Quote:
Originally Posted by babybackribs2314
The coastal cities in the South were also devastated in the Civil War, and following events. Savannah burned down, New Orleans saw major economic hardship, and so did Charleston -- which was further damaged by a major earthquake in the late 1800s.
Air conditioning + automobiles have given rise to the major Southern cities of today.
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Sorry babybackribs2314, but you are way off here.
Savannah has
never burned down. After General Sherman's infamous 'March to the Sea' after destroying Atlanta, he and his 62,000 troops arrived in Savannah and captured the City in December of 1864. Overwhelmed by the beauty of the City, he presented it as a Christmas present to President Lincoln.
Atlanta had already established itself as a major manufacturing center by the Civil War, due to the railroads. Hence it's destruction. Post war, Atlanta quickly rebuilt and aggressively courted Northern investment. It paid off, and Atlanta passed Savannah in population in 1880. By 1895 Atlanta actually hosted the Worlds Fair of the day, the Cotton States and International Exposition (on the site of present day Piedmont Park). Atlanta was never a part of the plantation, crop growing South.
It continued to grow and prosper pre-automobile, becoming a regional hub with all that entails - a dense business district, a comprehensive streetcar network, etc. Growth has always been an industry here, especially since WWII.
While air conditioning and the automobile did change the growth of the South, that is a hugely oversimplified and frankly, inaccurate statement. Places like Phoenix benefitted from those two things way more than this corner of the South ever did. The South is not monolithic. It is a huge and very diverse region.
Some people tend to forget that Atlanta is over 1,000 feet above sea level. It has been colder here several days this week than D.C. or New York.