Between 1846 and 1867 J. D. B. De Bow, the editor of De Bow’s Review, promoted agricultural reform, urbanization, industrialization, and commercial development in the nineteenth-century American South. His monthly journal appealed to thousands of antebellum southerners with similar interests in a modern market economy. His vision and his readers’ support of economic and social diversification predated the rhetoric of postbellum boosters who promised a “New South” after the Civil War. De Bow created an economic plan that resonated among urban, middle-class merchants and professionals, wealthy p ... More

Between 1846 and 1867 J. D. B. De Bow, the editor of De Bow’s Review, promoted agricultural reform, urbanization, industrialization, and commercial development in the nineteenth-century American South. His monthly journal appealed to thousands of antebellum southerners with similar interests in a modern market economy. His vision and his readers’ support of economic and social diversification predated the rhetoric of postbellum boosters who promised a “New South” after the Civil War. De Bow created an economic plan that resonated among urban, middle-class merchants and professionals, wealthy planters, and prominent industrialists. Like their postbellum counterparts, these antebellum innovators shared a similar message of hope for the future. De Bow successfully consolidated modern economic goals into a cohesive plan, and his reverence for past traditions helped legitimize the future transformation of the South. Although debates over slavery and sectionalism overwhelmed the original intent of the Review, he recovered his editorial balance after supporting secession and experiencing the misery of the Civil War. He rededicated himself to regional economic improvement and asked readers to help reintegrate the South back into the national economy. His comprehensive postwar plan for southern recovery came from his prewar editorial work. Although he died before the next generation of boosters began their public campaign for a New South, De Bow had made the first and most significant contribution to their New South Creed. His anticipation of a modern economy helped create hope for a New South long before the demise of the Old South.