MAP 17.1 The New South, 1900
The economy of the Old South focused on raising staple crops, especially cotton and tobacco. In the New South, staple agriculture continued to dominate, but there was marked industrial development as well. Industrial regions evolved, producing textiles, coal, and iron. By 1900, the South’s industrial pattern was well defined, though the region still served — like the West — as a major producer of raw materials for the industrial region that stretched from New England to Chicago.