The New South (1886)
Henry Grady
We understand that when Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation, your victory was assured, for he then committed you to the cause of human liberty, against which the arms of man cannot prevail-while those of our statesmen who trusted to make slavery the corner-stone of the Confederacy doomed us to defeat as far as they could, committing us to a cause that reason could not defend or the sword maintain in sight of advancing civilization. . . .
The old South rested everything on slavery and agriculture, unconscious that these could neither give nor maintain healthy growth. The new South presents a perfect democracy, the oligarchs leading in the popular movement-a social system compact and closely knitted, less splendid on the surface, but stronger at the core. . . .
The new South is . . . thrilling with the consciousness of growing power and prosperity. As she stands upright, full-statured and equal among the people of the earth, breathing the keen air and looking out upon the expanded horizon, she understands that her emancipation came because through the inscrutable wisdom of God her honest purpose was crossed, and her brave armies were beaten.
-Grady's ideas presented an important change in the economic structures of the United States by proposing

Question

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Grady proposed that the New South should shift from an agrarian-based economy to one focused on industrialization. He believed that the old system of slavery and agriculture could not sustain economic growth, and instead advocated for a more modern and diversified economy in which industrialization played a major role.