All in all the real money was in the southern slave labor farms, and northern wage labor farms felt threaten by this fact. Slavery mixed with farms and the types of crops produced is what really began the domino effect that lead into the civil war. Southern slave labor farms seemed to have an upper hand in the production of crop. The slave labor farms were able to produce more crops and sell it for a higher profit than free labor farms. Therefore, slave labor farms were able to bring in larger amounts of income which, in turn, led to a drastic change in there social structure when compared to free labor farms in the north.
Plantations were a big part of the economy in the South because that’s where they grew their cotton, and without slaves, the plantations would die. The economy was a cause in the Civil War because the North and South started to realize who wanted slaves and who didn’t. Another important cause of the Civil War was conflict between the North and the South about the issue of slavery. Slavery was a big issue in the South, whereas the North yearned for the abolish of slave labor. According to Document 1, Railroads were slim in the South, for the reason that slaves would have an easy way to escape.
Tej Kulkarni June 13,2011 Cotton vs. Hemp Cotton is a soft, fluffy, fibre that grows in a ball on cotton plants. The plant is grown mainly in the Americas, Africa, India, and Pakistan. Cotton fibres are usually spun into yarn and used to create cloth which is now the most used natural fibre cloth in the world today. However the problem with standard cotton is that there are so many chemicals and pesticides used on the plants and the plantation use up tremendous amounts of water. We all love the feel of fresh cotton sheets on the bed and light cotton clothes in the summer, but at what price to the environment does our cotton come, and what more environmentally friendly product can replace it.
The people of Virginia couldn’t grow enough of it, but didn’t resort to slavery right away. Slaves were few in the area, only a few that were bought there from the Caribbean, where they were often used for sugar cane. With the increasing demand for tobacco, the southern colonies needed a bigger labor force. Farmers and indentured servants couldn’t keep up with the demand for tobacco. Slaves were very successful for growing sugar cane, so eventually the southern colonies called for them to be bought over.
Cotton was needed around the world because of the invention of the spinning machine. There was a great need for workers, to work the fields and gin the cotton, thus more slaves were needed. This made life difficult for the slaves. Slaves were worth more money, and the whites’ attitudes changed toward the slaves and there was a decline of freed slaves after 1800. Therefore the slave population grew.
The Cotton Gin The cotton gin, one of the most important inventions for the south. It all started a long time ago when Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. The problem with picking the cotton gin was slaves had to separate the cotton from its seed which was difficult. Even though the Cotton Gin was created to make slave labor easier it counter acted. In my opinon without the cotton gin slavery might not have lasted as long as it did.
Slaves were the support system of their owners. Some believe the evolution of slavery in the US was divided into three stages: development, high profit, and decadent. In the developmental stage the slaves cleared the land for planting and built the roads and dams essential for plantations. In the second, high profit stage, slaves were driven to plant, cultivate and harvest for market. The plantations masters thought it was “cheaper to buy than to breed” meaning it was cheaper to buy a new slave and work him to death than it was to allow a slave to live long enough and bear children to increase numbers.
Whitney’s cotton gin made cotton production enormously profitable and created an ever-increasing demand for slave labor. By 1860, cotton had exploded across the South and clearly dominated the Southern agricultural economy. As a result of more cotton being planted, more labor was needed. In order to keep up with laborious demand, Southern planters transported hundreds of thousands of African-American slaves westward into the new cotton lands of the lower Mississippi valley and Gulf Coast states, where the planters used their social, political, and economic power to keep slavery legal. The South’s dependence on cotton production tied it economically to the plantation system and racially to white supremacy.
Kendrick Hawkins 02157219 Hist170 final essay In this paper I will analyze how the institution of slavery affected the development of the American south and the lives of people living there in regard to the economic, political, social, and cultural implications of slavery between 1800 and 1865. The economic impact on the American south as a result of slavery was that the slaves play an important role clearing land farming, and to grow crops such as tobacco, rice and most of all cotton. Having slaves harvesting cotton made the south very profitable. Cotton became so important doing the 1800 demands for it came from outside the south. As large markets such as Britain demanding cotton for it mills the prices were very strong helping the
Cotton is the next thing plantation owners turn to after the failure of indigo and tobacco. The plantation owners strike a goldmine after Eli Whitney introduces the cotton gin to the South region. The cotton era is born and with it comes the explosion and need to have even more slaves. Slaves are now needed to clear the land, work the cotton crop in the fields and to harvest the cotton once it has completed full growth. Mississippi was admitted as a slave state to the union because of the intense profitability of cotton and the use of slaves.