The crowning of cotton, was the beginning of a series of bad events for the South. It all started when the first slave stepped foot on American soil in 1619. Slavery was essential and key to the prosperity of the South's economy and cotton production throughout the antebellum period. The growth of cotton vastly affected the atmosphere and the lives of everyone in the South; including society and the slaves themselves. First of all, cotton made a huge comeback with the invention of the cotton gin. Northern states and Britain's need for cotton increased rapidly. Yet, the Southern farmers could barely produce enough, due to the fact that it took so long to get the seeds out of the silky fibers. Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin was the …show more content…
After seeing the struggle of removing the seeds, Eli decided that a machine was crucial to increase the production rate and the amount of exports. With the creation of the gin, the bar quickly rose from 1 pound of cotton to 50 pounds of cotton that could be cleaned per day. This allowed more slaves to work in the fields, rather than cleaning cotton, which resulted in the cost of cotton to decrease dramatically. Both the Northern states and Britain benefited from the growth of cotton because they could buy cotton at a cheaper price, expanding trade between them and the South. Before long, “cotton was the [official] “king” in South Carolina” and throughout the whole South (South Carolina Journey 119). The Upcountry also benefited because they started growing larger crops of cotton. Now, unlike before, the upcountry and lowcountry both supported the idea of slavery, as they owned plantations full …show more content…
Plantation owners used one of two ways to make the farm function smoothly. One way was the task system, which was found on rice plantations. The slaves would complete the daily task and then have the leisure to do as they pleased for the remainder of the day. On the contrary, other slave owners used the gang system, which was mainly used on large upcountry cotton plantations. This system was much harder on the slaves because they were required to work from dawn to dusk, with no exceptions. All slaves were given limited portions of food and occasionally a new pair of clothes/rages. Despite this, the slaves still found a way to bring in their own culture and find happiness in their struggles. They managed to sing songs, play music, tell stories, raise children, and get married in attempt to “restore peace… [and] ease their sadness” within their slave quarters (South Carolina Journey pg, 124) . They prayed for freedom and looked at the exile of the Jews out of Egypt for hope and guidance. Frequently, the slaves would demonstrate forms of resistance such as; damaging property, pretending to be sick, working slowly, run away, or even organize a revolt. “The threat of slave revolts could paralyze the planters class with fear” therefore, slave patrols were on high alert throughout the South (South Carolina pg 124). The biggest slave revolt in history was planned to take place in July of 1822,
Invented by Eli WHitney in 1793, because of the cotton gin it reduced the amount of time and cost of separating the cotton seeds from white fiber. Due to the cotton gin, cotton farming became much more profitable in the South. Because of the cotton gin, the demand of the cotton grew and increased slavery. There was economic consequences due to the cotton gin and the increase of the cotton
Eli Whitney was famous for making the cotton gin, which tacks seeds out of picked cotton. He also made muskets for the U.S. government.(Cefry pg 10 ,18 ). Most plantations could only grow a type of cotton that was difficult and expensive to clean. The seeds had to be removed by hand for that reason. Many plantation owners in the south had to stop growing cotton.
In 1790, America produced 1,500 pounds of cotton. By the 1800’s production had increased to 35,000 pounds. By 1848 production exceeded to 1,000,000 pounds. Simultaneously, slavery spread across the
The "King Cotton" forever changed the Southern Economy and Society with production change, the movement of slavery, and slavery itself. Eli Whitney invented the machine known as the Cotton Gin. The Cotton Gin uses a spiked cylinder to remove seeds from cotton fibers. Before this introduction, people used to remove seeds by hand, which was very time-consuming compared to the Cotton Gin. With the Cotton Gin, cotton was much more profitable.
Between the 1820s and 1860s, a time period that was greatly influenced by the Industrial Revolution, people were willing to work hard so that they could provide for their families. Slaves were still being used to help develop the United States of America by harvest crops such as cotton, and please their “masters.” were forced to work and help develop the country. Both slavery and industry helped the country grow financially. Slaves had to work harder to meet higher cotton demands. The introduction of the cotton gin also aided in the aided in the rapid production of cotton (PIIP 9).
In 1793 on a plantation in Georgia a inventor named Eli Whitney invented a machine. He called the machine a “Cotton gin”. The cotton gin’s job was to separate cotton from the seeds inside of the cotton. Cotton in America was big in demand because it was used for making clothing. Because the cotton gin separated cotton faster it affected the U.S.
With this new invention, a person could yield eight times as much cotton in one day versus the traditional method. It also made the Southern people more dependent on slavery than ever before. As more cotton could be produced in one day the need for slaves grew higher. No longer could the South due
Cotton was not a commodity as it later became due to its difficulty as well as high cost in refining it. Typically in the South, crops, such as indigo, tobacco, and rice, were cultivated largely by hand by small groups of slaves. Slavery had already been quite popular among planters in the South due to its historical tendency for agriculture, but slavery had been on the decrease mostly due to the rising cost of maintaining slaves. Slavery had originally been on the decline and was planned to be abolished by many Southern legislative leaders ("Pre-Cotton Gin America." Web). Though little did they know, Eli Whitney’s cotton gin would answer their questions in regards to the struggle of cotton harvesting.
The American Civil War and the Reconstruction periods played an important role in defining the nation’s political, social, and economic identity in the sense that the country’s survival and democratic principles were radically tested. As the country was becoming a hemispherical power, sectional tensions and dissenting attitudes of opposing groups make these periods comparable with the Revolutionary War in three major components: the issue of slavery and struggle for equality, the role of the federal government vs. states’ rights, and scuffles related with economic power. Prior to the Revolutionary War, there was an existing struggle between social classes as the southern states had an inflexible social structure, whereas in the northern states the Industrial Revolution was beginning to take place, causing a dramatic shift of labor force after the country gained its independence in 1783. With the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1791, southern landowners took advantage of the slave force to increase their profits radically, and this reliance on slaves for the
The South was able to produce 7/8 of the worlds cotton supply. The South became more dependent on the planted field system and it’s full of force part, slavery. Notably, at that moment, the North was flourishing industrially. The North depended on factories and others
It revolutionized the cotton industry by making it more profitable. A machine was now used to remove seeds from cotton rather than having to remove them by hand. This allowed more cotton to be processed quicker which made production of cotton more efficient for farmers. Prior to the invention of the cotton gin, slavery was actually dying out in the southern United States due to how labor intensive the removal of seeds from cotton had become.
Did you know the purpose of the cotton gin was to decrease the number of slaves but in fact doubled the amount? The cotton gin was made in early 1790 by Eli Whitney. The cotton gin was made to be used by slaves and became popular in Georgia. It was made to clean cotton faster and easier but made owners gain more slaves. The cotton gin was increasing trade, manufacturing, transportation, slavery, and railroads throughout America and the world.
The use of the cotton gin had a major impact on slavery by expanding the use and population of slaves. “This machine revolutionized the process of separating cotton from its seed, making it dramatically faster and less expensive to turn picked cotton into usable cotton for textiles” the author said. Harvesting the cotton fields was intense work and the more cotton that was being produced lead to more fields causing more slaves to be needed to work those fields. All the large cotton plantations that the south maintained, by 1850 the slave population increased tremendously. “Southern wealth had become reliant on this one crop and thus was completely dependent on slave-labor.”
The cotton gin improved the growth in the productivity of cotton. This growth led to more plantations and from 1800, where the total export of cotton was only 7.1%, to a staggering height of 57.5% by 1880 (Document A). In order for this growth the plantation owners needed workers. The work load could have been paid help, but the more profit made the better not only the living for whites, the better the economy for the entire South. The slave based trade of cotton also led to improvements for the entire country.
Women were abused by their master, physically, sexually, and mentally, while men were mostly abused physically and mentally. Most slaves practice polytheistic religions, but they shared the belief in a Supreme Creator. They kept their rituals alive by creating stories, healing arts, and songs. Music and dances played a vital part of practicing their religion. The slaves worked in either a gang or task system.