The Cotton Gin In the late 18th century, the tobacco economy that sustained the Southern states of the U.S. was in deep crisis. Improved types of cotton with better fibers were introduced. Workers at a cotton factory in Awat county, in China’s Xinjiang region. Most favoured by slave owners were commercial crops such as olives, grapes, sugar, cotton, tobacco, coffee, and certain forms of rice that demanded intense labour to plant, considerable tending throughout the growing season, and significant labour for harvesting. King Cotton was a phrase coined in the years before the Civil War to refer to the economy of the American South. Formal ___ governed the treatment and activities of slaves. XPCC is one of the largest cotton producers in China, accounting for up to 30 percent of production. By Eugene R. Dattel. In the decade before the Civil War cotton prices rose more than 50 percent, to 11.5 cents a pound. Many slave owners leveraged potential profits into loans used to purchase ever increasing numbers of slaves. But as their value rose, slaves were sold from state to state as the market dictated, often breaking up families. The existence of slavery and its importance to the southern economy became the defining factor in what would be known as the Slave South. But growing cotton and sugar were labor-intensive activities, and that labor was supplied almost exclusively by slaves. In the decade before the Civil War cotton prices rose more than 50 percent, to 11.5 cents a pound. Workers at a cotton factory in Awat county, in China’s Xinjiang region. D) planters in Virginia and Maryland turned openly to slave breeding as a business. B) farmers in Virginia and Maryland found effective ways to reverse soil depletion. Over a 35-year career, he worked as a reporter and columnist at the San Diego Evening Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, and Sacramento Bee. Although cotton and slavery were the foundations on which much Southern wealth was built, Northerners also reaped the riches of King Cotton's profits and helped prolong the institution of slavery. In 1794, a Frenchman in New Orleans named Jean Etienne Bore came up with a method of boiling off sugar cane until it turned into crystals, and the cultivation of sugar spread over the Southeast. Cotton and the Civil War. With the cotton gin, cotton could be refined with ease, yet plantation owners still needed laborers to pick the cotton, causing the need for slavery. Bloomberg. One element in the economic change was the rise of a great cotton-growing industry in the south. By 1820, that amount rose to more than 400,000. Because slave labor produced the cotton, increasing exports strengthened the slave system itself. The result was a cotton boom. The Cotton Boom and the Rise of “King Cotton” With the invention of the cotton gin, production and demand rose not only for cotton but also for slavery. Native Americans were observed growing cotton by the Coronado expedition in the early 1540s. Until the cultivation of cotton and sugar took off, slavery had appeared to be on the decline. Steve Wiegand is an award-winning political journalist and history writer. Several causes were responsible for this change. The cultivation of cotton was also largely responsible for the expansion of slavery in the South. One element in the economic change was the rise of a great cotton-growing industry in the south. The teeth picked up the cotton fibers and pulled them through the slots, leaving the seeds behind. Cotton transformed the United States, making fertile land in the Deep South, from Georgia to Texas, extraordinarily valuable. In 1794, a Frenchman in New Orleans named Jean Etienne Bore came up with a method of boiling off sugar cane until it turned into crystals, and the cultivation of sugar spread over the Southeast. In 1800, the number of slaves in America was put at about 900,000; by 1860, on the eve of the Civil War, the number was 4 million. By 1860, however, cotton production dominated large portions of the American South and was by far the most lucrative agricultural commodity in the entire nation. @CBP has issued a detention order on cotton products originating from XPCC. Slavery’s profitability had lagged in tobacco planting, but cotton gave it new life. By 1860, however, cotton production dominated large portions of the American South and was by far the most lucrative agricultural commodity in the entire nation. In addition, many whites were fearful that an increase in the number of slaves could lead to a massive rebellion such as the one that had happened in Haiti in the 1790s. In 1791, U.S. cotton production was small, at only 900 thousand kilograms (2000 thousand pounds). III. Slavery Grows in 1800s America as Cotton and Sugar Production Increases. This gave the cotton plantation owners a regular supply of virtually free labor. By 1812, there was a considerable increase in cotton farming, called the Cotton Boom. By 1850, of the 3.2 million slaves in the country’s fifteen slave states, 1.8 million were producing cotton; by 1860, slave labor was producing over two billion pounds of cotton per year. Morgan described the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) as a “tool of the Chinese Communist Party” that “employs an estimated 12% of Xinjiang’s population and generated 17% of its cotton-heavy industry.”. While the pace of industrialization picked up in the North in the 1850s, the agricultural economy of the slave South grew, if anything, more entrenched. In 1793, the South produced about 10,000 bales of cotton. Indeed, American cotton soon made up two-thirds of the global supply, and production continued to soar. Indeed, cotton grew alongside slavery. Cotton and Slavery. Cotton planting took place in March and April, when slaves planted seeds in rows around three to five feet apart. A religious revival that swept the country in the late 18th and early 19th centuries did much to raise the level of opposition to slavery. Noneconomic reasons also factored in. He is the author or coauthor of seven books dealing with various aspects of U.S. and world history. To defend the system, the owners often fell back on the rationale that slavery was good for the slave and frequently mentioned in the Bible as a normal human condition. The South was a primarily agricultural economy centered on the production of cotton, but a number of other cash crops were common as well. Whitney’s cotton gin (short for “engine”) could do the work of 50 men. Whitney's invention led to an explosive rise in cotton production and a burgeoning demand for cheap labor to cultivate the cotton. By this the owner could count on workers during the harvest season when the workforce market would become narrow. After emancipation, African Americans were still identified with cotton production. Growing and cultivating cotton became a lucrative and less labor-intensive cash crop, contributing immensely to the rise of cotton production in the Deep South. On Thursday, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency released an official order to ban cotton imports from China’s Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC). Without slavery there could be no Cotton Kingdom, no massive production of raw materials stretching across thousands of acres worth millions of dollars. Anglo-French warfare in the early 1790s restricted access to continental Europe, causing the United Statesto become an important—and temporarily the largest—consumer for British cotton goods. Ten to 20 slaves worked every 100 acres of cotton, and they became valuable “commodities.” In 1800, the average cost of a slave was about $50; by 1850, it was more than $1,000. If slavery was the corner stone of the Confederacy, cotton was its foundation. The two moved hand-in-hand. The second map shows that slavery was concentrated in the Chesapeake and Carolina areas in 1790, where it was still principally associated with the growing of tobacco. Fascinated with the cottonseed problem, Whitney fiddled around and came up with a simple machine that rotated thin wire teeth through the slots of a metal grill. Although cotton was a major part of the economy of the southern states, slave labor also made cash crops like tobacco and sugar more profitable than they would have been … Get an answer for 'What was the role of cotton production and slavery in the South's economic and social development?' The benefits of cotton produced by enslaved workers … A federal constitutional provision had outlawed the importation of any more slaves in 1808, but all the individual states had already banned the practice five years earlier. As the need for slaves increased, owners were anxious to increase their holdings through births. Cotton was a possibility because of the big demand for it, especially in England. Above all, certain new economic factors made slavery far more profitable than it had been before 1790. "The cheap cotton goods you may be buying for family and friends during this season of giving — if coming from China — may have been made by slave … Above all, certain new economic factors made slavery far more profitable than it had been before 1790. With all these factors amping up production and distribution, the South was poised to expand its cotton-based economy. And, as cotton was very much in demand, both in America and Europe, it created a special set of circumstances. Research extension: Ask students to use the maps of US cotton production in 1880, agricultural regions of the United States, and the distribution of the population of enslaved people to identify areas where slavery and cotton production were particularly concentrated by the 1860s. Get an answer for 'What was the role of cotton production and slavery in the South's economic and social development?' Another potentially profitable component to cotton and slavery was that the children of a woman in slavery were typically born into legal slavery. But the rise of the cotton and sugar crops and the spread of tobacco to new areas increased the dependence of the South on slave labor. In the South, no one was digging canals or building factories. C) large numbers of surplus slaves were sold from the upper South to the lower South. The third allows you to compare the two trends on a single screen, and the fourth graphs the spectacular growth of cotton as a key export crop during this period . Cotton and the Civil War. By 1860, however, riding the great wave of cotton production, the use of slave labor had spread across the entire South. Comparing the two maps will permit you to draw some conclusions about the relationship between these two developments. If slavery was the corner stone of the Confederacy, cotton was its foundation. Indeed, cotton grew alongside slavery. Several causes were responsible for this change. In summary, slave owners had a labor force they could force to work at no wages, and keep, sell, rape, or kill as they saw fit. Weeding the … Growing more cotton meant an increased demand for slaves. Between 1801 to 1835 alone, cotton exports in the United States grew to more than a million. This particular chapter of the story of slavery in the United States starts at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This module has four parts. After slavery was abolished, the USA established a work force, the so-called sharecroppers, bound by contracts to the farm. Tobacco slaves worked at tasks (often alongside freemen) as did slaves in back-breaking rice cultivation. As the first map makes clear, cotton was an insignificant crop in the United States prior to 1800. While the pace of industrialization picked up in the North in the 1850s, the agricultural economy of the slave South grew, if anything, more entrenched. Improved types of cotton with better fibers were introduced. The southern economy was particularly dependent on cotton. Eager cotton planters invested their new profits in new slaves. Slavery Grows in 1800s America as Cotton and Sugar Production…, Cashing In on Chips: Gordon Moore, U.S. — Reuters pic. Cotton production inadvertently resulted in a higher demand for African slaves that helped strengthen slavery in the South. Share. The upshot: As cotton became the backbone of the Southern economy, slavery drove impressive profits. Tobacco, once the major crop, had worn out the soil in many areas, and many Southern planters were looking for a substitute. and find homework help for other History questions at eNotes This, in turn, led to an increase in the number of slaves and slaveholders, and to the growth of a cotton … Handpicking is the gentlest way of harvesting, and is still done in most cotton-growing countries. King Cotton: cotton replaced sugar as the world’s major crop produced by slave labor. WASHINGTON, Dec 3 — The Trump administration expanded economic pressure on China’s western region of Xinjiang on Wednesday, banning cotton imports from a powerful Chinese quasi-military organisation that it says uses the forced labour of … Background. But growing cotton and sugar were labor-intensive activities, and that labor was supplied almost exclusively by slaves. At home its social and economic institutions rested upon cotton; abroad its diplomacy centered around the well-known dependence of Europe…upon an uninterrupted supply of cotton from the southern states. Slave Population, 1820–1860 Slavery spread southwestward from the upper South and the eastern seaboard following the spread of cotton cultivation. The cotton boom fueled speculation in slavery. The first displays the dramatic growth of cotton production in the United States from 1790 to 1860. A) farmers in Virginia and Maryland switched over to cotton and rice production. In 1793, a teacher and inventor from Massachusetts named Eli Whitney visited a plantation in Georgia. Over the next several months, from April to August, they carefully tended the plants. Of the 2.5 million African slaves working in agriculture in the United States in 1850, more than two-thirds worked on cotton plantations. Cotton production. Please send all inquiries to maphist@uoregon.edu, The Development of Native American Culture to 1500, European Exploration and Early Settlement 1492-1700, The Struggle for Colonial Control of North America 1689-1763, Population and Diversity in America: the Colonial Period, Territorial Expansion of the United States 1783-1853, The Spread of Cotton and of Slavery 1790-1860, Toward Empire: Overseas Expansion 1865-1910, Origins and Movements of Greek Intellectuals, Sanctuaries and Diplomacy in the Greek World, Peasant Rebellions in Early Modern Europe, Communication and the Postal System in the Early Modern Period. With cotton serving as the economic backbone of the South before the Civil War, the loss of enslaved labor that came with emancipation changed the situation. Photograph: Xinhua/Alamy “Virtually the entire [global] apparels industry is … The Cotton Boom. Without slavery there could be no Cotton Kingdom, no massive production of raw materials stretching across thousands of acres worth millions of dollars. The second map shows that slavery was concentrated in the Chesapeake and Carolina areas in 1790, where it was still principally associated with the growing of tobacco. In sugar, slaves worked intensely, throughout the six-month crop cycle. Comment By ... may be buying for family and friends during this season of giving — if coming from China — may have been made by slave labor in some of the most egregious human rights violations existing today in the modern world,” he told a news conference. The second displays the spread of slavery during those same decades. Chinese Uighur workers pick cotton in a field in Alar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, 16 October 2015. The rise of cotton and the resulting upsurge in the United States’ global position wed the South to slavery. By Eugene R. Dattel. The mod… By 1860, cotton was the dominant form of slave labor in the United States, employing 2.5 million slaves, to produce 5 million bales of cotton each year. Slaves were treated like property, and babies born to slave parents became slaves at ___. And the prices of slaves had been steadily dropping, a sign that the economics of the system were too unfavorable to continue it. At home its social and economic institutions rested upon cotton; abroad its diplomacy centered around the well-known dependence of Europe…upon an uninterrupted supply of cotton from the southern states. But the variety of cotton that grew well in most of the South was difficult to de-seed. With more land needed for cultivation, the … But growing cotton and sugar were labor-intensive activities, and that labor was supplied almost exclusively by slaves. Photograph: Xinhua/Alamy “Virtually the entire [global] apparels industry is … However, with the institution of sharecropping, which in practice was generally close to enslaved labor, the dependence on cotton as a primary crop continued well into the 20th century. Several factors contributed to the growth of the cotton industry in the U.S.: the increasing British demand; innovations in spinning, weaving, and steam power; inexpensive land; and a slave labour force. Until the cultivation of cotton and sugar took off, slavery had appeared to be on the decline. https://www.pbs.org/.../video/the-cotton-economy-and-slavery The Cotton Boom. The rise of cotton and the resulting upsurge in the United States’ global position wed the South to slavery. The slavery compromise. and find homework help for other History questions at eNotes Slaves composed the vanguard of this American expansion to the West. 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