime government spending &
support of building the transcontinental railroad
(Why would they support this?)
• Discoveries of iron ore & coal in the wet
• Need for steel to make the
railroads, entrepreneurs, & new technology led to
growth in the steel & oil industries
• Meat & grain packing plants for ranches & farms
• Immigrants looking for American fortunes
provided the labor expanded factories

3. Building the transcontinental railroad (24:21)

4. Growth in SC
• Wasn’t affected by the same growth as the rest of the
nation (industry or immigrants)
• Planter elite looked down on the development of
industry, thought it wasn’t “noble”
• Conservatives were more interested in reviving the old
South, than foster in a new south (Why could this be an
issue for the future of SC?)
• Major cities grew along the railroad tracks
• Columbia was a major hub to over 100 daily trains
• Transcontinental trains established time zones &
standard time

5. Textile Industry
• Became very important to SC
• Changing attitudes towards
industrial growth in the Upcountry
• Local investors provided the capital to build the textile
mills near cotton fields & along rivers for a power
supply
• Poor farmers were attracted to mill villages that
provided: homes, schools, churches, & stores, along
with jobs
• African Americans were not considered for traditional
mill labor
• 1895 technology innovations for textile mills
• 1910, SC was the 2nd largest textile producing state

6. This undated and untitled post card
has "Pacolet Mill No. 2" written in
pencil on the reverse side. This
appears to be an early grist mill and
not a textile mill. Perhaps this
photo was taken during the flood of
1903?-Spartanburg, SC

7. Springs Cotton mill, Lancaster, SC
Wylie Mill, Chester, South Carolina, November 1908
Cheraw Cotton Mills, Inc. Cheraw, S. C.
Below: Mills No. 1, 2 and 3 of the
Union-Buffalo Mills Co. at
Union, South Carolina

9. Life for Mill Workers
• Mill life was not ideal
• Conditions depended on the generosity of the
mill owner & economic condition of the time
• In depressions- workers laid off & lost their
homes
• Men, women, & children worked long hours for
low pay in the mills
• SC mill workers made less than half of what
other workers made across the US
• SC women & children earned even less than
men
• “lint heads”

10. Life for Mill Workers
• Governor Tillman reduced work hours
per week to 66 hours, from the 6am to
6pm work day
• Suffered diseases b/c of the work environment
• Workplace accidents
• Union organizers were quickly fired/ crushed
by mill owners
• US government backed the interests of the
mill owners rather than the workers

11. Luring in Northern Mills
• Production of cottonseed oil, lumber, and
phosphates for fertilizers increased after
Reconstruction due to the south luring northern
mills south
• South offered cheaper wage & non-union
laborers (why would this matter to mill owners?)
• Charleston & Beaufort offered phosphate
rock, bringing a degree wealth to the coastal
areas
• After the 1893 hurricane, Beaufort’s phosphate
mining never recovered & SC companies moved